Matteo Rinaldi
ENITPT

Co-Founder, Human Centric Group · Luiss Business School

Before consumers, we are all people.

I help companies understand what place they can win in people’s lives. Co-founder of Human Centric Group, professor at Luiss Business School, author of Human-Centric Marketing and Mindset Tribale.

Train your team Invite Matteo to speak Read the books
Watch the talk: What are you really selling?
countries lived in
8
countries worked in with HCG
40
companies served by HCG
50+
managers trained
10,000+
books on human-centric marketing
2

Some of the brands I’ve worked with

Portrait of Matteo Rinaldi

Data, culture and everyday life.

My work is helping companies understand what place they can win in people’s lives. I co-founded Human Centric Group, I advise companies on strategic marketing and I teach at Luiss Business School, where I direct the Master in Global Marketing Management.

I worked in marketing at L’Oréal, in sales at Coca-Cola HBC and in consulting with The Garrison Group. Living and working across Europe, Asia and the Americas taught me how much people’s motivations can change, even when they buy the same product.

Today I study those motivations by combining big data, fieldwork and artificial intelligence. I am especially interested in tribes: people brought together by passions, values and ways of living that traditional segmentation often misses.

With companies, I turn that knowledge into concrete choices: who to invest in, how to position a brand, which experiences to build and how to sell better. In the classroom, I help managers and students develop the same way of seeing.

Where I have lived: United States, Brazil, Armenia, Turkey, Australia, Taiwan, Italy, England United States Brazil Armenia Turkey Australia Taiwan Italy England

Where I have lived

  1. Italy
  2. United States
  3. Brazil
  4. Turkey
  5. Armenia
  6. England
  7. Taiwan
  8. Australia

Eight countries on four continents. I lived in Brazil, and I have worked with Portugal for more than fifteen years.

Career

  1. 2012 Analyst The Garrison Group, Boston
  2. 2013 Junior Consultant The Garrison Group, Armenia
  3. 2013–2017 Senior Consultant & Project Manager The Garrison Group, Istanbul
  4. 2017–2020 Partner, Regional Director Central Europe & Africa The Garrison Group, Milan
  5. 2017–today Adjunct Professor Luiss Business School, Rome
  6. 2017–today Monthly columnist The Brand Age, Istanbul
  7. 2020–today Co-Founder Human Centric Group, London
  8. 2020–today Business Partner, Brand Strategy Advisor Motivation Branding, Oslo
  9. 2026–today Scientific Director, Master in Global Marketing Management Luiss Business School, Rome · Amsterdam · Dubai

Educated at Luiss Guido Carli (Business Administration), Bocconi University (MSc Marketing Management), National Chengchi University in Taipei (MBA exchange) and UCLA Anderson (Product Innovation Management).

My main role

Human Centric Group

To understand why people buy, understand their lives.

Luca Bertocci and I founded Human Centric Group in London in October 2020. We had worked together for years at a consultancy based in the Greater Boston area, and we wanted the freedom to develop new methods around a belief we shared.

Luca brings strong analytical skills; I work mostly on reading human motivations and turning them into strategy. HCG was born from that complementarity, and today works from London, Milan, Naples, Krakow and Budapest.

What sets us apart is how we hold together the depth of the research, the clarity of the strategic choices and the work needed to put them into practice. An insight about people becomes valuable when it changes something in the offer, in the experience or in the ability to sell.

Visit humancg.com Book a free consultation

How we work

  1. 01ResearchWe combine large databases with interviews and fieldwork. We study aspirations, fears, relationships, passions and cultural context, to see what makes a brand relevant to certain people on certain occasions.
  2. 02ChoicesTogether with the client we decide which groups of people are an opportunity, how to position the brand, which products to push, through which channels and with which sales arguments.
  3. 03ExecutionWe stay with the company while it puts those choices into practice, working alongside marketing, sales and creative partners.

Case study

Super Bock: Portugal’s most-drunk beer.

The challenge
Winning people’s preference in a category where habits, belonging and social occasions weigh enormously.
What we did
We worked to understand what role Super Bock could play in people’s lives: what brought them together, how they lived their relationships, which moments made a beer shared with others special. We turned that into positioning choices and concrete direction for marketing and sales, side by side with the team.
The result
We helped the brand reach leadership in consumption across the country.

Training

Strategic marketing, understanding people, sales, negotiation and applied AI. The common thread: helping people make better decisions in their own work.

Every programme starts with top management

Before building a programme, we interview top management to pin down business goals, organisational challenges and the skills to develop. Content, cases and simulations are then built on the participants’ real situations.

The value is in the tailoring: every teaching choice answers a specific need of the company.

Recent programmes

  • Cassa Depositi e PrestitiHub Forward: CRM, customer centricity and negotiation
  • WINDTRECustomer experience: designing the moments customers never see
  • ANFAOCustomer journey, digital marketing and AI
  • ANCIHuman cities: designing public services around citizens
  • Alamar Foods (Dunkin’)Live brief: adapting a global brand to the Middle East

Programmes designed for

CDPWINDTREIPQ8FiberCopSandozAyvensLeonardoPoste ItalianeMondo ConvenienzaOrangeLainoxFriulinoxANFAOANCIComune di Cortina

and the companies taking part in SIMEST programmes.

In the room I bring data, real cases, simulations and the company’s own problems. I want people to leave knowing which behaviour to change, which tool to use and which decision to face with more awareness.

Formats

  • Short sessions of 2–4 hours
  • One- or two-day workshops
  • Modular programmes, for example 12 hours in total
  • In person, online or blended
  • On-the-job exercises and a follow-up session to discuss results

For entrepreneurs, executives, marketing and sales teams, export managers and professionals who manage clients, projects or people. In Italian and English, including international groups.

Topics

  • Strategic marketing
  • Big data and understanding people
  • Sales
  • Negotiation
  • Customer journey
  • Artificial intelligence

At Luiss Business School

  • Scientific Director, Master in Global Marketing Management (Rome, Amsterdam, Dubai)
  • Master in Management: Marketing & Sales Management
  • Master in Digital Business Strategy: Marketing
  • Master in Food & Wine Business: Branding & Pricing
  • Wine Business Program: Marketing & Communication
  • Master of Fashion: Branding
  • Master in Export Management: Business Planning for E-commerce

Guest lecturer at

Luiss Business School, Insper (São Paulo), Corvinus University of Budapest, Cracow University of Economics, LIUC – Università Cattaneo, 24ORE Business School

Plan a training programme

Speaking

I want to talk about how people change, and how companies can turn that change into growth.

Talks

  1. 01Human-Centric MarketingUnderstanding human motivations to build more relevant brands.
  2. 02Mindset TribaleWinning the market one tribe at a time, through passions, rituals and belonging.
  3. 03AI, big data and human insightsUsing technology to understand people better and make smarter decisions.
  4. 04Global brands, local culturesHow meanings, desires and strategies change as they cross borders.
  5. 05H2H selling and negotiationUnderstanding who is in front of us to build better relationships and better deals.

Stages

  • WMF – We Make FuturePresenting Mindset Tribale: a lively exchange with the audience, and the books sold out.
  • Innovation Training SummitRomeThe panel “Innovation Driven by Tribes”, on community, belonging and innovation.
  • Human-Centered UAEDubaiPeople research in dialogue with business strategy, with speakers from Ferrero, Arla Foods, EssilorLuxottica and Alamar Foods.
  • Istanbul Brand WeekIstanbulHuman-centric marketing tips.
  • Brand & Sport SummitWhat sports clubs all over the world have in common.
  • Torino Fashion WeekTurinTurning fashion brands into lifestyles.
Invite Matteo to speak

Watch

  • Istanbul Brand Week

    Seven minutes of human-centric marketing tips.

  • Big data to understand people

    Using big data to understand consumers as humans.

  • Torino Fashion Week

    Using human insights to turn fashion brands into lifestyles.

  • Brand & Sport Summit 2018

    What I learned working with sports clubs around the world.

  • Sports TV interview

    Brands and sport, at the Brand & Sport Summit in Istanbul.

  • Fashion goes Asia

    What fashion brands need to know before entering Asia.

Plays from YouTube · All videos on YouTube

In the room and on stage

More on Instagram · @matteorinaldi_hcm

Books

Two books, one idea: brands grow when they stop talking to “consumers” and start understanding people.

Human-Centric Marketing – Matteo Rinaldi, FrancoAngeli

Best seller in marketing

Human-Centric Marketing

Prima di consumatori, siamo tutti persone

Before consumers, we are all people

To understand what a person buys, you have to understand what matters in their life.

Buying choices are tied to aspirations, fears, relationships and the wish to belong. The same beer can mean different things: a way to feel part of the group, to take a break, to say something about yourself. Understanding these motivations lets a brand choose who to speak to, what value to offer and how to become relevant.

For entrepreneurs, managers and marketers who decide on products, positioning, communication and growth, and for students who want to connect knowledge of people to business choices.

Published by FrancoAngeli, 2022 · 183 pages · In Italian

Buy on Amazon Other bookshopsRead a sampleWatch the extra content
Mindset Tribale – Matteo Rinaldi, FrancoAngeli

Featured in Harvard Business Review Italia

Mindset Tribale

Strategie di marketing per conquistare il mercato, una tribù alla volta

Marketing strategies to win the market, one tribe at a time

Ambition can be big. The starting point must be precise.

A tribe is a group of people who recognise themselves in a passion, in certain values, in a way of living: surfers, yogis, gamers, the people who get up at dawn to run. Different ages, incomes and jobs, but when they meet they speak the same language. The “swimming pool strategy”: choose one tribe, become relevant to those people, then grow, one pool at a time.

Open a bar “for everyone” and you have little to go on. Decide to become the meeting point for the neighbourhood’s runners, and the decisions follow: open before their run, serve breakfast when they’re back, give them somewhere to leave their bags.

Discussed in Harvard Business Review Italia, Il Venerdì di Repubblica and on Radio 24 (Il Sole 24 Ore).

Published by FrancoAngeli, 2023 · 193 pages · In Italian · With Luca Bertocci

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What they say

Once you forget about consumers and you start thinking about humans, a whole range of new opportunities arises.

Ricardo TravassosFormer CEO, Coty Latin America

As practical as an instruction manual, as gripping as a novel.

Massimiliano GasparottoBMWon Mindset Tribale · Translated from Italian

Fresh, innovative ideas to put into practice.

Valeria CasaniNespressoon Mindset Tribale · Translated from Italian

An innovative and practical approach, method and direction.

Maria Carmela OstillioSDA Bocconion Mindset Tribale · Translated from Italian

In the media

Magazines, radio and stages where my work has been discussed, and some of what I write.

Press and radio

Articles On LinkedIn, in English

All articles on LinkedIn

Brands I’ve worked with

Strategy, positioning and training projects with global leaders and local challengers, through The Garrison Group, Human Centric Group, Motivation Branding and Luiss Business School.

Food & beverage
DanonePepsiCoCarlsbergAnadolu EfesSuper Bock GroupTGI FridaysAlamar FoodsTine
Wine, coffee & hospitality
Kopke Group / SogevinusKopkeBurmesterCálemVelhotesBarrosBoganiFalésia Hotel
Pharmaceuticals
SanofiPfizerBayerSandoz
Retail, consumer goods & technology
MediaWorldCarrefourRema 1000Mitsubishi ElectricHuaweiRevlonMattelXploraAltair Aviation Global SolutionTecnamVoyah
Finance, insurance & telecom
VisaAksigortaCassa Depositi e PrestitiWINDTRE
Sport
Juventus
Corporate training
LeonardoPoste ItalianeIPQ8FiberCopAyvensABBMondo ConvenienzaOrangeLainoxFriulinox
Public sector & non-profit
ANCIANFAOComune di Cortina d’AmpezzoSOS Children’s Villages

Let’s talk about your people.

Bring a training programme to your company, invite me to your event, or start with one of my books. For consulting projects, write to Human Centric Group.

Train your company Invite me to an event Buy the books

Book a call with Human Centric Group

Human Centric Group · London · Milan · Naples · Krakow · Budapest