Mark DiMassimo, C.E.O. of DIGO Brands, participated in a panel discussion at the SXSW Interactive Festival this week, entitled, “Tweeting On Weekends: Are We Becoming Socially Anti-Social?” Mark was there to discuss the insights and inspirations that led him to co-found the Offlining movement in 2010. Check out these beautiful visual notes taken during the forum by illustrator Sunni Brown.
Nation’s top respiratory hospital launches the second “We Never Say Never” television ad.
National Jewish Health in Denver, Colorado, named by U.S. News & World Report as the #1 respiratory hospital in the U.S., has released “Camping”, the second television ad in the “We Never Say Never” campaign launched earlier this year. This spot follows last month’s release of “Basketball”, the first television ad in the campaign aimed at growing the hospital’s national profile and expanding its reach.
The new 30-second ad follows a patient as she literally pushes the word “NEVER” aside, overcoming her breathing condition to go camping with her grandchildren. Like the first “Basketball” ad, this ad features the institution’s motto, “We never say never.”
“‘We never say never’ is the reason so many things that were once impossible are now routine, and it’s the reason that the intractable, the untreatable, the incurable and the unmanageable are routinely turned around at this leading academic medical center,” says Mark DiMassimo, DIGO CEO and Chief Creative Officer.
The 111-year-old institution is known worldwide for treatment of the most challenging patients and for groundbreaking medical research. Its renowned faculty integrate the latest scientific discoveries with a team approach to deliver unsurpassed medical care. Michael Salem, M.D., President and CEO of National Jewish Health, says, “When I heard the line ‘We never say never,’ I realized instantly that these four words describe what differentiates National Jewish Health. Patients hear a lot of ‘never’ out there. At National Jewish Health, we are committed to finding solutions where others have not. It’s enormously satisfying to know that we’re giving patients hope and life. National Jewish Health assigned the account to DIGO in July 2010 after a nationwide search. The current campaign encompasses television, radio, digital, newspaper, magazines and out of home. Media will run nationally.
“We have always been a national institution,” adds Salem. “Patients from around the country with respiratory, cardiovascular, immune and related diseases have come to Denver and National Jewish Health for 111 years.”National Jewish Health is known worldwide for treatment of patients with respiratory, cardiac, immune and related disorders, and for groundbreaking medical research.
Founded in 1899 as a nonprofit hospital, National Jewish Health remains the only facility in the world dedicated exclusively to these disorders. Since 1998, U.S. News & World Report has ranked National Jewish Health the #1 pulmonology hospital in the nation. DIGO Brands, founded in 1996 by Mark DiMassimo, is a brand-driven growth network. Our companies work together seamlessly to help ambitious organizations grow.
DIGO Brands have partnered with visionary leaders on many of the extraordinary growth successes of the past two decades. These include Comcast, Crunch Fitness, JetBlue, National Jewish Health, Island, ESPN, HBO, thinkorswim, Citi, Gateway, McKinsey, and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.
DIGO Brands includes DiMassimo Goldstein, a leading full-service brand, advertising, direct and digital agency; Proove Accountable Media; DIGO/Ericho public relations and social marketing, brand-driven content, entertainment and digital products; and the Tappening and Offlining movements.
Growth. Let’s begin with the end, with the goal: Growth. Improbable, competition-threatening, critic-silencing growth is our aim and our comfort zone. It is what our clients have come to expect. It starts with a brand story so large that the only way to live it out is to grow. And then a plan. We help you define what growth means for your organization. We help you to quantify and measure it. We help you define and test a theory of growth. Then, optimize it and roll it out. Rinse and repeat. At DIGO, the entire organization shares a singular measure of success – we succeed when our clients grow.
Driven. Growth is driven. Working side-by-side with a who’s who of world-changing entrepreneurs, we’ve learned that driving change is crucial to growth. Those in the driver’s seat at ambitious organizations appreciate our dashboard of growth-driving services. They rely on us to to explore and chart new frontiers of technology, media and culture through Brand-Driven Acquisition, Direct and Digital Marketing, Innovation, Product Development, Customer Marketing and Retention, Brand-Driven Conversations…
Brand. To make sense of life, to motivate themselves, and to guide choice in an increasingly complicated world, people need stories. Becoming one of those meaningful stories, through what you do and say, is the ultimate growth fuel. That’s brand. The art and science of building and bonding people to brands is the key to leadership, innovation and marketing in a changing world. DIGO provides brand-driven strategy, insights, naming, launching, re-launching, advertising…
In this world of screens, one might be tempted to put on a blindfold from time to time… but that can lead to bad trips. Instead, DIGO has devised new technology for agency initiative OFFLINING. New OFFcovers give your Attention Deficit Disorder a rest, and given as gifts, they send a wry hint to your screen-compulsed loved one. Coming soon for sale to the Offlining.com site, you’re reading about them here first. OFFLINING was founded by Mark DiMassimo and Eric Yaverbaum in order to you gently nudge yourself occasionally away from the screen. To read more visit www.OffliningInc.com.
Amanda Ingram feels the force. It’s her smart phone beckoning with messages. The only way she can keep in touch with her friends is through Facebook, she explains.“I don’t think it’s affecting my marriage … yet … but there are times that I feel like I have to check my texts when someone sends one,” she wrote, you know, in an e-mail. With society falling further under the spell of iPads, BlackBerries and other digital devices, two New York guys have decided it’s time to put them down and back away a little, if only for your sweetheart on Valentine’s Day. Eric Yaverbaum and Mark DiMassimo, who have made a career of using digital devices, are urging people to go “Offlining,” pledging to release their grip on their phones and other digital devices for 10 dinners. To read more click here.
by Ronit Herzfeld
The Huffington Post
February 10th, 2011
Last week my friend “Julie” and I finally went out to dinner. I had not seen her for a couple of months and we were particularly excited to have a chance to spend some quality time together. No sooner did we sit down at our table than out came her Blackberry. I felt a twinge in my chest, but held my tongue. A few minutes later, I was sharing some exciting news with her and heard that irritating text sound go off. She immediately reached out to check the message and began to respond. I suddenly felt invisible; it was as if I didn’t exist. When she finished, I asked her if there was an emergency or something critical that she needed to attend to. She said yes but gave me no further details. A few minutes later her text went off and she responded again. At that point I requested that — unless there was a life or death issue, I’d appreciate it if she turned her phone off. I could see how hard it was for her to let it go. It was clear to me that there was no emergency, and that my otherwise very sensitive and caring friend was at the mercy of this little gadget. We are all aware of how helpful, expedient and efficient our various technological devices can be. But what is not so clear is how they may be affecting our minds, our attitudes, and our relationships.
To read the full article click here.
Workingmother.com
February 7th, 2011
Gift of an Unplugged Valentine’s Day
The gift of intimate time with your loved one (minus the Blackberry, iPhone, iPad, laptop etc.) may be the best gift you can give this Valentine’s Day. The team at Offlining.com suggests that you take a pledge to have several offline dates by Valentine’s Day and is offering a box of chocolates ($24.99, Offlininginc.com) hand-cut to cradle your Offlined phone or mobile device.
Unplug and reconnect with your loved one to have one of the most memorable Valentine’s Days in years. Read more here.
Mark DiMassimo discusses the highs and lows of this years Superbowl commercials on Fox 5 New York evening news. To watch the clip, click the picture above or click here.
