ART STEVENS is Managing Partner of The Stevens Group, a consulting organization that specializes in facilitating mergers and acquisitions in the public relations and related marketing communications industries. The firm also provides consulting in PR agency management, profitability and strategic planning.

Mr. Stevens was the CEO of LobsenzStevens, one of the most prestigious independent public relations firms in the country for many years. Among the clients his firm served are American Express, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Johnson & Johnson, Pitney Bowes, The New York State Lottery, McKinsey & Company, Ernst & Young, Hertz and many others. 

In 1999 LobsenzStevens was acquired by Publicis and Mr. Stevens stayed on to manage what became the New York office of Publicis Dialog. In 2003 he began a new career in the public relations agency industry.

Mr. Stevens has served as instructor of public relations and management case studies at Fairleigh Dickinson University and has lectured at the New School, New York University and many other colleges and associations. A frequent lecturer and program chairman at American Management Association seminars in public relations, Mr. Stevens redesigned AMA’s course for corporate public relations managers. He has also spoken before such other organizations as the American Marketing Association, Association of National Advertisers and various Public Relations Society of America chapters. 

Listed in Who’s Who in America, Mr. Stevens has written numerous articles for financial, management, marketing and public relations publications. He is the author of the The Persuasion Explosion, a book published by Acropolis Books dealing with the role and influence of contemporary public relations practices.  

A former president of the Publicity Club of New York and an accredited member of the Public Relations Society of America, Mr. Stevens was elected to PRSA’s College of Fellows, an honor given to a select group of public relations practitioners for meritorious professional lifetime achievements. As chairman of the Public Relations Committee of PRSA, he initiated a program to establish a closer relationship between the profession and national media. 

A former member of the executive committee of the Counselors Academy, Mr. Stevens founded the organization’s ethics committee and helped institute a new code of ethics and a grievance process. He was honored by the New York Chapter of PRSA several years ago when he was the recipient of the annual John Hill Award for service to the PR industry, the Chapter and lifetime achievement. He was also inducted into the City College of New York Communications Alumni Hall of Fame, which also includes David Finn, The Kalb Brothers and The New York Times’ A.M. Rosenthal. 

Mr. Stevens has remained active in the Public Relations Society of America. He served as president of the New York Chapter in 2006 and on the national board as Secretary and board member. In 2008 he received the Patrick Jackson Award from PRSA for lifetime achievement to the organization and the profession.

Office: (732) 748-8583

Cell: (917) 514-7980

Email:  Art@theartstevensgroup.com

RICH JACHETTI, Partner, joined The Stevens Group in January of 2014.

Rich began his career in public relations in 1975 as Manager of the newly formed Sections program at PRSA, a position he held for 2 years. Rich was recruited in 1977 as manager of public relations for Cunard Line, Ltd., which at the time was the most famous luxury cruise line in world. With groups of travel writers in tow, Rich crossed the Atlantic Ocean to Southhampton, England 19 times. The trips resulted in glowing reviews written by many of the most prestigious magazines and newspapers in the USA. Again recruited, Rich left Cunard Line to become an account supervisor at Manning Selvage & Lee (MSL). He was again recruited 3 years later for the position of VP PR & Promotions for Penthouse International, Ltd, where he supervised all consumer and trade PR and promotional activity for the eponymous title and largest-selling magazine on newsstands in the world. While at Penthouse, Rich handled all promotion and PR activity for the launch of OMNI magazine and all PR and promotion for the Penthouse Hotel & Casino, while it was under construction in Atlantic City. Rich started his own PR firm in the early 80s and Penthouse was his first client.

Rich owned his own public relations agency for 8 years, and in the late 80s his firm was acquired by Lobsenz-Stevens. For the following 6 years, he worked side-by-side with Art Stevens as an executive vice president of Art’s PR firm.

Rich also worked closely with Art on the selection and due diligence of the multiple PR agency acquisitions L-S made prior to Art selling his firm to Publicis.

Intent on learning a new marketing communications agency discipline, Rich moved on from PR to join the award-winning sales promotions agency DVC Worldwide, based in Morristown, NJ, where he served for 8 years as senior VP in charge of concept development for integrated marketing programs. At the time, DVC had 340 FTE’s, and Rich was one of a team of 5 agency executives responsible for concept development for both existing clients and for prospective clients such as Mastercard and Lucent Technologies, among many others.

At his core, Rich is an entrepreneur who before becoming Art’s partner in 2014, founded EMOTIONMAPPING, LLC., an integrated marketing communications agency specializing mainly in the development and execution of advertising and digital marketing campaigns for professional services companies.

In his career, Rich has helped companies in multiple industry categories become wealthy, famous, respected winners. The campaigns he has developed over the past 40+ years have helped convince customers/stakeholders to choose, trust, try, recommend, respond, read, write, stop smoking, start exercising, contribute money, vote, take their medicine, travel, merge, hire and buy depending on the clients’ business objectives.

Phone:  (914) 318-4656

Email:  Rich@theartstevensgroup.com