Michael Berland

Education

Michael Berland attended The Latin School of Chicago and graduated magna cum laude from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where he was a Commonwealth Scholar. He received his initial training at the Social and Demographic Research Institute.

Penn Schoen Berland

In his former role as president of PSB, Berland led global business development, building on PSB's client and research work in Europe, Asia and Latin America. Penn, Schoen & Berland was acquired by WPP in 2001.

Corporate Consulting

Berland has developed research-based communications campaigns for leading brands, including RIM/Blackberry. As a partner at PSB, he helps his clients through competitive situations through the use of quantitative and qualitative research, image analysis, message development, and corporate and product positioning and targeting. Berland’s sports and entertainment clients include the National Hockey League (NHL), Major League Baseball(MLB), National Football League (NFL), and The Dixie Chicks.

Sports and Entertainment Work

In 2003, Berland served as the Dixie Chicks’ political crisis consultant, advising the band amid its controversial criticism of President Bush. Berland had a cameo appearance in director Barbara Kopple’s documentary "Shut Up & Sing”, which followed the Dixie Chicks for three years during which they were under political attack and received death threats in response to their anti-Bush comment.

Just after the 2004 election, Berland and his partner Doug Schoen published a study in the LA Times, calling Super Bowl Sunday “the 11th national holiday” and the only true “uniter, not divider.” Their survey of 1,735 Americans found that Super Bowl watchers are football and non-football fans alike who plan further ahead for the event than they do for any other major holiday.

In 2009, Berland served as the Director of Communications and Editorial for the NHL (National Hockey League). In his role, he was responsible for public relations and editorial content for the NHL across all media assets.

Political Campaigns

Berland has worked with political candidates in the US and abroad. He served as strategic advisor to New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg in his 2001 and 2005 mayoral campaigns and led the targeting and direct mail effort for Hillary Clinton's 2006 Senate and 2008 Presidential campaigns.

In 2005, Berland and his partner Douglas Schoen led “the most ambitious polling of an electorate ever undertaken” during Bloomberg’s mayoral re-election campaign. 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. Michael Bloomberg beat Fernando Ferrer by 20 percentage points.

Fat-Burning Machine: The 12-Week Plan

In 2015, Berland co-authored Fat-Burning Machine: The 12-Week Plan (Reagan Arts) with his trainer, former Olympic triathlon coach Gale Bernhardt. The book is scheduled for publication the end of December 2015. In the book is a detailed strategy (based on multiple research studies) for how to turn your body into a Fat-Burning Machine by combining nutrition and exercise principles.

What Makes You Tick?

In May 2009, Berland and his partner Douglas Schoen released What Makes You Tick? How Successful People Do It—And What You Can Learn from Them (HarperCollins), analyzing how successful people found success in their chosen field. Through interviews with 50 leaders in a variety of fields, the authors found that each one of these high achievers fits into one of five “success archetypes” - ”Natural-Born Leaders,” “Independence Seekers,” “Visionaries”, “Do-Gooders”, and “Independents Who Follow Their Dreams”. The authors then argue that if you can identify your own success archetype, and learn how to leverage that archetype, you can harness your own strengths to achieve success.

Personal and Family

Michael Berland lives outside New York City with his wife Marcella, and two children, Matthew and Isabella. He is on the Board of Trustees at The Latin School of Chicago and chairs the Gotham chapter of the Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO) chapter in New York City.