Principal | Senior Partner
Mike Wilberding is a principal and founding partner with Traverse Bay Strategy Group.
Mike’s career interest has been focused in strategic brand management and marketing. His practical experience includes extensive work in customer profiling, product planning, marketing strategy, growth strategy, brand construct, and commercial communications.
Prior to forming Traverse Bay Strategy Group, Mike spent twenty years with two of the largest global advertising agencies: Ogilvy & Mather, and McCann Erickson. With those firms, his roles ranged from Head of Office, to Global Director of Account Management, and Board Member of the Global Strategy Board. In those positions, he worked with some of the largest brands in the world; to include American Express, Bombardier, Coca-Cola, Ford Motor Company, General Motors, IBM, and McDonald's.
In the late 1990s Mike’s professional interests lead him to pursue two trends -
“Reputation”, he believes, “will become the primary focus of competition in an information-rich marketplace – because reputation, is read and believed by the market, as being the most honest and reliable measure of competitive superiority.”
“Married to that,” he continues, “is the concept of an ecosystem based business and marketing plan. An ecosystem type model, is one that identifies each of the primary dynamics impacting either customer demand or organizational delivery – and, places them in a virtuous circle sequence, in a manner in which each nurtures and strengthens the next – ultimately, causing the organization and customer relationship to grow and strengthen over time.”
Mike’s under-graduate studies were in Social Psychology (with particular interest in Decision-Theory) at the School of Social Science of Michigan State University. He did post-graduate work in Psychology at Wayne State University, and at the Graduate School of Business at the University of Detroit, and the Graduate School of Business at University of Chicago. He was also a member of the Ford Global Marketing Program at the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University.
Mike is published in identity (identity economics), marketing, research, and brand management; and has lectured, at Wayne State University Graduate School of Business, the University Of Michigan Graduate School Of Public Health, and as part of the architectural design program at Lawrence Technical University.
Mike’s career interest has been focused in strategic brand management and marketing. His practical experience includes extensive work in customer profiling, product planning, marketing strategy, growth strategy, brand construct, and commercial communications.
Prior to forming Traverse Bay Strategy Group, Mike spent twenty years with two of the largest global advertising agencies: Ogilvy & Mather, and McCann Erickson. With those firms, his roles ranged from Head of Office, to Global Director of Account Management, and Board Member of the Global Strategy Board. In those positions, he worked with some of the largest brands in the world; to include American Express, Bombardier, Coca-Cola, Ford Motor Company, General Motors, IBM, and McDonald's.
In the late 1990s Mike’s professional interests lead him to pursue two trends -
- A focus on reputation as the center of business and center of the company’s brand; and,
- An interest in the concept of ecosystem based business planning and management.
“Reputation”, he believes, “will become the primary focus of competition in an information-rich marketplace – because reputation, is read and believed by the market, as being the most honest and reliable measure of competitive superiority.”
“Married to that,” he continues, “is the concept of an ecosystem based business and marketing plan. An ecosystem type model, is one that identifies each of the primary dynamics impacting either customer demand or organizational delivery – and, places them in a virtuous circle sequence, in a manner in which each nurtures and strengthens the next – ultimately, causing the organization and customer relationship to grow and strengthen over time.”
Mike’s under-graduate studies were in Social Psychology (with particular interest in Decision-Theory) at the School of Social Science of Michigan State University. He did post-graduate work in Psychology at Wayne State University, and at the Graduate School of Business at the University of Detroit, and the Graduate School of Business at University of Chicago. He was also a member of the Ford Global Marketing Program at the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University.
Mike is published in identity (identity economics), marketing, research, and brand management; and has lectured, at Wayne State University Graduate School of Business, the University Of Michigan Graduate School Of Public Health, and as part of the architectural design program at Lawrence Technical University.
