The history of Media Pro, Inc.

In 1987, I started Media Pro, Inc. to produce an ESPN special on regattas in the Bahamas. According to our sponsor, The Bahamas Ministry of Tourism, the network broadcast delivered a greater return on investment than any previous promotional effort.

That project epitomizes our approach to this day. We help companies overcome obstacles to growth and profit. When the nation with world’s greatest array of water sports was not getting the attention it deserved, we created the best possible solution to their problem.

We continue to dream up and manage business projects that deliver the specific payoff each client needs.

We simplify the complicated

Our client projects succeed because we:

• Define clear objectives.
• Examine and grasp the divergent factors affecting their business problems.
• Engineer campaigns grounded in the fundamentals of effective interpersonal communication.

Our clients enhance their profits because we leverage 21st century digital media to help them beat their competitors.

I am a native of Miami and graduate of the University of Florida. We have been headquartered in Metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia, USA since 1998.

Thanks for stopping by,

John Ribbler
July 2011

A few accomplishments

Launching a disruptive security technology

To launch the world’s first practical automated security guard, we claimed that security cameras only record crime, “FutureSentry” prevents it. We built a rich sales pipeline using social networks, CRM, Internet databases and our self-published Interactive Security Digest magazine to herald a basic shift in the way people protect themselves and their property.

Taking on social media

To share our knowledge on both traditional and digital media, in 2009 we began writing, publishing and syndicating Ribblog — The Art of Business. We use humor, historical perspectives and case studies to  demonstrate how companies need technology, common sense and imagination to compete in the 21st century.
Helping companies adapt & survive

We specialize in helping new companies and businesses struggling to adapt to change.  Our clients — regardless of the industry — profit from our ability to find and focus on their most critical business issues. We help them understand and communicate their unique value in the marketplace.  We produce adaptable, cost-effective business development campaigns using technology to enhance the power of personal relationships.
Building a new retail model

Shopping for jewelry became a not-so-guilty pleasure for thousands of Atlanta business people after we founded Adornments by Donna. Our mobile retail shows in major office buildings and corporate headquarters allowed to employees to save time and money shopping for personal fashions and gifts. We also donated 10% of revenues to each host’s charity of choice.

Pioneering online business communities

Intranets were in their infancy when a national mortgage broker needed to improve performance of 150 remote branches. Using a new, inexpensive SaaS product, we quickly built a sales and marketing portal that delivered business tools and managed performance. The company tripled production within 10 months.

Coca Cola affirms equal opportunity tradition

In the aftermath of an embarrassing and costly discrimination suit, I was the third or fourth person asked to draft a white paper to serve as the company’s official position. While other drafts only offered apologies and promises, my historical perspective showed the incident as an exception to Coke’s unmatched legacy as the Deep South’s corporate leader for civil rights. It served as the cornerstone of Coke’s issues management efforts and earned the company recognition by FORTUNE as a top employer of minorities.

Planning a bank-centric online payment platform

At the turn of the century, three major banks — Chase, First Union and Wells Fargo — formed a joint venture to develop the technology needed to offer a bank-centric online billing and payment platform. When a new company was formed to bring the product to market, we developed the business plan which identified every issue critical to success, including the many obstacles as well as the opportunities.

Dramatizing corporate diversity

To help corporate employees understand why it is often difficult for people with different backgrounds to work together, I wrote and produced an animated film of diversity management pioneer R. Roosevelt Thomas’s “Fable About a Giraffe and an Elephant.” More than 10 years after its completion, the film is still being used by corporate trainers and has helped more than 2 million people broaden their perceptions about workplace dynamics.

Reforming Medicaid

As the State of Florida led the movement to cut Medicaid spending and improve care, we executed the business development strategy for a specially licensed HMO started to help the needy.  Our business development plan ended the company’s struggles to convince hospitals and doctors, as well as possible patients, to take part in the reform program.  They became the second largest provider within six months.
Reviving Miami’s economy after Hurricane Andrew

After both my home and the tourism business were nearly destroyed by Hurricane Andrew in 1992, I became marketing co-chair of the Greater Miami Convention & Visitor’s Bureau recovery task force. Stewarding a multi-million dollar federal grant, we enabled more than 15 attractions to get back on their feet.

Changing an industry forever

Although Banana Boat Sun Care was a promising regional company in 1991,  we boldly transformed the transformed the category by  evangelizing the industry’s convergence from “tanning” to “skin care/ “protection.”  By promoting skin cancer awareness and introducing the widest product line of high SPF sunscreens, as well as diverse after sun products, Banana Boat soon became the #2 brand in the world.
Converting a PR expense into a profit center

When I started handing public relations for hotels and resorts, one of my clients was struggling to keep up its largest event, The Bahamas International Pro-Am Windsurfing Regatta. Over the next five years, I built it into the biggest event of its kind in the Western Hemisphere and turned a promotional expense into a money-maker for my client. Today, more than 30 companies organize windsurfing vacations to Bahamas destinations.
Inventing a major new professional sports event

Pro tennis player Butch Buchholtz was known as the sport’s Don Quixote for spending more than a decade trying to start a new Grand Slam tournament. In 1984, he got it off the ground in Florida with $1.5 million purse, yet barely the budget for one paid media relations staffer, me, compared to maybe 20 at Wimbledon. I learned later that it was impossible for one PR guy to recruit, host and manage the activities of 150 international journalists over two weeks.