Ondo Media | Documentary Production & Media Consulting |

2012 Super Bowl Ad Winner is….

john — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 04:40:51 +0000

Cars, Bikinis and Cars. I think thats all ad agencies think will make money on Super Bowl commercials. As I look over my tweets and notes I made during the game, I find overall there was a lack of creativity in many of the commericals in Super Bowl XCVI. The common denominator or sex, women and sex seems to continue to be the driving force for many who want to get the instant attention of the audience, yet the long term connection to the product is lost. The real winner of the 2012 ad war in my opinion, based on strong creativity and keeping your product still at the center, was the following:

1st place; Doritos "Dead Cat Bribe"

My criteria for winning is you can't tell a friend about the spot without saying; "The Dog had a bag of Doritos". That makes that spot a big winner. Doritos had a second spot later in the game, also low budget and cute, and again its chips were dead center in the spot.

2nd Place: The Chevy Silverado "Armageddon"

It had it all, Barry Manilow, Twinkies, Armageddon and raining frogs. With a final jab at Ford. The positioning statement at the end says it all; "From the beginning of your work day until the end of the world". And thanks to Ford being in the news with a lawsuit to pull the spot, I also was looking forward to seeing it because of the buzz. So Ford helped Chevy out quite a bit with the extra pub.

I Wish We Could Forget Awards:

G.E.

I don't understand the parent company of NBC, GE and their obsession with institutional spots. Most people used to think of G.E. as refrigeators and toasters, now they want to be jet engines and medical scanners? GE is the classic branding nightmare of a corporation that should go under based on their bad branding but since they are huge they can waste as much money as they want and just tickle their stockholders wallets.

GoDaddy.com

The webservice also continues its well know sex driven ads. I don't know why any company wants to be positioned as the "Hooters" of web hosting. I think its bad business, and so do most of the women and men I know.

Honorable Mentions

Honda CRV & The return of Ferris Bulluer was a nice trip to the past. However the two spots that I think were the most heartwarming was the touching Ronald McDonald House spot featuring a child holding pictures of his recovery. And the Bud Light "Here We Go" commerical featuring a nice tag for a Dog Rescue organization. Again well done, and that warm feeling is a brand being built.

In just a few hours I have already forgotten most of the ads. I know Jerry Senfeld was in one for Acura, but it did nothing for me. I know Toyota had a flashy spot with cars and bikinis but so did two or three other car ads. However I can still hear Barry Manilow and see a man with his dog (with seat belt fastened) driving through the ruins of civilization, and a dog bribing his owner with a bag of Doritos. That made for a good 90 seconds of television.

John Ondo is an Emmy Nominated Filmmaker, Media Consultant & Author. His company, Ondo Media,specializes in helping emerging businesses and non-profits develop and produce a media strategy. Based in Columbus, Ohio. John Ondo, can be followed on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and our Ondo Media Vimeo site

Which commercial will tell the best story during Super Bowl XLVI?

john — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 17:38:18 +0000

It's a great day to be an American as we will celebrate what has become a national holiday; The Super Bowl. And whether you have a dog in this race tonight or not, the commercials will take center stage. Volkswagen, Honda and Budweiser all will make a big splash as always. A :30 second slot is upwards of 2.6 million dollars and in many cases the production budget can be in the same price range. What will you remember? It all comes down to two things in my opinion, 1) Who tells the best story. 2) Then connects that story to the brand so that you remember it. Do you go to work tomorrow saying "Did you see that funny commercial with the whale in the back of a pickup truck?" or "Did you see the Bridgestone commercial". Sometimes the best commercials do nothing for the sponsors. I will be like most of you, tweeting my thoughts on Twitter at @john_ondo which also follow through to my Facebook @John.P.Ondo . I will also have a few thoughts tomorrow morning summing up my pick for the most effective spot of the Superbowl right here at OndoMedia.com. Remember as I always say to my clients, your story is the most important thing!

Has your company been orphaned by a website designer?

john — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 04:43:15 +0000

Last week was record breaker. I met two business owners who were orphaned. They were not orphaned like children in the traditional sense, but were left out in the cold by a "Buddy" who was helping them design their company's website and bailed. I hear these stories all too often. One of the business owners told me that they got the site produced by a professional, but at a steep discount. They realized that after being online for a few weeks that the contact form wasn't working and that they had lost untold potential business because of that. You'd trust a professional with your $80,000 car, why wouldn't you with your $500,000 business?

Now they are at the back of the line waiting to get the code fix. Then a few days later, I had a meeting with client who hired a part time web designer to build their community website. They paid in advanced. The result; the web designer built the webpage in Dreamweaver (for those not into web design this is the equivalent to learning Chinese as your primarily language) so the only person who could update it was the designer. That designer got a new full time job and the website is now live and hanging out there with half the pages saying; "More Coming Soon!". We've heard of the "Housing Crisis", and the "Banking Crisis", I now believe that we are also in a "Media Decision Crisis".

Many small businesses call it quits every day because of lack of sales due to a bad media strategy. They chose to cut corners relying on a "Buddy" to build their website or produce a video for YouTube.

Here's a few things to consider before you hand your media over to friend or even someone who claims to be a pro at media. This from my brand new free Ebook that I'm proud to be releasing in a few days here at ONDOMEDIA.COM.

To correct the issue may cost more than building it right the first time
You can't put a price on the lost business due to a bad first impression
Your competition is watching you.

Don't get orphaned and left out in the cold with your media. You'd trust a professional with your $80,000 car, why wouldn't you with your $500,000 business?

- John Ondo is an Emmy Nominated Filmmaker, Media Consultant & Author. His company, Ondo Media,specializes in helping emerging businesses and non-profits develop and produce a media strategy. Based in Columbus, Ohio. John Ondo, can be followed on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and our Ondo Media Vimeo site

The end of a historic courthouse is Ondo Media’s next documentary

john — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 07:39:37 +0000

Read the entire article by Toledo Blade reporter Jennifer Feehan

3 Tips To Help You Connect To Your Audience

john — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 18:16:24 +0000

Recently I had an opportunity to sit down with a friend and veteran radio broadcaster just a few days before his retirement. Bob has had the number one morning show for over 30 years here in Columbus and I've never worked anyone who knew how to lock an audience in better than him. I asked Bob what lessons he's learned in building a relationship with listeners? He said "John you need to be careful not to talk down to your audience or to talk up to them, either way it makes them feel uncomfortable and they turn you off. If you share information that is important to them you will grab a lot of people."

I considered Bob's thoughts later and wondered, as I've spend most of my career in Christian broadcasting and helping churches and non profits connect with their target audiences, if we've learned the lesson Bob shared with me. Often as Christians we tend to do exactly what Bob advised us not to do. We approach people apologizing for our faith in this politically correct world. We say things like "I'm a Christian, but I'm not like that guy on TV or that other guy in the office." Or we address people from "on-high" that we are the wise ones who have found the answers for those poor sad people. This recently happened to me as I was greeted at the front door at my apartment complex by a little newspaper. It appeared to be a little community paper however it became suspect as I turned page after page which contained articles like "Holiday Depression, Financial Difficulties and Dealing with Lonliness". I figured out that it was a well disguised church advertisement to get me to attend a holiday musical. I worked for a church once that often targeted "apartment people" because they were stereotyped as poor, unemployed and in need of God. If you own a house apparently Jesus loves you more, I'm guessing was the thought. I became angry because I know others who live in houses nearby who didn't get these papers. I felt I had been talked down to by a church and I didn't like it. How much more effective would that campaign been if it had articles about the positives this Christmas, providing tips on traditions, coupons or how I can make my Christmas even better by being part of their celebration? Everyone is looking for a way to upgrade their lives. I don't want the Accord, I want the Accord LX. I don't want the 16gig iPhone I want the 32gig. The lesson? Talk to your audience and help them upgrade their lives but not from talking down or talking up, but talking with them.

Here's some ideas on how to do that;

1) Find out what your audience cares about.

2) Discover what they spend the most their time on. (Odds are they need help on how it could be done better or quicker)

3) What problems do they have can you help them solve. (Note: their problems.. not the ones you think they have)

Resist the urge to make yourself feel good by being some kind of hero because then your talking down. Jesus was the master communicator. He never talked down or up. He was all about knowing His audience and cutting to the things they cared about. I challenge you to make your communications to your clients, family and co-workers your priority in 2012 as I plan on making it mine. Have a Merry Christmas from my family and from Ondo Media.

-John Ondo is President & Creative Director of Ondo Media. We specialize in documentary production and media consulting. Based on Columbus, Ohio. John Ondo, can be followed on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and our Ondo Media Vimeo site

Telling the story of a legend

john — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 18:14:52 +0000

WTVN's Bob Conners & Joel Riley

It was the end of an era. On November 30, 2011 veteran morning show host Bob Conners hung up his headphones after 40 years in broadcasting. Bob’s career began in his small hometown in Pennsylvania, where he says "I was born to do one thing, radio". Conners' career brought him to 610AM WTVN in 1964 when AM radio was still the rock and roll medium. And “over the top” was how a DJ was suppose to sound. Bob continued to develop and adapt as radio changed, and his show has been the most listened to radio program in Central Ohio during his reign as the Morning Monarch. To honor Bob and tell his story to the 4 decades of listeners WTVN brought in documentary producer John Ondo of Ondo Media. "We are proud to produce several videos for 610WTVN.COM" said Ondo. The videos ranged from documentary style to the actual final hour of Bob’s last broadcast. WTVN site has been bubbling with hits, as the five videos were rolled out over several days.
Ondo Media specializes in documentary production and media consulting and is based on Columbus, Ohio. John Ondo, produced and wrote the videos for WTVN. 610WTVN owned by Clear Channel Communications and is the number one news/talk station in Central Ohio. The videos can be viewed at WTVN.COM as well as the Ondo Media Vimeo site.

Thank You Steve Jobs, you may have brought my blood pressure down.

john — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 17:14:28 +0000

Like many of us in media, everyone knows I'm an Apple guy. Thus I have the iPhone4. I run my whole life from this little device, My Starbucks credit card, to my Garmin GPS and now XM satellite all runs off this little swiss army knife. But I have an issue. Unlike most of my creative colleagues I am not a "stacks of paper messy desk" person. I actually like my workspace neat, and I don't like knowing I have unread messages. You see I was brought up under the IBM business service concept of "No matter who you are, the CEO or the janitor, no phone should ring more than 3 times and you pick it up". Now thats a great customer service policy, unless you're like me. A individual owner and sole employee of your consulting media company. You get lots of calls and even more Emails. So I also mistakenly adapted the IBM phone creed to my Email policy. The result is low productivity because that little red "badge" on the iPhone (other phones have them too) that tells me that I have 10 unread Emails…yea that sends my blood pressure through the roof when I see that icon. I know I have no reason to react like that, and I should see a shrink about it but Steve Jobs before his passing solved my problem on the new iOS5. I can now turn the badge off. Now when I open my phone up to do something Im not distracted by the glaring "YOU HAVE 10 UNREAD EMAILS!!" taking me off task. I take the Emails at my pace when I am able to write them. Take a look today at what you can do to stay focused on your tasks for the day, and you may find time to stop and smell the roses, or whatever makes you happy.

John Ondo is President & Creative Director of Ondo Media. We specialize in documentary production and media consulting. Based on Columbus, Ohio. John Ondo, can be followed on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and our Ondo Media Vimeo site.

New documentary receives positive feedback

john — Sat, 24 Sep 2011 17:12:22 +0000

We've all wanted, at some time, to go back to school to connect with the past. We were proud to have completed the first school documentary for Elida Local Schools in Northwest Ohio called Reflections of Elida. The fundraiser for Elida High School is a documentary on the history of their 100 year old school building on the eve of it's demolition for a new building that opened this September. "We had a great response to the project from alumni and administration, as well as media coverage." said John Ondo, filmmaker and producer of the project. "History needs to be embraced and we hope to create more projects like this to schools all over the country, the alumni have embraced not only the documentary but the social media and the fact that this film is helping future Bulldogs continue their education" Ondo is not only the producer of this film, but an graduate of the school himself. "There nothing more terrfiying than bringing a piece of your work back to show your former teachers and mentors, it's like the those nightmares we've all work up to. Despite that, I think the film has turned out really well." You can see commmets on the documentary at elidamemories.com as well as elida memories page on facebook.

Read a article by The Lima News http://www.limaohio.com/articles/school-72130-elida-building.html

John Ondo is a filmmaker and President of Ondo Media. Ondo Media specializes in documentary production and media consulting in Columbus, Ohio. www.ondomedia.com

The Future is in The Past

john — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 17:08:33 +0000

I was speaking with a colleague today who works with a major historical preservation group here in Ohio. We were discussing why towns are where they now related to rivers and railroads. I know that today companies don't look for speedy transportation access but speedy internet conductivity, like Columbus which has some serious bandwidth going through it. I'm a firm believer that we can't determine where we are going in the future without looking at the past. I've written several times about a project that I've been working on for almost 3 years, a documentary about the history of my high school. They just tore down the old school last week, and the new school is up and running. So many alumni are excited about the film we produced that captures the school and it's traditions and history that we can pass down to the future generations. I wonder if the school building was left standing if the documentary and the attention it's gotten would even have occurred. Sometimes we need to tear things down to get a better perspective and say "How did I get here?". "Is this the direction I want to be heading?". We're looking forward to producing more documentaries as Ondo Media is running full force now as the media company that love to tell stories. My advice today; don't toss aside the past. Look at it and learn from it. There are lessons about tomorrow that can be learned in the past.

Embracing Change

john — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 17:07:11 +0000

I'm reading a great book from a fellow filmmaker, Phil Cooke, entitled "Jolt". In his book Phil places his finger one the keys that we all need to embrace to stay relative in today's culture, the need to change. As Ondo Media has now become my center focus and I am meeting daily with people who are looking for solutions to their media "voice" I love to find out what they are willing to change in order to make their dream a reality. I find myself surprised to find so many talented people who take the stand "I've tried that...it seems to work for everyone else but not for me."

I recently met a very impressive person who was challenged by a colleague who said "Who's going to listen to you?". Despite this challenge the number one issue was that no one was responding to her posts and twitter so she wondered if she should just dump the investment of time. In audio there is an annoying thing called feedback, it's when the mic starts hearing itself through the speaker and you get that squeal. Novice audio operators just turn down the volume, but experienced audio engineers know that it's just one small frequency that is being regenerated. They grab the EQ and remove that one frequency and the feedback goes away without lowering the volume. My point to you today is if something isn't working don't turn down your "volume". Listen for that one frequency, thought, comment that resonates with your audience and then maximize it. Your story has purpose. Don't look for a new one, adapt it so people will listen to what you have to say. We all have reason for being here. Let your voice be true heard.