Mastercourse: Humanizing Growth and Sustainable Marketing

Working for TrendsActive as their Head of inspiration, I help organizations to human-proof their future. We do so by synthesizing sociocultural trends, two decades of research from the human sciences, and vast amounts of big data into the TrendsActive Trend model. This enables us to understand the human context in its full glory and inform strategic decision-making at the highest level.

Besides working for TrendsActive, I’m proudly responsible for managing a community of +350 global CMOs at the Institute for Real Growth. As the eyes and ears of the community, I aim to inspire them with relevant content and connect them to their peers.

The IRG runs a state-of-the-art leadership program for the best CMOs in the world to help them drive humanized growth – creating value for all stakeholders: consumers, colleagues, communities, and capital markets. The IRG100 Leadership Program curriculum is based on the most comprehensive study on business growth ever: 500 interviews with senior business leaders, over 5000 online survey contributions from 73 countries, an AI analysis of over 3,500 publications and behavioral research of publicly available LinkedIn data from over 800 million connections across 3 million employees.

I am a lifelong learner. I love simplicity and prefer depth over breadth, especially with people. Sometimes described as “Dutch direct,” I am known to be frank, passionate, pragmatic, and highly results oriented.

My role as a thought and sparring partner has afforded me the privilege of working closely with CEOs and CMOs, guiding them on humanized growth journeys across diverse companies such as Anheuser-Busch InBev, AkzoNobel, GSK, Mondelez, Arla, ING, and WD-40.

In 2019, I co-founded the Institute for Real Growth—an independent, not-for-profit organization dedicated to empowering senior growth leaders. Through innovative live-action programs inspired by thought leadership, we connect these leaders with peers and experts, fostering an environment conducive to more humanized growth strategies.

My contributions extend beyond the boardroom, having co-authored two cover articles in the Harvard Business Review. The 2016 piece, ‘Building an Insights Engine,’ and the 2014 best-selling issue, ‘The Ultimate Marketing Machine,’ have left a lasting impact. Additionally, my most recent work, the Da Vinci CMO article, was featured in FAST Company.

I am an author with several books to my credit, including the bestselling ‘The Global Brand CEO.’ Recognized as an inspirational keynote speaker, I have been invited to address prestigious events such as Cannes Lions, BrandWeek, ESOMAR, the MMA, the ARF, and PMRG.

Beyond my professional pursuits, I serve as a non-executive Board member for Fresh Forces, contributing to the strategic direction of the organization. My home is in the Amsterdam area of the Netherlands, where I reside with my family.

Guy van Liemt RM is bedrijfseconoom en marketing professional. Guy heeft onder andere bij Shell, Unilever en Procter & Gamble gewerkt. Sinds eind 2007 is hij werkzaam als strategisch marketing, marketingcommunicatie en branding adviseur. Hij is o.a. directeur bij EHERO, Erasmus Happiness Economics Research Organization, register Marketeer en Lid College van Register Marketeers, auteur van het boek ‘Marketingcommunicatie in 14 stappen’ en initiator, trainer en programmamanager van de NIMA Mastercourse Marketingcommunicatie.