Tim Calkins helps people and organizations use marketing strategy and branding to build strong and profitable businesses.
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. Tim also teaches bio-medical marketing, one of the few courses available in the world focused on marketing in the pharmaceutical and medical device industries.
Tim is co-academic director of Kellogg’s branding program. He teaches in many of Kellogg’s executive education programs including the Executive Development Program and the Kellogg Management Institute.
Tim is the author of Breakthrough Marketing Plans (Palgrave Macmillan, 2008) and co-editor of Kellogg on Branding (John Wiley & Sons, 2005). Tim has written numerous teaching cases including Crestor, MedImmune: FluMist Introduction and Eli Lilly: Xigris.
Tim has received numerous teaching awards. In 2006 he received Lawrence G. Lavengood Outstanding Professor of the Year Award, the top teaching award at the Kellogg School of Management. He has also received the Top Professor Award from the Kellogg Executive MBA Program and the Sidney J. Levy Teaching Award.
Tim joined the Kellogg faculty in 1998 as adjunct assistant professor of marketing. He became clinical associate professor of marketing in 2002, and assumed his current position in 2006.
In addition to teaching at Kellogg, Tim works with major corporations around the world on marketing strategy and branding issues. His recent clients include Abbott, Baxter and Northwestern Mutual Life. 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.
He is on the board of the Alliance Française de Chicago, the Lycée Français de Chicago and Teen Living Programs.
Tim began his career at Booz Allen and Hamilton, where he worked on strategy and marketing projects. He joined the marketing team at Kraft Foods in 1991. During his almost 11 years at Kraft, Tim led businesses including A.1. steak sauce, Miracle Whip, Taco Bell, Seven Seas and DiGiorno. While at Kraft Tim was responsible for the launch of more than two dozen new products.
Tim received his BA from Yale University in 1987 and his MBA from Harvard Business School in 1991.