Stephen M. Downey

A branding professional focusing on Communication Strategy, Steve Downey is Executive Vice President and lead strategic force behind Marketing Department of America's uniquely intellective, integrative, interactive approach. He seeks out ways to use brand strategy as a value added to heighten every client's competitive edge. Whatever the project (advertising, sales promotion, direct mail); whatever the level (corporate, product or service), Mr. Downey helps account teams determine the core differentiating idea that sets a brand apart - defensibly and sustainably.

He then helps embed that idea across a range of integrated marketing disciplines, ensuring that the client's brand speaks with a single, self-reinforcing voice while reflecting a common style, quality and character in the most economical way.

In addition to heading his own institutional identity firm for more than a decade, Mr. Downey's background includes principal at one the leading corporate identity firms and project director at another, vice president of a major corporate relations department, group director at a large public affairs agency, number two positions in communications at Fortune 100 and 500 companies, along with a prior role in educational administration. As a result, he possesses an unusual breadth and depth of understanding of issues, policy, strategy and tactical applications - from public relations and brand identity insights to corporate and consulting perspectives.

Clients at Downey, Weeks and Toomey ranged from companies such as Caltex Petroleum, Johnson & Johnson, Simon & Schuster, Dean Witter and Harte-Hanks to institutions like Penn State, Georgia Tech, Loyola Chicago, Children's Hospital of Boston and Aid Association for Lutherans. More recent consulting assignments Mr. Downey has directed include brand building programs for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, First National Bank of Omaha, and Kappa Kappa Gamma , widely regarded as among the nation's leading collegiate panhellenic societies.

Mr. Downey has spoken before several professional organizations including three annual Conference Board corporate image seminars. His subjects: "Corporate Identity for Competitive Advantage", "Winning Total Commitment Through Cultural Identity", and "Influencing Your Employees With Inspired Positioning". Earlier he presented a widely quoted paper at the Fifth Public Relations World Congress in Amsterdam on "The Relationship Between Corporate Culture and Corporate Identity".

He also co-conducted a workshop on direct marketing at the Ivy League/MIT/ Stanford Conference at Harvard. More recently, he addressed the Association of American Medical Colleges advancement group on "Crisis Leadership and Reputation Management" and the Public Relations Society of America's professional services section on "Knowledge Management and Corporate Identity".

After graduating from Hamilton College, Mr. Downey studied business at NYU.

In 1999 he married cabaret, theater and recording artist KT Sullivan in New York.