Tim Calkins

Tim Calkins helps people build strong brands and businesses the strategic marketing. Tim is Clinical Professor of Marketing at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. He teaches Marketing Strategy, the most popular marketing elective in the Kellogg MBA program, and Bio-Medical Marketing, one of the few courses available in the world focused on marketing in the pharmaceutical and medical device industries. Tim teaches in a number of Kellogg’s executive education programs. He is co-academic director of Kellogg’s branding program. He is the author of three books: How to Wash a Chicken - Mastering the Business Presentation (2018), Defending Your Brand - How Smart Companies Use Defensive Strategy to Deal with Competitive Attacks (2012) and Breakthrough Marketing Plans (2008 and 2013). He has written teaching cases including Crestor, MedImmune: FluMist Introduction and Eli Lilly: Xigris. Tim has received numerous teaching awards. He received the Top Professor Award from the Kellogg Executive MBA Program in 2007 and 2009 and the Sidney J. Levy Teaching Award in 2008. In 2006 he received the Lawrence G. Lavengood Outstanding Professor of the Year Award, the top teaching award at the Kellogg School of Management. He received the award again in 2013. In addition to teaching at Kellogg, Tim works directly with major corporations around the world on marketing strategy and branding issues. His recent clients include Bayer, AbbVie and Eli Lilly. He is managing director of Class 5 Consulting, a marketing strategy firm. Tim is frequently cited by the media; he has been quoted in publications including Business Week, Newsweek, the Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times. He has appeared on NBC, CBS, ABC, Fox, and CNBC. Tim began his career at consulting firm Booz Allen and Hamilton, where he worked on strategy and marketing projects. He worked in marketing at Kraft Foods for almost eleven years. During his almost 11 years at Kraft, he led businesses including A.1. steak sauce, Miracle Whip, Taco Bell, Seven Seas and DiGiorno. While at Kraft he was responsible for the launch of more than two dozen new products. Tim received his BA from Yale and his MBA from Harvard.