Michael Bruno Email & Phone Number

Pleasantville, Ny, Us

New York City Metropolitan Area

I help leaders at high-growth companies create billion dollar categories. Instead of focusing on incremental improvements, the companies I advise uncover NEW problems with real costs that, when solved, generate enormous value, venture funding and growth. Through the process of category design, these companies create and dominate their own markets, capturing 76% of category value in the process.My role at Play Bigger encompasses a broad range of responsibilities essential for both our clients and our firm. I lead comprehensive aspects of category design, which involve in-depth data analysis, data visualization, and strategic facilitation of CEO and executive team workshops. These sessions are vital in uncovering groundbreaking insights and formulating hypotheses, enabling leaders to craft, adopt, and thrive in their newly defined categories.Beyond external client work, I am deeply involved in the internal growth and strategy of Play Bigger. My responsibilities include strategic planning, forecasting, managing sales pipelines, and directing marketing communications.My work intersects the realms of venture capital, technology entrepreneurship, and management consulting. By fostering category queens and kings, I contribute to shaping the future of various industries and ensuring our clients are not just part of the market but leaders who define it.In a world of incremental upgrades and timid steps, I spearhead data driven rebellions in boardrooms.

New York, United States

I help visionary enterprises see problems no one thought they had, design categories, condition markets and become leaders.As a senior category designer at Play Bigger, my job is to join the executive teams of our late stage or post IPO tech clients, and help them to create, define and dominate new categories. We do this by identifying problems people either didn't know they had or didn't think they could solve. We help enterprises imagine solutions to these problems vis a vis a new category, and help plot meticulously designed strategies to condition market demand and create category leadership. When we're successful, 76% of the market cap in a given category goes to the leader.In this role, I lead a team of category designers to analyze data, create hypotheses, develop hypotheses using design thinking techniques, facilitate executive level working sessions and coach enterprise leaders to create, develop and dominate their new category.

New York, New York, United States

I oversaw the office's Global Intelligence (data analytics) and Strategic Planning groups, leading a team of immensely talented strategists and analysts in an unrelenting pursuit of insights. We use sophisticated modeling and natural language processing techniques to measure and collect the signals of behavior change and use those to develop truly game changing and inspiring strategies that drive business results. It is the best job in the world with some of the best people in the world.

New York, New York, United States

I led and grew Weber Shandwick's largest strategy practice, in the agency's largest office during the COVID-19 pandemic. By tightly focusing on strategies that drove business impact by solving real human problems, we were able to help clients - and the agency itself - weather the storm, and emerge stronger.

New York, New York, United States

I co-led Weber Shandwick's Strategic Planning group within the New York office, while establishing agency norms and a center of excellence culture throughout the network. My approach to strategy is heavily influenced by behavioral science, and I used this bias to create a brand of strategy at Weber Shandwick designed to explicitly result in behavior change and drive business results for our clients. During this time, we grew the strategy practice in New York by a factor of five and grew our clients' businesses (and their business with the firm) as a result.

New York, New York, United States

As head of consumer strategy, I led a team of 5 strategists in the development of award winning work for clients, including eBay, Dove, Trojan, Schick, Edge and many others.

New York, New York, United States

I built the firm's first corporate and public affairs strategy department from the ground up, contributing to award winning work and assignment winning rfp responses.

Pitched reporters, made PR programs, led the world's first surprise and delight program on Twitter.

White Plains, New York, United States

I fixed wheelchairs in a hospital where patients couldn't walk. What little I did seemed to help their quality of life, and that was incredibly gratifying. It also set me up with an appreciation of the physical and psychological impact disease and trauma can have, and how far a little love and kindness could go.

Master’S Degree, Psychology

Extensive course work in consumer psychology, cognitive neuroscience, psychoanalytic theory, advanced statistics, regression.

Bachelor’S Degree, Public Relations, Advertising, And Applied Communication And Creative Writing

Winner of the Mathom Fiction Award Winner of the Academy of American Poets Award