The former top marketing executive at The Home Depot Inc. has joined Aspen Marketing Services’ board of directors.
John Costello will serve on West Chicago, IL-based Aspen’s board along with CEO Patrick O’Rahilly and chief marketing officer Cathy Lang; chairman Rich Aube and Bryan Martin, both executives from D.E. Shaw; GRS Partners co-founder Renny Smith; and Philip Riese, formerly of American Express Co.
Aspen Marketing handles marketing services for clients like at&t Inc., Georgia-Pacific, General Motors Corp., Hewlett-Packard, JVC, Kraft, Mutual of Omaha, Honeywell, Omaha Steaks and Motorola.
The agency offers services including event marketing, direct marketing, promotions, public relations, interactive marketing, data analytics and strategic planning.
A 600-person shop, Aspen Marketing also has offices in Atlanta; Detroit; Los Angeles; Dallas; Phoenix; Birmingham, AL; Tampa, FL; and Morristown, NJ, and New York via its recent acquisition of direct marketing and PR agency DVC.
Mr. Costello this year departed Home Depot, Atlanta, after serving as executive vice president of merchandising and marketing at the nation’s No. 2 retailer and the top home furnishings chain.
The 25-year marketing veteran was responsible for marketing, merchandising, e-commerce and sourcing at Home Depot.
He also repositioned the brand — the tag line, “You Can Do It. We Can Help,” was under his watch — and also boosted direct marketing, in-store merchandising and partnerships with the Olympics, NASCAR and Trading Spaces show.
Mr. Costello previously was chief global marketing officer at Yahoo. He started his career at consumer packaged goods giant Procter & Gamble Co.
