Driving up to the Sears Roebuck & Co. corporate headquarters in Hoffman Estates can be, well, rather like skipping through the poppies and suddenly coming up against the Emerald City. It’s a granite-and-glass city unto itself; make no mistake, you are here to see the great and powerful.
Wizards like John H. Costello, senior executive vice president/general manager, marketing. Costello is responsible for all marketing, advertising, direct response and public affairs functions for the 110-year-old retailer, which generates $38 billion in sales. In 1996, Advertising Age magazine named Costello one of the 50 most influential people in marketing.
He skis, he golfs, he lives in Lake Forest. And he is a tireless thinker for the 51-year-old National Multiple Sclerosis Society.
“My involvement with the MS Society goes back to the mid-1980s, when I was with Pepsi-Cola in New York,” says Costello, 49. “I was drawn to MS because of the need and because of the dedication of the volunteers. I had no personal connection with the disease when I got involved.”
Costello currently chairs the nominating committee for the national board and is the vice chair for the Chicago-Greater Illinois chapter’s board of development and serves on its executive committee.
His work hasn’t gone unnoticed. In 1996, he received the Norm Cohn Hope Award, the highest honor presented by the National MS Society to an individual who has demonstrated commitment and leadership in generating resources. He was also given the Executive Leader Award by the Chicago Chapter of the National Society of Fund Raising Executives; it recognizes those who have demonstrated a high degree of corporate responsibility and philanthropy.
He mostly does behind-the-scenes work for the MS Society, directing plans and establishing marketing contacts. His work for the Chicago-Greater Illinois offers an example. “What we’re trying to do,” he explains, “is offer the personalization of a local chapter that knows its community better than anyone else, with the economies of scale and fundraising power of a large national organization.”
Beyond Costello’s time commitment, MS Society officials appreciate his skills.
“I think the world of John,” says Steven Pratapas, president of the Chicago-Greater Illinois Chapter. “From a marketing point of view, he just has great ideas,” including tying product sales to fundraising. “We would hope that someday he’d be the chairman of our board here. For organizations like ours, discretionary time is so valuable, so when you find someone like John, you reap great benefits. You can’t do much better.”
Costello prefers to share the accolades. “I’m really in awe of the full-time staff of the MS Society,” he says. “They’ve in essence dedicated their lives to the cure and made personal sacrifices to do that.”
At Sears, Costello has been instrumental in getting the company involved with marketing programs to help the MS Society and other charitable groups. “It’s a way to strengthen Sears’ top-of-mind awareness with our consumers but also a way to connect with our local communities,” he says.
Costello adds that one of Sears’ new strategies is putting increased emphasis on in-kind sponsorships, in which companies provide services in addition to donations. “We’re really tapping into the products and services they sell,” he says. “For example, Keebler has donated snacks during the MS Super Cities Walk. Because of my position at Sears, I’m also very involved in opening doors to corporations using my contacts with other business leaders.”
He has also helped recruit Sears employees for local MS events and other volunteer activities. Paula Davis of Chicago, manager of media relations at Sears, attends events such as walkathons and luncheons. “What’s special is you’re helping people,” she says. “That’s the basic good feeling you walk away with. That’s probably a selfish thing, but as small a part as you may be appearing to play, every contribution helps.”
MS afflicts an estimated 300,000 Americans. It’s not fatal or contagious, and life expectancy is only slightly less than the national average, but it remains profoundly unpredictable and frightening. A chronic disease of the central nervous system, MS causes nerve fibers’ protective tissues (myelin sheaths) to get damaged. Proper functioning of the central nervous system is thereby interrupted and distorted. Physical complications that may occur include visual disorders, speech abnormalities, movement problems, numbness and tingling, altered mental conditions or spasticity. A steady progression is not necessarily the case; indeed, some patients have an initial attack and no recurrence afterward.
Dr. Floyd Davis, a professor of neurology at Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke’s Medical Center in Chicago, talks about the light near the end of the tunnel. He points to a drug called Betaseron introduced in 1993 and a second variety that came out in 1996, both of which slow the frequency of flareups. More promising drugs are on the horizon, including one that “turns nerves back on,” he says.
Davis pays tribute to Costello. “I know John very well. He’s done a tremendous job with the MS Society,” he says. “Without that organization and others like it, none of these advances could have occurred. The MS Society raises funds at a very healthy clip. John is at the cutting edge, really one of the spearheaders of that board.”
Costello is truly a veteran volunteer. “I have had a long-term commitment to community service that goes back to the early part of my career with Proctor & Gamble in the 1970s,” he explains. “Beyond focusing on family and career, I have always carved out time to work with local and national groups.” He has three sons: Michael, 18; Jeffrey, 16, and Mathew, 12.
His current lineup of volunteer activities is decidedly impressive. Costello serves on the boards of the Advertising Council and the Northeastern Illinois Boy Scouts, among others.
Paula Davis sums up Costello’s commitment: “It’s a very touching thing. John’s very modest. He’s commuting all over the place to be somewhere. I have to tell you, he gives 110 percent. He could have three important meetings lined up afterwards, but while he’s at that luncheon, he’s there.”
Still carving out time.
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The 16th annual MS 150 Ride to the Rock, from Lisle to Starved Rock State Park in Ottawa, is June 21-22; call 800-922-0484. For more information on MS, contact the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Chicago-Greater Illinois Chapter, 600 S. Federal St., Suite 204, Chicago, Ill. 60605 (312-922-8000 or 800-922-0484); the National Information Resource Center at 800-FIGHT-MS; or the National Information Line at 800-LEARN-MS.
