Verfassungsmarketing®

Is this the end of target groups?

You don‘t think you have multiple personalities? We bet you do! Maybe you went to a Target yesterday, and to Nordstrom today, bought hummus for your last party at Trader Joe`s and had to have the latest Yoga pants from Lululemon the day after. How do you get this and the multiple other examples from your life together? With target groups? We don`t think so.

rheingold developed a unique approach that accounts for the fact that people change and have multiple personalities in different contexts: Verfassungsmarketing or Mood Marketing. The German word „Verfassung“ is a psychological term to describe the momentary mood and atmosphere in a specific usage or consumption situation. Mood Marketing captures the inherent psychological dynamics of that specfic point in time. People‘s personalities and individual characteristics or the target group they are supposed to be in do not define what they buy, like or do, rather it is the contextual influences in a complex interplay of situational and individual factors. Again, the transformational and Gestalt-shaping process of morphological research falls into place.

We extract momentary moods and atmospheres and our research shows, surprisingly, they are very homogenous for people that would never have ended up in the same target group! E.g. what defines which liquor people drink, is closely connected to the ability of the different kinds and brands of liquor to speak to a certain consumption mood: while a cognac balances us out, egg nog fits to comforting-childish-sweet and sticky situations, schnaps helps reduce complexity and whisky works like a little self-communion.

We systematically and thoroughly analyze usage, application and reception situations to explore what triggers the fit of some products or brands, and excludes others.

Advertising ideally speaks to the consumer‘s current or future mood or the mood she is hoping for when buying a product or using media. We help set the stage for products/media and show what needs to get through to the consumer.