Michael J. Berland is the CEO of Berland Strategy & Analytics. He is an internationally recognized strategic advisor and communications consultant and an expert in how people think and behave as consumers, voters and decision-makers. Prior to founding Berland Strategy & Analytics he was CEO of the insights and analytics arm of Edelman Public Relations, Edelman Berland, and President of the research and political polling firm Penn, Schoen & Berland.
Mike has worked with political candidates in the US and abroad. He served as strategic advisor and pollster to New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg in his 2001 and 2005 mayoral campaigns.
In the 2005 NY Times article “Voter Profiles for Bloomberg Went Beyond Ethnic Labels,” Mike’s work for Bloomberg’s re-election campaign was cited as leading “the most ambitious polling of an electorate ever undertaken.” Through their survey of hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers, the PSB team developed psychological portraits of city voters based on their shared interests and concerns, rather than their racial, cultural or ideological differences. The campaign then tailored mailings, electronic messages and prerecorded telephone calls to voters’ specific interests. Bloomberg beat Fernando Ferrer by a historic 20-point margin.
In Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign, Mike led the direct mail and targeting and was a key strategist for Clinton victories in Nevada, Ohio and Indiana. Mike was also a key strategist in Hillary Clinton’s 2006 landslide New York State Senate victory using state of the art micro-targeting to win key suburban voters.
Mike regularly appears on Fox Business Network’s Mornings with Maria to discuss political strategy. MSNBC has called him “The Genius Pollster.”
Mike has brought the same kinds of competitive tactics and insights to the corporate world, leading research-based marketing communications campaigns for major US and global brands, including Facebook, McGraw Hill Financial, Microsoft, Estee Lauder, National Hockey League, Shell, CVS, and Samsung.
Mike has written two books. In 2015, he co-authored the #1 Best Seller Fat-Burning Machine: The 12-Week Diet with former Olympic triathlon coach Gale Bernhardt. (Mike is a New York City Marathon finisher and successfully completed the 2015 Ironman World Championships in Kona, HI.)
In May 2009, Mike released a book with co-author Doug Schoen, titled What Makes You Tick? How Successful People Do It and What You Can Learn from Them.
In 2002, Mike was awarded The David Ogilvy Research Award by the Advertising Research Foundation (ARF) for his global targeting and communications research.
Mike is former chair of the Gotham chapter of the New York City Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO), and was a Commonwealth Scholar at the University of Massachusetts.
Mike lives in Waccabuc, NY with his wife Marcela (25+ years) and their two children — Matthew (21) and Isabella (19).