Mark DiMassimo, CEO & Chief Creative Officer
One part social scientist, two parts creative marketer, DiMassimo is a writer, creative director, entrepreneur, experimenter-in-chief, CEO and founder of DIGO. (more…)
People
Ruth Ayres, Director of Strategy and Marketing
What is your role?
Director of Strategy and Marketing for DIGO.
Why are you well positioned for it?
I have over 20 years of experience at top advertising agencies such as DDB, TBWA and Lowe. My pitch portfolio includes enduring brand ideas such as “Hey, You Never Know” for the New York State Lottery, “Work Hard, Fly Right” for Continental Airlines, “Way to Shop” for Macy’s and “Can You Hear Me Now” for Verizon Wireless. I have developed innovative methods for understanding consumers, including the original Women’s Research Initiative that eventually became Just Ask a Woman. I have worked with my colleagues at DIGO to develop a powerful social media measurement tool and to help the agency rewrite the book on creative strategy in a social world.
What is your passion?
Cooking, rescuing dogs, jumping horses, yoga and, most of all, my high school sweetheart and husband of many years, Eddie. (more…)
Ruth’s Spirit Animal Reports
It began innocently enough at a staff meeting. Someone mentioned spirit animals and I asked what a spirit animal was. After hearing all about the custom of embracing an animal totem to protect one’s spirit, something wonderful happened. I started to see images of my DIGO colleagues coupled with their spirit animals. So, for fun, I started issuing Ruth’s Spirit Animal Report. There’s no particular order or timing to this missive. The intuitions come spontaneously and I share them as I receive them.
Not so strange, really. I believe we all have access to universal truth and the more comfortable we get with the idea of our access the more access we get.
So enjoy this “alternate” look at wonderful spirits of DIGO.
Love you madly,
Ruth
Welcome to DIGO
New York City based DiMassimo Goldstein (DIGO) was founded by Mark DiMassimo in 1996. DiMassimo had created pioneering digital and interactive programs for blue chip clients, led creative on some of the most successful launches of all time, and risen to the top of the direct marketing world. He then jumped to a top creative position at a boutique hot-shop and in three years helped build it into a thriving mid-sized integrated powerhouse. Launching with one employee (a strategist), DiMassimo quickly became the fastest growing agency in the U.S. Working with visionary clients on innovative business models, the agency evolved a unique approach that reflects the world of the consumer while standing the priorities of the holding companies on their heads. At DIGO, every dollar is put to work building client business in a measurable way. One of the country’s top PR brains vets every campaign idea for story value. Brand and business building at this thriving independent includes strategy, research, brand development, design, innovation, advertising, direct, digital, and social marketing
Comments (0) »Marilyn Marsh, Brand Director
What is your role?
Brand Director for DIGO.
Why are you well positioned for it?
My career started at big agencies, where I worked on breakfast cereal, laundry detergent, giant corporate image accounts. I saw the light and found my way to health care and financial services, B2C and B2B. I say with pride that I am now in my ninth year of working with client Memorial Sloan-Kettering, both here at DIGO and at their previous agency.
I am passionate about my clients and working collaboratively with them to achieve great things. It’s always been important to me to develop an in-depth understanding of my clients’ businesses, and the dynamics at work in their industries and their organizations. That’s the only way we can become true partners in the long term. I’m delighted to add that my colleagues at DIGO share this attitude.
I’ve been a client. I’ve worked at agencies, big, small and in between. The perspective one gains from seeing issues from every angle is invaluable.
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Steve Dolan, Director of Client Fulfillment
What is your role?
As Director of Client Fulfillment, I lead the Brand Management team and certain accounts. I’m responsible for our client fulfillment systems and processes. Ultimately, I’m here to ensure that DIGO delivers on every promise.
Why are you well positioned for it?
I lucked out by being the youngest of four in a family of exceptional (and diverse) talent, extreme devotion and brilliant lunacy. In other words, I’m home at DIGO.
My career began at boutique direct marketer The Sloan Group in New York, where I drove business to the Bank One, Chase and Hudson United Bank accounts. Then I moved to direct agency giant Draft, where I helped build their largest business, Verizon (focusing on the national launch of FiOS, their fiber optic product). After Verizon, I joined the new Citi Cards team when DRAFTFCB won the business — launching the flagship account under the new DRAFTFCB agency model.
What else? Oh, well, my trailblazing dance moves and strict liberal arts background certainly help.
Business Leaders On Leadership
SuperJob4U.com
“I have a simple management philosophy. If you treat your employees well, they will take care of your customers and your business.” - Dan Amos, CEO, AFLAC
“My most powerful technique is to tell everyone who works here that one of their main responsibilities and obligations as an employee is to constantly challenge the status quo and relentlessly work to improve whatever product, process, or system they may use to get their work done.” - Chip Perry, CEO, AutoTrader.com
‘The Apprentice’ Without TV, Trump or a High-Salary Job
The New York Times
Sixteen people competed fiercely on national television for a chance to become Donald Trump’s apprentice. After all, even the losers received national television exposure, and the winner was rewarded with a job paying $250,000 a year.
Less clear is why 27 unemployed people would spend nearly a month competing for a $40,000-a-year entry-level job as a junior programmer in the Jersey City offices of Maple Securities U.S.A.
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Comments (0) »The thrill to shill
Time Out New York
By Reed Tucker
Americans have done a lot of crazy crap in the name of reality game shows. Some have eaten animal testicles. Others have made out with Evan Marriott. Still others have camped out with Melissa Rivers. But last month, eight recent college grads agreed to spend five straight days living and working at a downtown ad agency in hopes of taking home the game’s spoils: the opportunity to bust your ass for 60 hours a week while earning less than 30 grand. At least on The Price Is Right, Bob Barker sends you home with a nice dinette set.
When DiMassimo Brand Advertising had a position to fill, a few employees hatched the idea for “Account Executive Survivor.” Eight hungry youths would compete for the job. The contestants, who were selected from more than 200 applicants, spent the week working in teams on actual projects for actual agency clients, including Comcast and the Plaza hotel.
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In Trying Times, Many Ways To Ask, Will You Hire Me?
The New York Times
By Christopher S. Stewart
Jobless for two years now, Michael Walker has sent out roughly 2,400 resumes, gone on 18 interviews with no offers and drained both his savings account and his 401(k). “I have a standing offer that I’ll pay $2,000 cash to the person who refers me to a full-time job,” said Mr. Walker, a software engineer from Seattle who is in his 40’s.
Before being laid off, Mr. Walker worked for Honeywell and made $105,000 a year; now he is applying for internships, offering his 22 years of professional experience free. So far, there have been no takers. “I’m seriously considering standing by the freeway off-ramp with a sandwich board that says ‘Software Engineer Wants Job—Will Work Cheap,’” he said. “It would be a long shot, but at this point I have nothing left to lose.”
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