Marketing veterans will provide qualitative research moderating
and innovation consulting services

New York, February 1, 2012 – The Seidewitz Group announced today that Jackie Bay and Christiane Hile have joined the firm as a Senior Contextual Research Consultants. Both will lead and moderate qualitative research projects.

Jackie brings 12 years of experience in classical brand management, crisis management and new product launches. Her past positions have included roles with Mars, Inc, Campbell’s Soup and Procter & Gamble. She also has formal training in qualitative research moderating and The Seidewitz Group’s contextual research techniques. In her new role with The Seidewitz Group, Jackie will provide clients with a seasoned perspective on how research can help brands excel in an extremely competitive marketplace.

Christiane has 11 years of marketing experience in Silicon Valley, as well as eight years of experience as a litigation attorney. As one of a handful of Advanced Innovation Catalysts at Intuit, Christiane was an evangelist for using innovation to transform business strategy and drive growth. She has extensive experience in brand positioning and new product launches and a strong background in qualitative research. Her research expertise includes “Follow-Me-Home” interviews, ethnographies and The Seidewitz Group’s contextual research techniques.

“What sets our consultants apart is their high-level of marketing experience with companies like Procter & Gamble, GE, Coke and Intuit. That’s rare in a consulting world filled with newly minted MBAs,” said Scott Seidewitz, Principal. “Our research reports have a level of depth and insight that can only come from someone with this kind of experience. And our consultants understand how to work hand-in-hand with your team, resulting in branding strategies that not only resonate with your customers, but also have broad support within your organization. Jackie and Christiane are great additions to our team.”

Jackie and Christiane’s responsibilities will include project leadership, qualitative research moderating, research reporting and new business development. They will report directly to Scott Seidewitz, founder and principal of The Seidewitz Group.

About The Seidewitz Group

The Seidewitz Group is a boutique, research-based marketing consulting firm serving Fortune 1000 companies, venture-funded start-ups and political candidates. With proprietary contextual research and modeling tools, The Seidewitz Group uses the science of human memory and motivation to help brands build deeper connections with customers. Services include brand positioning strategy development, product innovation strategy and idea generation, full service market research planning and execution, target audience definition and segmentation, qualitative concept development, quantitative concept testing and volumetric forecasting. Clients include Intel, Intuit, ConAgra Foods, Align Technology (makers of Invisalign), GE and former Cincinnati Mayor Roxanne Qualls. We have offices in New York, Cincinnati and Las Vegas and a nationwide network of consultants. For more information, visit www.seidewitzgroup.com.

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New COO will oversee continued growth, day-to-day operations

New York, June 10, 2010 – The business cycle had many casualties in 2009 and early 2010. The Seidewitz Group was not one of them.

The New York-based marketing consulting and research firm announced today it hired Trisha Emish to manage the firm’s continued growth. She will serve as Chief Operating Officer and Vice President of Client Services, effective immediately.

“Trisha brings the perfect skill set to help manage a marketing company that grew 70% last year in a down economy,” said Scott Seidewitz, founder and principal of The Seidewitz Group. “She has broad consumer and B2B experience, a deep understanding of marketing strategy and knows how to build close client relationships.”

Ms. Emish’s experience includes positions with The Coors Brewing Company, LensCrafters and two advertising agencies. She will oversee The Seidewitz Group’s client services and day-to-day operations, including management of its nationwide network of consultants.

“As one of the leading firms using ‘neuro-marketing’ to deliver breakthrough results for clients, The Seidewitz Group is well-positioned for continued growth,” commented Ms. Emish. “I look forward to helping the company continue to build its business and its reputation as a leading innovator in the marketing field.” Ms. Emish will be based in Cincinnati Ohio.

About The Seidewitz Group

The Seidewitz Group is a boutique, research-based marketing consulting firm serving Fortune 1000 companies, venture-funded start-ups and political candidates. Using proprietary contextual research and modeling tools, The Seidewitz Group uses the science of human memory and motivation to help brands build deeper connections with their customers. The firm provides brand strategy and product innovation consulting, full service market research planning and execution, market research outsourcing, strategic public relations services and political strategy and media consulting. Clients include Intuit, Merck, ConAgra Foods, Align Technology, GE Healthcare and former Cincinnati Mayor Roxanne Qualls. Offices are located in New York, Cincinnati and Las Vegas. For more information, visit www.seidewitzgroup.com.

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Having been apart of many campaigns, both on as field and general media consultant level, I’ve developed a list of three things all candidates should know before deciding to run for office. These things aren’t meant to scare a candidate or detour them from running. They’re just a reality check for candidates so they know what they’re getting into:

1) Fundraising: You will (or at least should) spend the majority of your time between now and the election raising money. You might not expect that, but in order to run a viable campaign, you will spend more than 85% of your time in the next nine months asking your friends and family for money. You won’t be developing policy. You won’t be marching in parades. You will be sitting behind a desk calling everyone you’ve ever known and asking them to make a donation to your campaign.

Then, you’ll call them back again and again until they’ve given the maximum allowed. Then, you’ll call them back again to ask for a list of everyone they know so you can start calling their friends and family. That’s the biggest wake up call candidates for after they decide to run for office. They don’t realize how hard it is and how much time it takes to raise money. This applies to ALL candidates. You might be thinking, “oh, I can raise the money…it won’t take that much work.” If so, you’re in for a huge wake up call!

2) Events: You will spend every single Friday, Saturday and Sunday at some kind of event you’d probably prefer not to go to. Every single weekend between now and election day will be filled with church fundraisers, parades, picnics, community council meetings, etc. If you like warm draft beer, walking in four hour long parades in July and listening to community council members talking about why they can’t get Wolgang Puck to open a restaurant in their neighborhood, this part of the campaign might be right up your alley!

3) Consultants: You might be inclined to develop your own campaign message strategy and execute it yourself through TV ads, mail, etc.. However, it’s as simple as this: If you try to manage your campaign message and it’s execution yourself, you will lose. You’re probably an expert in some field, whether you’re a lawyer, doctor, executive, non-profit director, but you’re not an expert in political marketing. No matter how many campaigns you’ve volunteered on, how many commercials you’ve seen, or how many close friends you have who’ve worked on campaigns, if you don’t hire a good political marketing consultant (for example, The Seidewitz Group…hint hint), you’re on a clear path to defeat.

So, now you have a clearer picture of what the rest of your year will be like if you decide to run for office. Sure, a campaign has a lot of rewards. It really does. It’s the business I’m in and I love it.

But…there are a lot of wake up calls candidates don’t expect.

So, good luck in your decision and if you decide to run, give me a call!

After the announcement from the Obama team, controversy erupted from many gay and lesbians organizations, including The Human Rights Campaign. President Joe Solmonese wrote Obama, “Your invitation to Reverend Rick Warren to deliver the invocation at your inauguration is a genuine blow to LGBT Americans. We feel a deep level of disrespect when one of the architects and promoters of an anti-gay agenda is given the prominence and the pulpit of our historic nomination.”

Obama quickly responded calling himself a “fierce advocate for equality for gay and lesbian Americans.” He noted that “it is important for Americans to come together even though we have disagreements on certain social issues.”

So what does this really mean?

All Americans, gay and lesbians included, want our country to come together. We’re all tired of the divisive politics of the last eight years. However, what is most significant about this whole controversy is that this is Obama’s first time as President-Elect to upset a group within his own party, his own base. It was a calculated move. He knew it would upset gays and lesbians.

Going forward, this could mean a couple of different things: 1) Gay rights are no where near the top of Obama’s priority list; or 2) Obama is going to make some significant decisions on gay rights (repealing Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell, signing ENDA and hate crimes legislation) and he is buffering those decisions by appeasing the Christian Right from the very onset of his administration.

I hope it’s number two.

Throughout the months of September and October I, like many of you, saw countless political billboards and TV commercials and received tons of political mail pieces.

Having worked all year to help elect candidates and pass issues by creating effective political messaging, I noticed a theme in the billboards, commercials and mail pieces: You can tell when a campaign has hired effective political consultants and when they do their work themselves (or hire not-so-effective political consultants!)

For example, I can’t tell you how many times I saw: 1) A billboard with just the name of the candidate printed as large as possible on the sign, or 2) A TV commercial where the name of the candidates is mentioned 15 times in a 30 second spot, or 3) A direct mail piece with the candidate’s logo taking up 90% of the space.

Do these candidates think voters are dumb? That if they just see or hear their name as much as possible they will vote for them?

While name recognition is important, it’s completely irrelevant unless there is a positive association with that recognition.

Think about commercials you’ve seen for brands like Target and The Gap, do they saw “Shop at Target,” or “Buy clothes from The Gap” as many times as they can in the length of the TV spot? NO!!!! In some of their ads, you never even hear the words “Target” or “The Gap.”

They get you to buy their products not by saying their names over and over and over, but by reaching you at both an emotional and intellectual level through effective messaging!

So, here’s some free advice to anyone running for office or ever considering to: Hire a political consulting firm that knows name identification means nothing unless there is a link to a positive benefit to the voter!

Columbus, OH, November 6, 2008 – The firm that whose leading-edge research techniques helped build the QuickBooks, Hunt’s Tomatoes, and Nasonex brand names this year helped the Democrats take one of the biggest prizes in Ohio politics—the Ohio House of Representatives.

The Seidewitz Group, based in New York with offices in Cincinnati, served as strategy, direct mail and media consultants for John Carney (22^nd House District) and Connie Pillich (28^th House District)—who won two of the four seats the Democrats needed to win a majority of the House.

“We take a very different approach to political communications,” said Chris Seelbach, Vice President, Political Consulting, Finance and Administration. “We’re pleased our unique approach could play a key role in helping the Democrats retake the House.”

John Carney of Columbus became the first Democrat in 24 years to win the 22^nd Ohio House District. “During the campaign I knocked on more than 10,000 doors,” said Carney. “The Seidewitz Group helped me connect personally with tens of thousands more voters with its powerful mail and TV advertising. They’re work really stands out from other political consulting firms.”

Connie Pillich of Montgomery won the 28^th House District. The seat had been in Republican hands for all but two years of the past two decades. “The Seidewitz Group helped us craft a positive message that broke through the clutter and created a huge response from voters,” said Pillich. “They made a big difference in our campaign.”

The Seidewitz Group also provided strategy and media services to help Todd Portune be reelected to a third term on the Hamilton County, Ohio Commission. In 2000, Portune became the first Democrat in 36 years elected to that position.

About The Seidewitz Group

The Seidewitz Group is a boutique marketing consulting firm that specializes in applying theories of human motivation and memory to create marketing strategies and communications that resonate on a deep level. Using our proprietary “contextual” research and planning tools, we’ve helped Fortune 1000 companies, mid-size manufacturing firms, start-ups and political campaigns connect at a deeper level with customers and voters. Our clients include Intuit, Blockbuster Video, Schering-Plough Pharmaceuticals, SYSCO and ConAgra Foods. We have also worked with political clients at the city council, mayoral, county, and Congressional levels. For more information, visit www.seidewitzgroup.com.

Contact: Chris Seelbach 513-348-4239

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So I am going to go out on a limb: Obama is going to win in a near landslide. I was involved in the 1992 Cinton/Gore campaign and see this breaking similarly. In the final run up to the the election, undecided voters will swing decisively to Obama. I am giving him all close states, with the exception of NC. I expect NC to follow the same pattern it did in the Jesse Helms races, and default to the conservative white candidate. Even without NC, Obama should have a strong win in the Electoral College with 354 votes.

– Scott Seidewitz

2008 Election Contest: Pick Your President - Predict the winner of the 2008 presidential election

Gay Civil Unions: Separate But Equal?

“Comparing marriage to civil unions is a bit like comparing diamonds to rhinestones. One is, quite simply, the real deal; the other is not.”

In the recent California Supreme Court decision legalizing gay marriage in the State of California, the justices concluded, “[gay] families are harmed when the state provides their families with lesser status and dignity.”

Do civil unions provide gay and lesbian families with “lesser status and dignity”?

Some basic facts:

1) Couples eligible to marry may have their marriage performed in any state and have it recognized in every other state in the nation and every country in the world. Marriage provides portability when families travel or move.

2) Couple who are joined in a civil union (lets say, in Vermont) have no guarantee that its protections will even travel with them to neighboring NY—let alone Texas or any other state.

3) While couples who have a civil union retain some legal rights, they are only state rights. They do not receive any of the more than 1,000 federal benefits and protections of marriage.

So should gays and lesbians welcome civil unions and the rights they bring and just accept the different name?

Yes and no.

If gays and lesbians live in a state where they are able to participate in a civil union and want to do so, they should. It will bring many of the same state rights heterosexual couples have in that state.

However, similar to the 1960’s when African Americans drank from separate water fountains and went to separate bathrooms but still protested their separation, so must gays and lesbians. Civil unions are not separate, but equal. They are separate and unequal.

While they provide many important state rights, their intent is to exclude gays and lesbians from marriage–to prevent gays and lesbians both federal marriage rights and the status “being married” brings.

That’s wrong.

Gay and lesbian relationships and families are just as important as every other committed relationship existing among two consenting adults.

Our country has tried separate before. It just doesn’t work.

Posted by: Chris Seelbach

1) Money Matters Most: Michael Bloomberg, Mayor of New York City and billionaire. Bloomberg brings to the ticket money. And lots of it. If you don’t think that’s important, you’re wrong. It’s estimated that Obama and McCain need to raise close to $100 million dollars to be president. Campaign finance laws prevent wealthy people from donating large sums of money, but there’s an exception. If Bloomberg is part of the ticket, he can spend as much of his own money as he wants. Also, he used to be a Republican (he’s now an independent) and could therefore help persuade moderate Republicans to vote for Obama.

2) Foreign Policy Matters Most: Wesley Clark, retired four-star general. Obama is going to be attacked by McCain on his lack of foreign policy experience. In that sense, Clark is a great compliment to Obama. Clark is a West Point grad, military decorated former general who could go head to head with McCain in a debate on foreign policy. Plus, although many people might not want to talk about it, Clark is white and may help ease the fears of some voters who aren’t completely comfortable with electing the first African American president.

3) Uniting the Democratic Party Matters Most: Hillary Clinton, former first lady, U.S. Senator and Presidential candidate. Right now, the Democratic Party is divided. It’s been a tough primary and no presidential candidate can win without strong support from their base. If the Democratic party isn’t completely united, McCain wins. If Obama picks Clinton, the party instantly becomes united. Plus, if both Obama and Clinton are on the ticket, women and African Americans will show up to the polls like never before.

My advice to Obama: Pick Clark!!! Don’t trust the Republicans. Something is going to happen in October of this year that turns the debate to foreign policy. Osama bin Laden will release a video threatening our country or there will be some kind of terrorist threat. If this happens, the entire debate immediately turns to foreign policy and Obama needs Clark if he’s even going to think about taking on McCain on this issue.

My prediction: Obama asks Hillary and she accepts. It’s Obama/Hillary. Obama will choose to “unite the party” rather than take a risk by picking someone other than the Hillary Clinton. And, the Clintons are smart. Hillary knows a democrat is going to win this year. If she didn’t, she’d sit out four years and run again in 2012. As much as she wanted to be President, she wants to be apart of this ticket because she knows a democrat is going to win.