Edgar Keehnen

About Edgar Keehnen

Edgar Keehnen’s passion is that of seniors and hospitality. Since 2000, he has been the first in the Netherlands to specialize in senior marketing. He is the founder of the agency Grey Ocean AGEnSee, active in the fields of concept development, market research, marketing advice, and marketing communication for the senior target group.

Edgar is a co-author of the books Seniors and Tourism, Experienced but Changeable: the Consumer Behavior of the Over-Fifties, Aging is Alive, and the author of the books Fifty-Plus Marketing, Grey Ocean Strategy, How to Exploit the Biggest Market Segment Ever, and Grey Ocean Strategy, Agewise Marketing for the Largest Market Segment Ever.

Besides his passion for seniors, he has a passion for hospitality. Edgar was a lecturer at the Hotelschool Den Haag for 14 years and recently conducted scientific research at Nyenrode for five years on The Experience of Hospitality of the Older Adult. He took courses at the Cornell University School of Hotel Management in the United States and spoke there twice at a conference. He volunteers as a host on the Bicycle Boat de Vecht and for the Salvation Army in the red-light district of Amsterdam.

His scientific research also involved the experience economy, of which he now has considerable knowledge. In 2026, his new book The Grey Ocean Experience will be published, in which he describes the experience thinking of the older consumer with the help of international co-authors, based partly on his scientific research.

In the past, he worked as Director of Marketing, Sales & Customer Service at organizations such as American Express, OHRA, and TeleMedia, the sales organization for the pink pages in the KPN Telecom phone directory. He is currently a part-time marketing lecturer at Erasmus University.

Edgar studied business administration at Nyenrode University and the University of Michigan and graduated from Erasmus University Rotterdam. He has been a guest lecturer at several universities in the Netherlands.

Edgar has spoken at many organizations in the Netherlands as well as at conferences in New Orleans, Washington D.C., New York, London, Valencia, Paris, and Copenhagen. His favorite quote:

Life goes so fast, so always have your dessert first!