BIO

J. Walker Smith is the Knowledge Lead for the global consulting and strategy practices of Kantar. Walker has been described by Fortune as “one of America’s leading analysts on consumer trends.” He is co-author of four highly regarded books, a blogger, a former Marketing Management and Marketing News columnist, and a former public radio commentator. He is a 2021 inductee into the Market Research Council Hall of Fame and the 2020 recipient of the AMA’s Charles Coolidge Parlin Award for outstanding contributions to the field of market research. He is a 2012 inductee into the N.C. Journalism and Media Hall of Fame. In 2014 and 2015, he won the WPP Atticus Award for Strategy and in 2013 for Consumer Insights. Walker holds a doctorate from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.