Linda Kaplan Thaler

Linda Kaplan Thaler (born 1951) is an American advertising and non-fiction writer, and chair of the ad agency Publicis Kaplan Thaler.^[1] She has written and composed advertising jingles such as: “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). She is responsible for the “Yes, Yes, Yes” Herbal Essences campaign, and her agency created the well known Aflac duck advertising. In 1997, she founded the Kaplan Thaler Group, which merged with Publicis New York in July 2012 to form Publicis Kaplan Thaler.

Education and career

A native New Yorker, Kaplan Thaler graduated from The Bronx High School of Science in 1968. She studied at CCNY, earning a BS in psychology and later a Master of Music from the same institution. She is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa honors society. Prior to founding the Kaplan Thaler Group, she was Executive Vice President, Executive Creative Director at Wells Rich Greene BDDP. Before that, she spent 17 years at JWT, where she held the post of Senior Vice President, Group.

Kaplan Thaler has worked on several presidential campaigns. In 1992, she was a member of the Clinton/Gore advertising team, and a member of Bill Bradley’s^[2] in 2000. Most recently, she worked on Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign.

Writing

Kaplan Thaler has co-authored three best-selling books: Bang! Getting Your Message Heard in a Noisy World, The Power of Nice: How to Conquer the Business World with Kindness'," The Power of Small: Why Little Things Make All the Difference and "Grit to Great: How Perseverance, Passion and Pluck Take You from Ordinary to Extraordinary."

Television

In 2005, Kaplan Thaler hosted the Oxygen television series,Making It Big where young professionals competed for their dream job. To launch the show, she starred in a series of promotional commercials, which received the 2006 American Women in Television & Radio Gracie Allen Award for Outstanding Commercial Campaign. She has also appeared on Donald Trump’s “The Apprentice” as a judge.^[3]

Achievements

Kaplan Thaler has received: the New York Women in Communications Matrix Award, the Advertising Woman of the Year Award from Advertising Women of New York, the UJA’s Mac Dane Humanitarian Award, the Women’s Leadership Exchange’s Compass Award and the Girl Scout’s Woman of Distinction Award. Of her 13 Clio Awards, two were for Best Original Music and Lyrics. She was also the first woman in advertising to receive the New York Women in Film and Television’s Muse Award.^[4] In 2010/2011, Kaplan Thaler served as the New York Women in Communications'^[5] President. She currently sits on the Advisory Council for The Colin Powell Center^[6] at CCNY and is a member of the Advisory Board for the Branding and Integrated Communications master's degree program at CCNY.

Publications

• Bang! Getting Your Message Heard in a Noisy World. Random House. 2003. 
• The Power of Nice: How to Conquer the Business World with Kindness. Random House. 2006. 
• The Power of Small: Why Little Things Make All the Difference. Doubleday. 2009. 

References