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Chris Maffeo

Building Categories from Scratch: Customer Discovery Over Market Research

Building Categories from Scratch: Customer Discovery Over Market Research

From The MAFFEO DRINKS Podcast: Category creation strategies from Guillaume Lambrecht (Supasawa), Michael Ballantyne, and Daniel Szor (Cotswolds)—direct customer discovery, 60+ iterations, and why building categories takes years not months.

Why Most Brands Fail at Trade Shows (And What Guillaume Does Instead)

Why Most Brands Fail at Trade Shows (And What Guillaume Does Instead)

Most beverage brands treat trade shows as demand generation events, hoping to create interest, build relationships, and generate sales from scratch. They invest heavily in booth space, expecting foot traffic to translate into business opportunities. But what if trade shows work best when demand already exists? We discuss this counterintuitive

Why "Market Research" Won't Validate Your Unknown Product Category (And What Guillaume Did Instead)

Why "Market Research" Won't Validate Your Unknown Product Category (And What Guillaume Did Instead)

How did Guillaume Lambrecht make a new functional category like Supasawa a lifestyle brand? Dive into insights from Podcast Episode 107 of MAFFEO DRINKS

Advocacy Program Evolution: From Transactional to Authentic Partnerships

Advocacy Program Evolution: From Transactional to Authentic Partnerships

Advocacy is one of the most talked-about topics in the Drinks Industry, but the traditional model of brand advocacy is broken. Across multiple conversations with industry professionals who've worked both sides of brand-bar relationships, we've uncovered a fundamental shift in how advocacy programs function and what

Building Authentic Brand Partnerships in the Modern Drinks Industry

There's a fundamental misunderstanding in how small brands approach the on-trade that often leads to spectacular failures. In my conversation with Kaitlin Wilkes, who has navigated both sides of the bartender-brand relationship, we explored how authenticity and realistic expectations create stronger partnerships than big budgets and false promises.

The Missing Middle: Is This Why Cocktail Culture Struggles to Scale?

The Missing Middle: Is This Why Cocktail Culture Struggles to Scale?

A personal reflection based on some of my latest MAFFEO DRINKS episodes on the state of the Drinks & Hospitality Industry.

From Modern Classics to Accessible Culture on Villa Mamo, Terroir, and Scaling Cocktail Hospitality with Federico Riezzo

From Modern Classics to Accessible Culture on Villa Mamo, Terroir, and Scaling Cocktail Hospitality with Federico Riezzo

In continuing their conversation, Chris Maffeo talks to Federico Riezzo about modern cocktail classics, Villa Mamo's terroir-driven approach, and scaling cocktail culture. Federico reflects on cocktail legends like Douglas Ankrah and the era that created enduring drinks like the Pornstar Martini, Penicillin, and Breakfast Martini, while exploring why