Kimberly A. Whitler is currently an Instructor at Indiana University’s Kelley Business School, researching the role and contribution of the CMO. She is a Forbes contributor, has written for CMO.com, Ad Age, The CMO Council, PeerSphere, The Marketing Science Institute, Chief Marketer and HBR.org. She has published in leading academic journals, including The Journal of Retailing and the Academy of Management Journal and has presented at The CMO Club, the CMO Exchange, the American Marketing Association’s Educator’s Conference, and the Academy of Management Conference. Prior to this, Ms. Whitler spent nearly 20 years in Senior Marketing and General Management positions and has a track record of growing revenue and profitability behind focused business leadership and innovative marketing programs. She has helped create several programs that have won industry and national recognition, including: DMA Tempo Award, Effie, Ad Age’s Top 10 Ad Campaign, and Procter and Gamble’s Goldstein award. Ms. Whitler has served in executive positions within the Consumer Packaged Goods and Retailing industries, having worked both in the U.S. and abroad. She spent most of her career in brand management at Procter and Gamble, building brands like Tide, Zest, Era, Safeguard, Bounce, and Downy. More recently, she has served as the CMO of David’s Bridal, the country’s leading bridal apparel retailer, the CMO of Beazer Homes, a Fortune 500 company, and as an officer at PETsMART, the country’s largest pet specialty retailer.