The Houston Texans took full advantage of playing the first international game in franchise history on November 21, 2016. As the first Monday Night Football game on ESPN played outside of the United States in National Football League history, the Texans saw an opportunity to expand their brand's overall reach as well as to help make a difference in the Hispanic community.
By spreading the message of the initiatives through social media, the Texans' goals were to create a buzz around community events that would be hosted in the city several months before kickoff and during the week leading up to gameday. The Texans wanted the residents to feel involved and informed about the event that would eventually be impacting their community. This goal would be accomplished through the power of social media.
The public relations department worked alongside the digital media team to provide engaging videos and posted on SomosTexans.com, Somos Texans Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages as well as used the hashtag, #SomosTexans to communicate with the Hispanic fans in Mexico.
In June 2016, Houston Texans Outside Linebacker Whitney Mercilus traveled to Mexico City to interact with fans leading up to the game. While touring, Mercilus danced in the square, hosted a football clinic, revealed the game logo and led an NFL-wide Snapchat takeover. He used social media to interact with fans, communicate where he was and how fans could interact with him during his trip. Mercilus' trip excited the Texans fan base in Mexico City and engaged the international community.
The Texans kicked off the long weekend in Mexico City with a bang by hosting such events as NFL Fan Fest, Play 60 Camps and Public Yoga at Reforma Angel de la Independencia, which were all covered through all Texans social channels and hashtagged with #SomosTexans. Fans were able ot search this hashtag throughout the week to follow the team around town. Texans Cheerleaders and Mascot TORO spent two days going around the capital meeting fans, attending clinics with youth and posting on several Houston Texans social media channels.
The social team did not miss an opportunity to post a photo, capture a video or Snap the memorable moments that players, Cheerleaders and staff members had with the growing fan base in Mexico City. This pay dividends for the team and is shown in the results.
The Mexico City community embraced the Texans in a very special way. Members of the community showed up at every event, and they were extremely thankful for the activities and opportunities. Without the support of the city, the week in Mexico City would not have been nearly as impactful on the Texans, Texans players or Texan fans.
After reviewing the social numbers following the Texans week in Mexico City, the results were incredible. The volume index for #SomosTexans reached 24.7 million individuals, up 218% from the previous week across Facebook and Twitter. The Texans 24.7 million reach was the second highest total that we've ever recorded. Over 2 million individuals engaged on Facebook and Twitter with over 380,000 unique visitors.
The Texans created a #SomosTexans Facebook frame that was used by 21,800 people for their profile pictures and was seen by over 4.3 million individuals.
During this time span, the Texans added over 3,700 new fans on Instagram, and over 314,000 fans engaged with the Texans Instagram. The Texans Twitter account gained 9,700 fans, and Facebook added over 7,000 fans. The total Facebook Video views came in at 5.7 million and ranked second to just the Dallas Cowboys.
