Philadelphia Conference : Keynote Speaker

Linda Kaplan Thaler, CEO and Chief Creative Officer
Kaplan Thaler Group and Co-Author, The Power of Small

Linda Kaplan Thaler has been responsible for some of the most touching, relevant, and famous commercials during her twenty-four years in the advertising and entertainment business. She is acclaimed within the industry for her innovative and topical approach. Much of her work has become part of the American pop-culture landscape.

Today, Linda is the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Creative Officer of The Kaplan Thaler Group, Ltd., which she founded in 1997. KTG has been ranked by industry publications as New York?s fastest-growing agency and is touted for its breakthrough creative and immediate results. Its clients include Procter & Gamble's Clairol Herbal Essences global brand, among other Procter & Gamble haircare brands, as well as Procter & Gamble?s homecare products Dawn and Swiffer, AFLAC Insurance, Continental Airlines, Pfizer, the American Red Cross, Coldwell Banker, Panasonic, Pilot Pen, Ruby Tuesday, and Lane Bryant. Advertising Women of New York named Linda Kaplan Thaler 2001 Advertising Woman of the Year. Linda is currently being featured in the prestigious Wall Street Journal Creative Leaders campaign, known for honoring the brightest and the best creative talent in the business.

Prior to starting The Kaplan Thaler Group, Linda was Executive Vice President/Executive Creative Director at Wells Rich Greene BDDP, where she led the creative team, which won the Heineken business with the edgy "True Conversations" campaign.

Linda was Senior Vice President/Group Creative Director at J. Walter Thompson, where she spent seventeen years. In this position, she ran major accounts like Burger King, Kodak, Northwest Airlines, Pepsi and Clairol.

She has authored and composed campaign jingles that are among the industry's gold standard. Some examples are: "I Don't Wanna Grow Up, I'm a Toys 'R' Us Kid" (Toys "R" Us). "Kodak Moments" (Eastman Kodak), and "The Heart of Communication" (Bell Atlantic). Of her thirteen Clio Awards, two were for Best Original Music and Lyrics.

Linda's creative vision of how traditional advertising is expanding is exemplified in her agency's unique positioning as an advertising/entertainment company. For example, in 1998 the Kaplan Thaler team executive-produced the CBS Christmas Eve TV special "Real Life Miracles" for the American Red Cross (a first in the organization's 117-year history).

Linda and her agency are responsible for some very memorable current campaigns. The hilarious quacking AFLAC duck campaign for AFLAC Insurance, which includes creative promotional tie-in campaigns, is just one of the agency's cherished accomplishments. The Clairol's Herbal Essences campaign, now in its sixth year, has not only had a measurable impact on product sales (making Herbal Essences the number-two shampoo on the market) but continues to both amuse and provoke with its "Yes! Yes! Yes!" shower experience.

Linda's sense of community responsibility has extended into many arenas, from her support of charitable groups to political campaigns, including:

• The emotional song and film "Don't Turn Away," which raised money for Rwandan refugees and was viewed in more than 5,000 theaters nationwide.
• The dramatic film "Walk This World Together" (written with her husband, Fred Thaler) for the United Jewish Appeal, seen around the world at fund-raisers, conferences, and other high-profile venues.
• Being a member of the Clinton/Gore 1992 advertising team and creating several emotional ads on their behalf.
• Her agency's involvement in the Bill Bradley 2000 presidential campaign team, including a two-minute bio that was broadcast nationwide.

In addition to receiving the AWNY's 2001 Woman of the Year Award in February 2002, Linda's many achievements have garnered awards from:

• The YWCA's Academy of Women Achievers
• Advertising Age's "100 Best & Brightest Women"
• Crain's "100 Most Influential Women in Business"

She is particularly proud of winning the prestigious Women in Communications 2000 Matrix Award for Advertising and of her most recent achievement, being named AWNY's Advertising Woman of the Year for 2001.

True to the company's charter, Linda's talents and experience go far beyond the advertising world. She has been involved in:

• The writing and composing of a number of theatrical and television projects.
• Acting in several off-off-Broadway shows.
• Cocreating the theme song for the Emmy-nominated ABC children's television special "Room to Grow."
• She also performed in a comedy troupe in the mid-1970s.

A native New Yorker, Linda was a Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude graduate of CCNY, with a BA in psychology and a master's degree in music. She is married to composer Fred Thaler, and her personal pride is her two children. Linda and Fred's beautiful daughter, Emily, nine, and their twelve-year-old son, Michael, who is a National Elementary School U.S. Chess Champion. A book about his chess prowess was published by Little Brown, and is titled Opening Moves.

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