Daddio’s Pizza

At Daddio’s Pizza in Grand Prairie, AB, owner Richard Ames has developed a loyal following among locals by providing consistently superior pizza and personalized service.

To further deepen his hometown roots, Richard uses Facebook in a surprising way. While some restaurants use Facebook to encourage customers to eat there more often, Richard chooses not to directly promote his business.

Instead, Richard’s goal is to promote hometown pride and loyalty. So Richard uses Daddio’s Facebook page to support charitable neighborhood causes, upcoming community events, and other locally-owned Independent businesses.

For example, Richard recently used Facebook to encourage his customers to support the Grand Prairie Food Bank by posting a photo of the mayor buying a Daddio’s Pizza shirt. (Richard donates 100% of shirt sales to the Food Bank.)

During Fire Prevention week, Richard volunteered to help the fire department publicize the importance of changing smoke alarm batteries.

Each night, Richard and uniformed firefighters delivered a free pizza to a lucky local family and helped them check their smoke detectors. Then with their permission, Richard instantly shared smartphone photos of the smiling families and firefighters with other Daddio’s customers via Facebook. Even the local newspaper covered the story.

To promote nearby Independent merchants, Richard uses his Facebook page to publicly thank them by name whenever they have provided him excellent service. So when a local sign company did a nice job applying logos to his delivery vehicle, Richard brought them a “thank you” pizza and then posted photos of their workmanship.

Because locals are especially proud of the area’s abundant wildlife, Richard also enjoys posting photos of deer, moose, and other animals spotted during deliveries. Given his town’s northern latitude, he even shares photos of the “northern lights” when they are visible at night.

By directly promoting his community (rather than himself), Richard has earned especially strong loyalty from locals who don’t just like his food but also respect what he stands for.