Linda Kaplan Thaler has been responsible for some of the most touching, relevant and famous commercials during her 25 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. 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 13 Clio Awards, two were for Best Original Music and Lyrics.

Today, Linda is the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Creative Officer of The Kaplan Thaler Group, which she founded in 1997. KTG has been ranked by industry publications as the fastest-growing New York agency and touted for its breakthrough creative and immediate results. Its blue-chip clients include Procter & Gamble's Clairol Herbal Essences, Dawn and Swiffer, Aflac, Continental Airlines, Marshalls, Pfizer, Foxwoods Resort Casino, Office Depot, Outback Steakhouse, the American Red Cross, Revlon, U.S. Bank and Trojan.

Linda and her agency are responsible for some of the most memorable advertising in America. The hilarious quacking Aflac Duck campaign is just one of the agency's cherished accomplishments. The Clairol's Herbal Essences campaign has not only had a measurable impact on product sales (making Herbal Essences the number-two shampoo on the market) but continues to influence pop culture.

As the coauthor of BANG! Getting Your Message Heard in a Noisy World, Linda has created a savvy marketing book with counterintuitive insights and proven strategies for selling any product or service. BANG! debuted as a Wall Street Journal best-selling business book and received rave reviews, from James Patterson to James Carville to Publishers Weekly to the Miami Herald. BANG! has been covered and reviewed by local and national TV, print and Web outlets including "Good Morning America," CNBC's "Kudlow and Cramer" and CNN. Harvard Business School and Yale have included BANG! as a recommended read.

Last year, Linda starred as the host of Oxygen's new television series called "Making It Big" where young professionals competed for their dream job. To launch the show, Linda created a promotional campaign which has won the 2006 Gracie Allen Award for Outstanding Commercial Campaign. Linda has also appeared on Donald Trump's "The Apprentice" as an advertising expert.

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 that 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 17 years. In this position, she ran major accounts like Burger King, Kodak, Northwest Airlines, Pepsi and Clairol.

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'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 films "Walk This World Together" and "I Need You Now" (written with her husband, Fred Thaler) for the United Jewish Appeal, seen around the world at fundraisers, conferences and other high profile venues.
* Being a member of the Clinton/Gore 1992 advertising team and creating several emotional ads on their behalf.

Linda's many achievements have garnered awards from:

* New York Women in Communication's Matrix Award for Advertising (2000)
* 2004 UJA Mac Dane Humanitarian Award
* Women's Leadership Exchange Compass Award (2005)
* Advertising Women of New York's "Advertising Woman of the Year" Award (2001)
* The YWCA's Academy of Women Achievers
* Advertising Age's "100 Best & Brightest Women"
* Crain's "100 Most Influential Women in Business"

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
* Co-creating 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-70's

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. Married to composer Fred Thaler, Linda's personal pride is their two children. Their beautiful daughter, Emily, is eleven and their fourteen-year-old son, Michael, is a three-time National Elementary School U.S. Chess Champion. A book about his chess prowess was published by Little Brown, and is titled, Opening Moves, The Making of a Chess Champion.


Robin Koval has been a driving force in the advertising world for over 20 years. A marketing strategist and new products expert, her experience spans almost every category from beauty and beverages to distilled spirits and pharmaceuticals. Her successes include the daring "Yes, Yes, Yes" of Herbal Essences and the Aflac Duck quack heard round the world. Simply put, Robin helps marketers get noticed. While her mark has been on the management side, her roots are creative, having begun her career as a graphic designer. She has made an art form out of problem solving and making her client's sales skyrocket.

Robin is the President of The Kaplan Thaler Group and is responsible for the general management of the agency including client services, strategic development, and new business and KTG's Buzz unit. A founding member of the agency with Linda Kaplan Thaler, she has helped KTG grow from a fledgling start-up to $1 billion dollars in billings.

KTG has been ranked by industry publications as the fastest-growing New York agency and touted for its breakthrough creative and immediate results. Its blue-chip clients include Procter & Gamble, Aflac, Continental Airlines, Pfizer, Revlon, Church & Dwight, Foxwoods Resort Casino, Office Depot, Outback Steakhouse and U.S. Bank.

The agency's award-winning Aflac Duck campaign created 91% household recognition in record time, and its "Totally Organic Experience" campaign transformed Clairol's Herbal Essences from a nearly extinct brand into the number-two position in the country.

In 2003, Robin co-authored BANG! Getting Your Message Heard in a Noisy World with Linda Kaplan Thaler. BANG! debuted as a Wall Street Journal best-selling business book and received rave reviews from James Patterson to James Carville and Publishers Weekly to the Miami Herald. BANG! has been covered and reviewed by local and national TV, print and web outlets including "Good Morning America," CNBC's "Kudlow and Cramer" and CNN. Harvard Business School and Yale have included BANG! as a recommended read.

Robin joined KTG from Interpublic's Gotham Inc., where she was Executive Vice President, Group Account Director responsible for the agency's health and beauty aids and pharmaceuticals business. While at Gotham, she ran many of the agency's EFFIE award-winning businesses including Clairol and numerous Bristol-Myers Squibb brands. Prior to Gotham, Robin was at Campbell Mithun Esty, where she worked on Tambrands. She began her career at Benton & Bowles.

Robin earned a BFA from Syracuse University and an MBA from Baruch College.

In 2002, Robin was inducted into the YWCA's Academy of Women Achievers. She has served on the board of the Westchester Arts Council. She is an adjunct professor at New York University.

When she's not figuring out how to solve her clients' problems, she takes to the ice as an accomplished figure skater.

Robin lives in Chappaqua, New York, and is married to Kenneth Koval, Associate Executive Director of Bellevue Hospital Center. Their daughter, Melissa, is a student at NYU.

Show full bio

Hide full bio