Lindsey’s Daily Deal: You Got No Fear of the Underdog, The Pitfalls of Star Power and Like Our Page? Hint, Hint.

By Lindsey Campbell, Captains of Industry

Hey Captains’ readers,

Here’s your Tuesday Deal:

1. You got no fear of the underdog

In this hard knock world laden with franchises and conglomerates, a lot of mom ‘n pop businesses don’t know how to stand up against the big dogs of industry. Home Depot squashed local hardware stores. Stop & Shop mowed over specialty food-marts. And now pizza juggernauts like Domino’s are trying to wipe out little independent pizzerias like bugs on the windshield of life.

What’s a pizza man to do? Well, get even of course. In fact, Anthony’s Pizza and Pasta is so done with the major pizza franchises that they took a hit out on them via their advertising. Their new billboard ads use lines like, “If their ingredients are better, why isn’t their pizza?” and “Pizzeria pizza. Not fast food pizza.” But my absolute favorite is, “Never had to change the recipe. Because it never sucked.”

Booyah, Grandma!

Are you rooting for Anthony’s? I know I am.

2. The pitfalls of star power

When you spot a big juicy celebrity, the temptation to wrangle them in and make them work their magic for your brand can be irresistible. After all, they’ve already got star power, people are constantly Googling their name, and unfortunately for our society, their opinions are what matter to the majority of the population. But, there are some pitfalls to working with famous “talent.” For one thing, you can’t impede their ability to open their mouths. Don’t believe me? According to Tim Nudd on AdFreak, Justin Long of the “Get a Mac” campaign recently admitted in an interview with Time Magazine that he didn’t “get” the point of the Mac campaign. Oh brother. Really? Do you know what the copywriters and art directors of those commercials are doing right now, Justin Long? Cringing! That’s what! At least one good thing came out of the interview. According to Long, there are several hundred spots that never aired. One I’m particularly itching to see is a guest appearance by Zach Galifianakis as a drunk Santa Claus. If he can’t sell a Mac, no one can.

3. Like our page? Hint, hint.

Some brands have the best Facebook pages. One that really blows other products and services out of the water is Red Bull. For one thing, the Red Bullians are really in touch with their target audience. According to Amy Porterfield of The Social Media Examiner, the beauty of Red Bull’s Facebook page is that they know what kind of content their audience will respond to, and they deliver it. For example, they’ve created a web TV series that follows the lives of various athletes. They even have a section called “Drunkish Dials.” It’s a place where you can listen to the random messages that people leave on their toll free number. I LOVE IT! It makes me want to knock a few back and give them my own special message. And that’s the point. These fun games, videos and content are meant to entice people to engage with the brand. My favorite part is the graphic that they use to encourage people to declare their loyalty to Red Bull. Check it out on Facebook. After all, 7,933,460 fans don’t lie.

Until tomorrow,

Captain Lindsey