dr. Carl Rohde

A professor and researcher of cultural sociology at the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands, Carl Rohde, is also an academic trendwatcher and director of Signs of Time, a chain of virtual trend research offices in Europe (and growing in the United States and Asia).

Rohde concerns himself mainly with the consumer, the civilian, but also with the employee and 'the enterprising self'. What does interest, irritate or fascinate him or her? What do they want to achieve? What are their soft spots and why? What kind of changes can we expect, and why? How can we detect possible mentality changes in the future, or make them plausible? What impact do they have on product development, marketing and marketing communication? Carl Rhode's presentations are based on research, usually on a European level. Special fields of interest are:

Generation research
How do social and cultural developments and trends work per generation (senior citizens, baby boomers, Generation X, Generation Next, Generation SEARCH, Nintendo Kids)

Gender research
How do certain social and cultural trends work out for men and women? Are men still the first sex? What do girls and boys of the new generation want do with their lives?

The digital revolution
The desires and needs in a contemporary stress society

Trend movements
Rohde translates the general results of his research and trend movements to different industrial segments, such as food, snacks and sweets, cars, fashion and magazines.

In 2003, Carl Rohde led the unique Cool World Hunt Project; 250 'cool hunters' questioned young people about what's cool in their cities and why. Rohde examined the results and translated them into clear guidelines on what to do or not to do in terms of communication, product development and marketing plans.

Important publications in English:

• 'The reception of Images and Symbols in International Advertising'. Rohde, C. and Burghoorn, A. ISOR, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
• 'Company Strategies for Social Responsiblity' Rohde, C. and Becchimanzi, B. Signs of the Time, Tilburg, The Netherlands, Milano, Italy - commercial report.
• 'Generation Next. An analysis of the habitus of a new generation in Northern Europe'. Rohde, C. Signs of the Time, Tilburg, The Netherlands - commercial report.
• 'Symbol Soup. The MTV Generation and its Symbols'. Rohde, C. and Plattel, A. Thames and Hudson, 1999.

Rohde writes for European news magazines and gives lectures at international conferences, corporate events, seminars and universitities.