Monday, December 18, 2006

John Costello Interview

John Costello, who recently joined Pay By Touch and currently serves as it's President of Consumer and Retail, and member of the Board of Directors chats with Susan Bratten from WebMaster Radio's DishyMix for an "very" interesting interview.

Anyone interested in learning more about the Hall of Fame marketer's career and insights will be riveted to their chair as Mr. Costello discusses his days at Sears, including the marketing industry's first rock n roll coup de'tat, (the signing of Phil Collins), his careers at Proctor Gamble, Home Depot, Yahoo, AC Nielsen, MVP.com, of course, Pay By Touch,...and why a man who could've had any job in the world, chose Pay By Touch as his next "hobby."



To listen, click here or the title of this post and enjoy a bit of the history behind what makes a marketing guru tick.

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About "Mr. John Costello"

John Costello joined Pay By Touch and its Board of Directors in September, 2006.

He brings more than 25 years of general management, retail and technology leadership to his work leading the companys biometric authentication and payment services, and spearheading its new personalized marketing and online businesses. Costello is best known for helping companies manage through high change environments.

Costello has been involved in some of the most visible business turnarounds and been associated with some of the most successful marketing campaigns including "Come See The Softer Side of Sears" and "You Can Do It. We Can Help." at The Home Depot.

He was most recently Executive Vice President of Merchandising and Marketing for The Home Depot, where he held responsibilities for the company's merchandising, marketing, advertising, and visual and store merchandising, public affairs, eCommerce and global sourcing, including the Company's sourcing offices in China and Mexico.

Costello joined The Home Depot in November 2002 as Executive Vice President & Chief Marketing Officer, and was promoted to assume responsibility for merchandising and global sourcing in August 2003. He led a major transformation of the merchandising, marketing, eCommerce and sourcing operations, and worked with the senior leadership team on long-term growth strategies.

Costello joined The Home Depot from Yahoo! where he served as Chief Global Marketing Officer. At Yahoo!, he worked with the CEO and senior leadership team on many of the strategies that are driving Yahoo's growth today. Prior to Yahoo!,

Mr. Costello was President and CEO of MVP.com, the Internet sporting goods and outdoor retailer, which he founded with John Elway, Michael Jordan and Wayne Gretzky.



He also served as President and Chief Operating Officer of Nielsen Marketing Research, USA, where he led a major restructuring of Nielsen's product line, customer service model and technology platform.



Costello served as Senior Executive Vice President of Sears from 1993 to 1998, and was a key member of the team that revitalized Sears with the "Softer Side of Sears" marketing campaign and increased focus on Sears' proprietary brands. He was an early leader of multi-channel retailing, and launched Sears.com and Sears' specialty catalog business to replace the "Big Book". He served as a member of Sears' Executive Committee and on the Board of Directors of Sears Canada.


Costello began his career at Procter & Gamble, where he held a number of senior marketing and brand management positions.





He also served as Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Pepsi-Cola, USA where he became a "front-line soldier" in the cola wars.

A frequent speaker on industry trends, Costello was named one of the 30 Most Influential People in Marketing by Advertising Age, one of the Top 10 Merchants by DSN Retailing Today and was elected to the Retail Marketing Hall of Fame in 1997.

He has sat on the Board of Directors for The Quaker Oats Company (NYSE) and The Bombay Company (NYSE), and the Direct Marketing Association, and is a current director of the American Film Institute (AFI), the Steppenwolf Theatre, and the Georgia Aquarium.

Costello is also a director and past chairman of both The Ad Council and the Association of National Advertisers, and chaired the selection committee for the 2006 inductees into the Advertising Hall of Fame.

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