Who we are
20+ years of helping businesses create value in a changing world.
We’ve always been curious about people.
TrendsActive was founded more than two decades ago from a simple observation: there was a wealth of knowledge about people, culture and society, but very little of it found its way into business.
Our roots lie in human behaviour, social science and creativity. We started TrendsActive to bridge those worlds, translating a deeper understanding of why people change into strategies, brands, products and experiences that matter.
Since then, we’ve worked with hundreds of organizations around the world. A lot has changed. Our fundamental belief hasn’t: value starts with people.
And that belief has only become more relevant. In a world shaped by technological acceleration, cultural change, fragmentation and declining trust, organizations need to understand the human context around them to stay meaningful.
That’s what we do. We bring the outside world in, combining human science, cultural intelligence, strategy and creativity to help organizations create value people actually recognize, trust and choose.
Understand people.Create value.Human-proof the future.
Team · A collective of experts in human behavior, culture and business
The people behind the work.
Kees Elands, Founder / strategy consultant
Kees’ purpose is to help ambitious leaders and brands to human-proof their business. In 2003 he founded TrendsActive, a trend consultancy enabling brands to become more human centric.
Kees consults global brands like
- Disney
- The Coca-Cola Company
- Asics
- Discovery Channel
- Swiss Life
- Vodafone
and many more.
Next to being the founder of TrendsActive, he is also initiator of the first academic trend master for executives at the University of Utrecht and is initiator of various trend studies and white papers on subjects like trust, meaning, visual culture & generations.
Kim Pillen, Socio-cultural consultant
Before Kim Pillen started as a trend consultant at TrendsActive, she worked for four years as a creative strategist at Dept. For brands such as Philips, bol.com, Beiersdorf, JBL, and the Consumers’ Association, she built (online) campaign, brand, and social media strategies. After four years, she decided that she wanted to better understand people and society in order to advise brands more effectively. That’s how she ended up at TrendsActive. Here, she can do what she loves most: digging into people’s needs and then working with brands to see how and where they can be relevant and meaningful.
Aljan de Boer, Head of inspiration / keynote speaker
Aljan has been widely recognized as an inspiring professional speaker on the critical trends that will shape society in the decades to come. He works as the Head of Inspiration at TrendsActive, a trend consultancy from the Netherlands using social science to human-proof business decision for brands like
- Disney
- Vodafone
- Hugo Boss
- ASR
- Rabobank
Next to his role at TrendsActive he is the Community Director at the Institute for Real Growth where he inspires and connects a global community of +400 CMOs.
He has been on the board of the Dutch Platform of Innovative Marketing for almost a decade. Regular speaker and moderator for the Dutch Marketing Awards and 3 times winner of the best of MIE.
Meera Radhoe, Socio-cultural research
Meera is a human insights researcher and speaker, specialising in Generation Z and socio-cultural trends. With a background in market research and fashion, she has a strong interest in contemporary culture, emerging subcultures and the changing mindsets of younger generations.
Through her work she explores the societal and cultural shifts shaping how people feel and behave. She is particularly passionate about understanding what drives Gen Z, how culture is evolving and what this means for the future of brands.
She has worked for brands such as:
- Stabilo
- ING
Nicola Baxter, Management / finance
Nicola Baxter has worked for over 17 years at GfK, after which she became Head of Finance and Managing Director at Brand Trust GmbH in Nuremberg, Germany. Since 2019, she manages the finances of TrendsActive. She holds an MBA from Technische Hochschule Nürnberg Georg Simon Ohm.
Sebastian Schäfer, Financial services
“Knowledge is power, but empathy pulls the switch.” I appreciate working toward a goal, work on my topics with passion, and steadfastly believe in what I do. I appreciate challenges, because they make me grow and improve. Creating strong brands may just be the greatest challenge that companies will have to face in the future: I believe the brand is the most underestimated sales driver. People don’t buy products, they buy emotions: a good feeling, security, joy, etc. This is what I am stepping up to do: To awaken real emotions with brands (emotions are energy in motion), which lead to unhesitating purchasing behavior, in other words less price sensitivity, a higher repeat purchase rate.
Ellen Steenbeek, Leadership & change
Driven by a passion for human development and a deep belief in the power of context, Ellen helps organizations and their leaders grow. As an organizational anthropologist, she is trained to understand behavior from multiple perspectives, always with a keen eye on how context shapes people and performance. Her mission: helping individuals and organizations thrive.
With over 30 years of experience in roles such as HR Director Leadership Development Director, trainer and coach, she brings both strategic and human insight to the table.
Shalina Schroeter, Business strategy
Shalina Schroeter is an expert in price enforcement strategies in saturated markets and their implementation. She also specialises in growth and behavioural economics.
Her industry expertise:
- FMCG | Retail | E-Commerce
- Fashion | Lifestyle | Sport | Cosmetics
- Banking | Insurance | Financial Services
Sjoerd Raaijmakers, Publishing & media
Sjoerd is a purpose-driven creative entrepreneur with over 20 years of strategic and operational executive expertise in the media, entertainment, and agency industries. He led VICE Media in Benelux and the EMEA region for 15 years. Sjoerd is skilled in strategy development, digitalization, and human-centered content development, production, distribution, and monetization.
Tabea Höllger, FMCG & sustainability
Tabea Höllger specializes in brand positioning in saturated markets and measuring brand success. One of her key areas of expertise is the FMCG sector, where she focuses on topics such as product launches and the impact of packaging.
Tabea sees herself as a bridge-builder at the intersection of the FMCG market, sustainable brand management, and emerging technologies. She firmly believes that knowledge transfer between these three perspectives is essential for successfully addressing the challenges of the future.
In addition, Tabea has established herself over many years as an expert in creating engaging and memorable brand experiences. She helps companies inspire their employees to embrace and champion the brand strategy.
After gaining experience in market and advertising research and spending time abroad in the United States and the Philippines, the trained business psychologist returned to BrandTrust in 2016.