CAREERS: Job interview

Name: Jim Rossi

Job: Chief marketing officer, XPO Network, operators of a global

interactive airport kiosk network

Age: I just crossed over the 40 mark, so I guess I’m 29 for life.

How did you get into marketing?

By accident. I was enrolled in law school and was working as a bored

paralegal. I had dinner at my friend’s dad’s house and we got into a

conversation where we brainstormed some crazy ideas, which he ended up

turning into a big business for one of his clients. I didn’t know it at

the time, but he was an infamous marketing guru who had worked for David

Ogilvy when it was a six-person shop. It had never occurred to me that I

grew up in a ’marketing ghetto’ until I realised that many of the

surnames of my classmates were the same as the names of many of the

large ad agencies in New York. I could see that this mad genius needed

help keeping things together, so I started working for him. He didn’t

start paying me until about two years later, but the education was

invaluable and I’m still in touch with many of the contacts I met during

that period.

How long have you been at XPO Network?

I’ve been advising since the business started (about five years ago) and

became more actively involved over the past year.

What’s keeping you busy?

Until now we have been primarily focused on perfecting our programme in

Heathrow, so we have been in one place. Now we are expanding to other

European cities, as well as the US, so I’m spending a lot of time

shuttling between New York, London and Phoenix.

What are the marketing challenges for XPO Network?

First, we are in the classic land-grab state right now. There are a

number of companies which look at airports and think they are a great

place to launch an interactive business. After five years of going at it

in the busiest airports in the world I’m sure they have no idea of what

they’re getting into, and I’m not sure I would suggest it, even to my

worst enemy.

What has been the high point of your career so far?

I spent two and a half years working on marketing for the Olympic Games

in Atlanta. Given what things looked like during that entire time, I

can’t believe what we pulled off.

And your most embarrassing moment?

Having the chairman of a client’s company say he hated the whole idea of

a major programme we developed when he walked in and saw the name and

logo on the opening slide of my presentation.

What individual has influenced you most in your career?

I once read a quote by Arnold Bernhardt where he said that he was glad

that his first job was exploitative, because he would have never

understood how far he would be able to go if he hadn’t been forced to go

beyond his limitations. That has got me through some very difficult

times.

What characteristics do you look for in the people you do business

with?

I prefer to work with people who don’t make it feel like work.

What do you do to unwind?

I have a small theatre troupe that performs ghost jaunts during the

month of October, and I find myself buying too much fresh produce at the

farmer’s markets, which forces me to undertake major cooking

projects.

CV

1982-1985: Vice-president, marketing, Robert Haydon Jones &

Associates

1985-1987: Marketing director, Xerox Learning Systems

1988 to 1996: Founded Rossi Marketing Services, which became Kelly/Rossi

Communications and then KRH Marketing Solutions after mergers in 1990

and 1992

1996 - 1999: Co-founded Mark-Net Partners

2000 - present: Chief marketing officer, XPO Network.

This article was first published on Marketing