Rohit Bhargava
A Non-Obvious Keynote Speaker on Marketing, Trends, Innovation and Diversity.
Rohit Bhargava is an innovation and marketing expert, skilled facilitator, and keynote speaker. After a successful 15 year career as a brand and marketing strategist at two of the largest agencies in the world (Ogilvy and Leo Burnett), Rohit became an entrepreneur and has since started three companies. He is the 3-time Wall Street Journal best selling author of eight books on topics as wide ranging as the future of business, building a brand with personality and how to create a more diverse and inclusive world and has delivered sold out keynote presentations and workshops to business leaders in 32 countries. His signature book Non-Obvious is updated annually with 15 new trend predictions, has been read and shared by more than 1 million readers and is translated in twelve languages. Rohit has been invited to share his insights at some of the most forward-looking organizations in the world including Intel, NASA, Disney, JP Morgan Chase, LinkedIn, Microsoft, American Express, BP, the World Bank, Coca-Cola and hundreds of others.
Outside of his consulting work, Rohit also teaches his popular signature course on storytelling and marketing at Georgetown University in Washington DC and has been invited to deliver guest lectures at many other prestigious schools including Stanford and Wharton. For the past 17 years Rohit has also been writing his personal “Influential Marketing Blog” which has been featured in global media and named one of the top 25 marketing blogs in the world by AdAge magazine. He is regularly interviewed and featured as an expert commentator in global media including Harvard Business Review, The Guardian, and NPR. Rohit also writes a monthly column for GQ magazine in Brazil on technology and trends.
Thanks to his many years of sharing insights, Rohit has been recognized alongside visionary business leaders like Sir Richard Branson and Tom Peters as a “Top 100 Thought Leader In Trustworthy Business Behavior” and was named by global recruiting firm Korn Ferry as one of the “Most Influential South Asians In Media and Entertainment.”
On a personal level, Rohit is married and lives with his wife and two boys in the Washington DC area. He is a lifelong fan of anything having to do with the Olympics (he’s been to five so far and is really looking forward to Paris 2024!) and actively avoids anything having to do with cauliflower (yuck!). Outside of work, Rohit believes that the most entertaining and impactful job he will ever have is being a great dad and teaching his sons to be kind when no one expects it, curious about the things others take for granted, and confident enough to change the world.
INNOVATION
See What Others Miss and Shift Your PerspectiveWhen every day brings constant disruption, it’s hard to know where to focus. With the right mindset, we can look to the future with informed optimism. In this candid and fast-paced session based on the bestselling book that has inspired more than 1 million readers, trend curator Rohit Bhargava will reveal the five habits of non-obvious thinkers that can help you become a “speed understander” who can see the opportunities others don’t, be more resilient and lead the future.
TRUST
The Art and Science of Non-Obvious Marketing (In a Skeptical World)
Be more believable, persuasive and trustworthy.
We are living in a time when it is harder to earn trust than ever before. People skip ads, mistrust brands and demand transparency from the companies they buy from or work for. What does it take for any organization to be more believable? In this entertaining and eye-opening talk, renowned marketing expert and bestselling author Rohit Bhargava will reveal the five “non-obvious” secrets of building trust and what it really takes to stand out as real, human, authentic and trustworthy in a skeptical world.
TRENDS
How to Anticipate What Comes Next & Trends that Matter
Futuristic ideas are now becoming daily realities and going mainstream.
What are the biggest trends shaping our future? In this engaging session inspired by the upcoming book (March 2022), you’ll get an exclusive advanced look at some of the biggest trends that matter in a world shaped by the pandemic and you’ll leave with new ideas for how to win in a disrupted future. Note – this keynote can also be delivered in a unique interview format with Rohit’s co-author, Henry Coutinho-Mason.
DIVERSITY
The Non-Obvious Method To Leading Diversity (When It's Not Your Day Job)
How Leaders Can Actually Make Diversity & Inclusion Happen
This keynote offers an approachable introduction to diversity and inclusion for busy leaders. Inspired by the world’s most ambitious gathering of diversity experts at the Beyond Diversity Summit and the WSJ bestselling book Beyond Diversity, this talk is specifically for leaders who don’t spend all day working on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI). Instead of blaming and shaming or focusing on a long list of “-isms,” this optimistic keynote candidly approaches some of the biggest myths and realities of diversity while offering practical suggestions to actually build a more inclusive and diverse team.
Such an absolutely fantastic presentation Rohit! I’ve heard nothing but great things from the team in response to your contributions to our training. They were especially grateful for the tips you provided them on how to collect and organization so much information in order to gain insights. I can’t thank you enough! You’ve left me beyond impressed (again).
Thyme L. Hill, SVP – Chief Marketing Officer, Bob Evans Farms
Rohit was terrific! 94% top two box which is phenomenal. And he was great to work with, which I so appreciate! We’re already talking about where we’ll use him next….
Nation’s Largest Publicly Traded Investment Services Firm
Rohit scored very well on our surveys! A few people called him out specifically stating that he was “super inspiring”, “great session” and “on-point, relevant, and eye-opening.”
Kristen Santoro, Director, Event Content, The Massachusetts Innovation & Technology Exchange (MITX)
Thank you so much for presenting the closing keynote session at Spark: The Art and Science of Adult Learning. Your Session on Predicting Future Trends in Adult Learning in Associations was rated very relevant to our audience’s job responsibilities and you received a high satisfaction rating as a content leader 4.17 out of 5.0. I enjoyed working with you on this program and I hope to do this again for future programs.
Sharon Rauch, ASAE: The Center for Association Leadership
Rohit, thank you so much for your time, energy and insight to the PCMA Capital Chapter last week. The feedback we are getting has been phenomenal. Your ability to shift your presentation to focus on the points we discussed being relative to the audience and the industry proved invaluable and made the content that much more engaging for the attendees. I have been around events for a while and have seen a lot of speakers, honestly not many can modify their talk in this way and make it seem natural and authentic. WELL DONE !!!
Jim Kelley, Vice President Marketing & Industry Relations, Corporate Events Production Resource Group LLC