Executive Roundtable

The Kellogg Marketing Conference is thrilled and honored to kick-off this year’s Saturday session with a groundbreaking Executive Roundtable of top business leaders from diverse industries and functions. Discussing the topic “Marketing as Core Strategy”, these executives will talk to our full audience of students, alumni, and professionals about how they rely on marketing everyday to make decisions for their firms. In line with the 2010 Kellogg Marketing Conference’s overall theme “Stay Relevant: Don’t Just Keep Up, Move Ahead”, we hope this panel of keynotes helps professionals and students from every background gain a better understanding of how marketing strategy can help their firms be more competitive.

Rick Lenny (KSM ’77) served as Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of The Hershey Company, the leading manufacturer of quality confectionery and snack products, from 2001 through 2007. Prior to joining Hershey in 2001, Rick was President, Nabisco Biscuit Company and, following Kraft’s acquisition of Nabisco in 2000, Group Vice President of Kraft Foods. Rick joined Nabisco in 1998 from the Pillsbury Company where he was President of Pillsbury, North America. Prior to that, he spent 18 years at Kraft Foods, Inc. He is a graduate of Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management with an MBA with honors, in marketing and finance, and holds a bachelor’s degree, magna cum laude, from Georgia State University in Atlanta, Ga. 

Molly Battin (KSM ’98) serves as Senior Vice President of Turner Media Group, the Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. (TBS, Inc.) internal group responsible for media planning, buying and placement, creative production, marketplace trends and Turner asset management.  Battin is based in Atlanta and reports to Kelly Regal, executive vice president for Turner Broadcasting.

Drew Madsen is the President and Chief Operating Officer of Darden Restaurants. Darden is the world's largest full-service restaurant operating company with sales of more than $7.2 billion. The company owns and operates nearly 1,800 Red Lobster, Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, The Capital Grille, Bahama Breeze and Seasons 52 restaurants in North America, and employs 180,000 people who serve 400 million meals annually.

David W. Nelms is Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer of Discover Financial Services, and Chairman of Discover Bank.  He is actively involved in The Executives’ Club of Chicago, Junior Achievement of Chicago, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International, The Commercial Club of Chicago, the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, and the Young Presidents’ Organization.

Barbara Turf is the Chief Executive Officer and President of Crate and Barrel.  In this capacity, she oversees all operations and directs the company’s long term strategy, including international business development for Crate and Barrel and its retail divisions, CB2 and The Land of Nod .  Turf also directs the development of the company’s distinctive merchandising style and marketing voice. 
She is currently a member of the Economic Club of Chicago and previously served on the Board of Directors of Gucci and the AnnTaylor Stores Corporation.