Zeitgeist researcher Kirstine Fratz: Finding and using trends for business
Kirstine Fratz is the leading Zeitgeist expert in Germany. She says, “Learn about Zeitgeist dynamics and become an enlightened zeitgeist participant!” What does that mean? The cultural scientist and zeitgeist consultant talks about this in her lectures and consulting sessions in companies that want to strike a chord in the product and marketing area.
Kirstine Fratz – Zeitgeist as a driving force for business?
Zeitgeist in business? Yes, says Kirstine Fratz and proves all doubters wrong. What is that, this spirit of the age, a term that at first glance seems to be of a fine spiritual nature which most of us would rather attribute to philosophy or poetry. In fact, the word Zeitgeist first appeared in a work by the poet and philosopher Johann Gottfried Herder in 1769. Since then, Zeitgeist has circulated, been criticized and applauded, but it has not yet appeared in business.
Kirstine Fratz has dedicated herself to researching the spirit of our time and developed the Zeitgeist perspective: “Zeitgeist is the most powerful and creative intelligence in our culture,” she says. “Zeitgeist is a temporary promise for a successful life. Zeitgeist, as the word implies, transforms with time. It is precisely in this that it reveals its fascinating, evolutionary intelligence, usually hidden from the naked eye.”
Victor Hugo once said, “Nothing is so powerful as an idea whose time has come.”
Identify and capitalize on untapped potential and trends
Businesses need to find that momentum to tackle new products and ways to market them with the perfect timing, preferably before consumers even realize what’s going on. For Kirstine Fratz, Zeitgeist is an “evolutionary intelligence that keeps offering us new, as yet untapped potential.”
Her clear message: “Learn to master personal and professional play with the forces of time – and you will win!” So, Zeitgeist has something to do with trends and the ability to recognize the signs of the times and trends. It involves questions such as: What are the trends of the future? What will people spend their money on in the future? What topics will occupy the financially strong middle tomorrow?
Zeitgeist as a compass for success
Kirstine Fratz doesn’t have a crystal ball either, but she explains in a practical way how Zeitgeist can be interpreted and what a successful life of the future might look like. “Zeitgeist,” she says, “is something like the compass for our lives: It shows us the way and no one can avoid it. Zeitgeist suggests what exactly makes for a successful life: successful children, healthier lives, eternal youth or undying beauty – it’s almost impossible to escape the Zeitgeist dynamic.”
When companies understand how to harness the Zeitgeist for themselves, they are a whole lot closer to success.
Kirstine Fratz helps companies to learn to read the signs of the times and to derive successful, promising ideas from them. In her presentations, she talks about futurology and think tanks, the changes in society and how companies can take advantage of them, (global) trends and innovation, storytelling or future generations and lifestyles.