Catherine Mullally Communications Group is focused on delivering the highest quality brand strategy, leadership and communication services to Fortune 500 business teams, executives, entrepreneurs, and small business owners. Built around a core philosophy, each program is uniquely created and delivered by subject matter experts. The result is increased productivity, improved relationships, increased abilities and a better bottom line.

  • brand strategy
  • brand & business strategy alignment
  • leadership & team development
  • communication skills training
  • media training
  • executive & enterprise coaching
  • behavioral/style assessments

In today's business, brands have become the heart and soul of our consumer experience. We don't use brands anymore. We live them.

Great brands drive powerful business. However, business can only be as successful as our highest vision for it. Our ability to envision and communicate that which we wish to create, are the keys. Awareness always comes first.

At CMC Group, we believe in brands and we believe in people. Our mission is to help people and businesses tap into their unique proposition, then powerfully communicate that proposition throughout their organizations and constituencies.

We base our work on a few fundamental principles:

  • great brands start first with a great vision
  • the best branding always derives from a core truth
  • branding is a mental mark that creates an emotional connection
  • great branding engages us in an experience

At CMC Group, our programs and services are designed around an exciting fusion of classic business and brand strategy, the arts, science and ancient wisdom. In working on value alignment, we may look to giants like APPLE but it's just as likely we'll examine our historical figures. To demonstrate effective communication, we might look back to Martin Luther King, or we might speed forward to the world of film and theater. Great actors engage us because they work to influence our perception. What CEO wouldn't want that skill?

Our programs start with a basic design, which is then informed by the specific needs of your organization. We begin with the premise that you, the client team, are the experts on your business, your issues, your clients and brand. Our role is to give you the tools to discover the optimal solution, your most authentic position and to integrate that into the business proposition. Every person, every brand, every strategy can be polished and made better.

Imagine the possibilities.

   

The Founder and President of CMC Group, Catherine Mullally has an extensive background in brand-driven business, leadership and communication. Working with marquee firms, start-ups and not-for-profits, she specializes in the development of programs that drive new levels of thinking, productivity and profitability. Through collaborative processes such as executive and team coaching, assessments, workshops and on-going leadership practices, Mullally specializes in building an integrated and dynamic system of strategic alignment, brand awareness, high impact communication and improved team dynamics. Her client list spans numerous industries, including finance, hospitality, consumer products and media. These clients have included such firms as Merrill Lynch, Merrill Lynch Private Banking & Investment Group, Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse

First Boston, ABC News, Indus Media; start-up and small businesses such as IM Technology Group, Amaranth Restaurant Group, Tamara Magel, Inc. and The Wilkens Center in Connecticut. Not-for-profits include Museum of African Art, National Eating Disorders Association, AJLI, and the Women's Venture Fund.

Mullally's career has spanned nearly thirty years and began in advertising. She held early positions at Ogilvy & Mather and McCann-Erickson before switching from the agency side to television commercial production. In that capacity, she produced award winning spots for brands such as Olympia Beer, Roman Meal Bread, Polaroid, Ford, AT&T, Burger King and Coca-Cola. After moving from Los Angeles to New York, she shifted to the business side of media, taking the position of Senior Vice President of Mark Zander Productions, a full service animation studio. She went on to serve as Project Director for the Children's Television Workshop, managing the company's first educational franchise developed for commercial television. In 1993, Mullally was recruited into Nickelodeon, the children's entertainment arm of MTV Networks, a Viacom company. There, Mullally built and ran the packaged media businesses, successfully extending the brand around the world. Her children's video and audio products garnered over 40 awards for excellence and generated billions in retail revenue. She was an original member of MTV's mentoring program and sat on the steering committee for both mentoring and diversity.

A dynamic public speaker, Mullally's career has included seminars, panels, public presentations, and television appearances. She has served as co-president of the Board of Directors for the National Eating Disorders Association, and chair of their marketing and communications program. Mullally is a founding member of The Creating We Institute, a thought leadership organization dedicated to elevating principles of collaboration, communication and executive leadership around the world. She held a board position for the Temple of Understanding, an interfaith organization dedicated to education, she serves on the Board of Advisors for IllumAlliance, an advocacy group for the world's children and the communications committee for the Women's Venture Fund in New York.

Mullally attended California State University and is currently studying Leadership Strategies at New York University. She brings a strong mix of business knowledge, communications and personal development expertise to her work and specializes in helping leaders identify their most authentic brand position and align it with their business strategies.

Mullally has two adult children and lives in New York and Los Angeles.

 

who is this for?
Strategic brand development is a critical tool for start-ups, small businesses, newly created corporate divisions or those undergoing re-organization.

why do we need it?
Marketing teaches us that the most effective brands conjure an immediate emotional response. Branding is an essential strategic tool and the only way for businesses to create a community of consumers who understand, appreciate and want what they have to offer. This is the wisdom of attribute association and it is as important for a corporate division as it is for ubiquitous consumer brands. The benefits are clear: Consumer awareness, loyalty and word-of-mouth, the best marketing that "money can't buy".

what is the content?
This is a consulting service that is always guided by the demands of the client. Areas covered vary but may include:

  • Brand Assessment/Who are You?
  • Positioning
  • Unique Selling Points
  • Knowing, Loving and Targeting your Consumer
  • The Message & The Promise
  • The Messengers
  • Brand Extension and Business Development
  • Keeping it Fresh

how is it done?
The "discovery" process begins with an initial meeting with the principal executives and reveals business history, brand and organizational objectives. The work may include individual meetings with team members, facilitated group brainstorming sessions, image and messaging recommendations, along with a practical, step-by-step process for the development of a brand position and subsequent communications strategy.

who is this for?
Our communication programs are designed for executives who wish to raise their level of impact in a variety of settings, from public settings to the boardroom.

why do we need it?
Communication is the currency of commerce, yet high-impact communication is rare. How many of us have entered the conference room for a presentation, the lights are dimmed, the Power Point goes up, and for the next half hour we fight boredom? Listening is hard. As consumers we are bombarded with thousands of messages daily. To hit our peak effectiveness, we must collaborate with how our audience listens. Brilliant marketers do this to sell the concept, negotiate the fine points, and close the deal.

what is the content?
This program is designed to debunk many of the myths surrounding communication, particularly those that subscribe to the "one set of techniques fits all" motto. We work with both the practical elements of preparation and structure, and then dig deeply into the critical variations of personality and style.

  • Impeccable preparation
  • Audience profiling
  • The power of intent
  • Content simplified
  • Shaping the message
  • Congruent delivery
  • Perception mastery

how is the program run?
The communication skills program runs in either one or two day sessions. The one day workshop is fast paced and oriented toward technical skill building. The two day workshop focuses on the entire process of presentation, from crafting the message through development of an authentic personal style, rehearsal and performance. In both sessions, participants are taped several times, as skills are gained and confidence emerges.

 

who is this for?
Coaching is for executives who desire an on going partnership tailored to produce tangible and fulfilling results in their professional lives.

why do we need it?
Our business lives move so rapidly, we often do not take the time to assess our current situation, the reasons for success in one area and repeated difficulty in another. Today, it is simply not enough to be good. A leader needs to be a great communicator, a great coach, a visionary and a powerful builder of relationships. Coaching is designed to help individuals align their professional excellence with their unique values and attributes; to identify leadership and communication styles; and to develop strategies and tools to effectively manage the ever changing corporate environment.

what is the content?
The ability to improve in a particular area, and importantly the motivation to change comes with a high degree of self-awareness. The coaching relationship is designed to foster this process and is unique to the individual. A client may want to work on anything from improving the impact of an important speech, to establishing more productive relationships with direct reports. Areas covered may include:

  • Discovery
  • Vision & Goals
  • Design the Path
  • Develop the Plan
  • Self-management
  • Communication & Leadership
  • Personal Branding & USPs

how does it work?
The first meeting is designed as an evaluation session, wherein the client articulates his/her needs. This process may involve an assessment tool, individual taping of sessions and/or presentations, specific development assignments and of course, the confidential dialogue and relationship between client and coach.

Some executives prefer to establish a long term relationship, others have short term objectives. Timing is flexible and individual. However, we find that 60 minute sessions scheduled every two to three weeks are high impact, and provide effective structure and support.

In public relations, it is essential that the message be heard and stick. This program really helps executives understand that it's not just technique, but a combination of style, passion and ability.
  Dorrit Ragosine
Executive Vice President
cho Highwater Group
 
This workshop honed in on how people listen and why. I've been doing medical presentations for years but this is the first time I understand how to deliver a talk that is not overburdened with information.
  Diane Mickley, MD
Founder & Director, Wilkins Center Clinical Professor Psychiatry
Yale School of Medicine
 
We are locked, loaded and ready to go. Catherine not only helped us identify our market position, she brought a needed business rigor to the enterprise.
  Robert Ryan, CEO
IM Technology Group
 
……thank you for bringing this to CSFB! I am up for a promotion and credit the workshop and individual attention with helping me prepare for the interview.
  Joelle Metzman, Director
Credit Suisse First Boston
 
Catherine is the first person I call when contemplating a new business idea. Her insights and brand savvy always elevate my thinking .
  Arif Shah, CEO
Indus Media

 

"The beginning of wisdom is the definition of terms."
~ Sophocles