Jakob van het Kaar

During my career I have always been passionate about helping clients to resolve business issues in different areas like Innovation, CX/UX and branding/ communication, using different processes and tools like Design Thinking, Creative Idea generation, Creation of Persona, Concept development and Customer Journey mapping. This involved the identification of insights - where my qualitative expertise was crucial (ethnography, focus groups, interviews, online platforms, trend observation) - and business opportunities, as well as the generation and development of strategic solutions and concepts. The integration and application of quantitative data helped me to put a value of the detected gaps and evaluate different concepts before launching on the market. I have been able to apply by managing accounts in different sectors like FMCG, Services (Financial, Technology), Alcohol & Tobacco, Utilities, Social, Industrial manufacturing. Furthermore, I keep in touch with the academic realm by lecturing at different Business Universities, like IE (Instituto de Empresa), Pompeu Fabra and Ramón Llull (IQS).

Companies

• Professor IE Business School (2013)
• Associate Director (Qualitative, Innovation, Design Thinking) TNS (2009)
• Associate Director Research International (1997 — 2009)
• Research Assistant CSIC Spanish National Research Council (1996 — 1997)

Education

• MA, Human Geography University of Amsterdam (1990 - 1996)
• Nassau (1985 — 1990)
• Menorah (1976 — 1984)
• Universidad Autónoma de Madrid