On October 17, 2017, the Houston Astros lost game 4 to the New York Yankees. After a final score of 6-4, the ALCS was tied at two games a piece.
On October 18, we received an exciting phone call before game 5. Discover LA was giving us the bet of a lifetime between cities. The winner, would take over the losing city’s social media profiles for a day.
The Houston Astros weren’t a shoe-in for the World Series, as we’d find out after losing game 5 in New York. However, our conversation with Discover L.A. held promise and hope for both of our teams to make it through.
After two dazzling wins in game 6 and game 7, and the Dodgers finishing in victory, we had our teams set. With our plan already in place, the first tweet was sent.
With the stage set for a series like no other, we set the rules. Of course we respect each other and play nice with friendly banter, but the winner would receive one day to take over the other’s social media channels that would include:
- Three Facebook posts
- One Facebook cover photo change
- Three Twitter posts
- Three Instagram posts
- One Instagram Stories posts
All of this would be submitted content by the winner, and posted by the losing staff.
October 24th was game 1, and the banter began with an image of Dodger-themed donuts from Discover L.A.
Not to be outdone, we posted back with our own, Astro-themed cookies
After some banter about alcoholic beverages, the Astros went on to lose game 1 by a score of 3-1. While preparing for game 2, we recieved a little gift.
Of course, we weren’t excited about receiving Dodger-themed donuts, but we were even more thrown off that Discover L.A. had even sent us anything at all!
We wouldn’t be outdone in this series…
The banter continued, and the Astros would then win game 2 by a score of 7-6.
With an off-day for travel before game 3, the Twitter war continued…
With three home games, and the Astros being undefeated at home in the postseason, things were looking good. Of course, we welcomed the Dodgers to H-Town.
Oh yeah, and Discover L.A. recieved our little gift.
Before game 3, we planned additional banter to cover important things like fried chicken and tacos.
And the Astros win game 3.
All was quiet the day of game 4. It being a Saturday, most of us were sleeping in, as the next two nights would be late to say the least.
Dodgers take game 4, 6-2. Of course, L.A. chimes in. However, we did a little prediction of our own.
Much like Saturday, Sunday, October 29 was free from pregame Twitter wars, and the two teams put on one of the best World Series games in history, winning 13-12 in extra innings.
With Monday being a travel day, it made work full of excitement, but both cities stayed away from each other on Twitter.
We started Tuesday off right.
Being up 3-2 in the series, the Astros had a chance at winning the World Series in game 6. For me, I had been planning this for about a week.
Prior to the game, I had entered discussions with a local bar, Lucky’s Pub, who had massive watch parties for the away games. Game 6 would be no different, and I wanted to be there to capture reaction video if we won it all.
Unfortunately, it would not end with Game 6.
After a long, hard series, it came to this. Game 7, it would end on Wednesday, November 1. What better to talk about when everything is on the line, than food.
For myself, I was back at Lucky’s Pub, ready to watch history.
Then this happened:
Downtown Houston was alive in a whole new way that night.
Our takeover day was decided as November 3. This would give us the 2nd to plan, plan and plan. On Friday, November 3, we took over with the following:
- A good morning shot of the Houston is Inspired mural downtown.
- Showcasing Texas, and more importantly, Houston BBQ for L.A. fans to salivate over.
- A contest where one lucky fan would win a round-trip vacation to Houston! This included hotel, money for food, tickets to attractions and more.
Here are some visuals:
It was an exciting day, although many of their fans were not so happy.
A week or so later, we received what I was desperately waiting for – data.
For four Facebook posts, we reached nearly 83,000 people. This was a good number to me. Discover LA has over a million followers, but based on Facebook’s algorithm, the content itself would be working against the reach capabilities. Instagram posts generated over 200,000 impressions, while Twitter reached nearly 80,000.
Between Twitter and Instagram, over 550,000 impressions were generated, and over 11,000 likes and reactions across platforms, overall.
What did this mean?
During the campaign, we were able to engage with our fans and engage with the fans of another team. We were able to show differences between our cities, and more importantly, the things we have in common.
L.A. had reached out to New York and other cities before us, and we were the only ones ready to make the bet. We loved the idea from the first time we heard it, and were ready to play along as good sports.
With our first World Series, it’s now the offseason. We await early April for a new season and a new hope. Houston has had the best of times and the worst of times in 2017. From a Super Bowl to a super flood. We’ve dried off and became World Champions. Houston Strong.
Dave Solce 
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