--- title: "#LAstory: How Discover Los Angeles Won Instagram" id: "24074" type: "post" slug: "lastory-how-discover-los-angeles-won-instagram" published_at: "2014-07-15T19:22:21+00:00" modified_at: "2026-03-16T12:20:04+00:00" url: "https://associationsnow.com/2014/07/15/lastory-how-discover-los-angeles-won-instagram/" markdown_url: "https://associationsnow.com/2014/07/15/lastory-how-discover-los-angeles-won-instagram.md" excerpt: "The Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board's recent ad campaign \"What's Your L.A. Story?\" got a lot of traction on social media. The secret? The group latched on to the \"underground economy\" of influencers on Instagram." taxonomy_category: - "Marketing / Communications" taxonomy_post_tag: - "AssociationsNow" - "Business" - "Influencers" - "Marketing" - "Social Media" taxonomy_content_format: - "Article" taxonomy_role: - "Association CEO / Executive Director" - "C-Level" - "VP" taxonomy_persona: - "Association Professionals" --- [Home](https://associationsnow.com/) » [Articles](https://associationsnow.com/format/article/) » #LAstory: How Discover Los Angeles Won Instagram It’s like modeling, except with selfies. And for one convention and visitors bureau, it meant a lot of impact for its latest advertising campaign. More on how the Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board, through its [Discover Los Angeles (opens in a new tab)](http://www.discoverlosangeles.com/) brand, used photos from the Instagram-famous to pitch its message: **“Instagram-famous”?** Yes, it’s a thing. As CNBC [highlighted back in April (opens in a new tab)](http://www.cnbc.com/id/101576564) , there’s a cottage industry of widely followed people on the social network whom advertisers tap—and pay—to promote a message to followers. The influencer may send out a hashtag on a particular theme, for example, or post photos in which he or she wears a particular brand of clothing. One agency that connects brands with influencers, [The Mobile Media Lab (opens in a new tab)](http://themobilemedialab.com/) , grew out of a community of Instagram users in New York City. [In comments to Fortune (opens in a new tab)](http://fortune.com/2014/07/09/instagram-takinyerphoto-anthony-danielle/) , agency cofounder Anthony Danielle explained that the idea for the firm came after big-name brands noticed how popular he and friend Brian DiFeo were on Instagram and started asking the duo to promote their products on the site. “Brian and I turned the tables,” Danielle said. “We said to the brands, let us educate you on how the platform works because we know what’s going to be best for you.” > [View this post on Instagram (opens in a new tab)](https://www.instagram.com/p/mwRdGLs8P2/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading) > [A post shared by Matt Bauer (@mattcbauer) (opens in a new tab)](https://www.instagram.com/p/mwRdGLs8P2/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading) **What Discover L.A. did:** The CVB, working with the ad agency HEILBrice, combined [its more traditional TV and print advertising (opens in a new tab)](http://www.discoverlosangeles.com/press-releases/los-angeles-tourism-launches-la-story-advertising-campaign) efforts for its “What’s Your L.A. Story?” brand push with an Instagram campaign. Here’s how it worked: Key influencers’ photos, tagged with #LAStory (many taken during a tour of the Getty Villa in Los Angeles), were projected onto the walls of the J. Paul Getty Museum during a concert series in the facility. In other words, in exchange for posting photos with a hashtag, the users got their art displayed in one of the world’s most famous art museums—not a bad trade. [According to Skift (opens in a new tab)](http://skift.com/2014/07/14/instagram-influencers-double-the-reach-of-los-angeles-latest-campaign/) , the CVB worked with 15 influencers, including [Rosewood Creative (opens in a new tab)](http://rosewoodcreative.com/) ‘s Matt Bauer (whose work is shown above), to get the message out. **The impact:** The deal gave the CVB access to Instagram users with tens of thousands of followers—some with many more. (One user, [photographer Jessica Zollman (opens in a new tab)](http://instagram.com/jayzombie) , has more than 234,000 followers.) And the huge impact of the posts helped drive significant organic social traffic to the campaign. According to *Skift*, the campaign generated 25 million organic social media impressions, half of which were driven directly by the influencers. Would your association consider working with an Instagram influencer to push out your message? Tell us how you might do it in the comments. (screenshot from @discoverla on Instagram) [Ernie Smith](https://associationsnow.com/author/ernie-smith/) Ernie Smith is a former senior editor for Associations Now. [More articles by this author](https://associationsnow.com/author/ernie-smith/) Tags: [#Business](https://associationsnow.com/tag/business/) [#Influencers](https://associationsnow.com/tag/influencers/) [#Marketing](https://associationsnow.com/tag/marketing/) [#Social Media](https://associationsnow.com/tag/social-media/) **Stay Informed** [Subscribe to our free newsletter](https://associationsnow.com/newsletter/) , *Associations Now Daily News*, to find out what’s happening in the association world every business day. ## You Might Like - [VideoRecap from the 2025 ASAE MMC+Tech ConferenceMay 19, 2025](https://associationsnow.com/2025/05/19/recap-from-the-2025-asae-mmctech-conference/) - [VideoSneak Peek: Highlights from Day 2 of the 2025 ASAE MMC+Tech ConferenceMay 14, 2025](https://associationsnow.com/2025/05/14/sneak-peek-highlights-from-day-2-of-the-2025-asae-mmctech-conference/) - [VideoDaily Recap: Day 1 from the 2025 ASAE MMC+Tech ConferenceMay 13, 2025](https://associationsnow.com/2025/05/13/daily-recap-day-1-from-the-2025-asae-mmctech-conference/) - [VideoSneak Peek: Highlights from Day 1 of the 2025 ASAE MMC+Tech ConferenceMay 13, 2025](https://associationsnow.com/2025/05/13/sneak-peek-highlights-from-day-1-of-the-2025-asae-mmctech-conference/) ## Comments **Comments are for ASAE members.** [Learn more about comments on this site.](https://associationsnow.com/comments/) [Log in](https://associationsnow.com/login?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fassociationsnow.com%2F2014%2F07%2F15%2Flastory-how-discover-los-angeles-won-instagram%2F%23comments) to your member account or [join ASAE](https://my.asaecenter.org/select-a-membership-type/) !