Why Most Brand Partnerships Fail (And What Kaitlin Wilkes Does Instead)
From MAFFEO DRINKS Podcast: How Kaitlin Wilkes builds lasting brand partnerships through five-year plans, purposeful drink strategies, and authentic relationships that survive staff changes and market shifts.
Brands chase listings while bartenders chase creativity, and somewhere in the middle, everyone loses money.
We discuss this fundamental disconnect with Kaitlin Wilkes, advocacy consultant and co-founder of the Admiral One Project, who spent 15 years navigating both sides of the drinks ecosystem.
The Two-Industry Problem Nobody Talks About
The drinks industry and the hospitality industry are not the same thing. They operate as two separate ecosystems with different languages, priorities, and success metrics, connected only by the liquid in the glass.
If the above resonates, it's because you've lived it.
Drinks Builders like you know what needs to happen. The struggle is bringing everyone else with you.
I've been there. You know the frustration. You can see what needs to happen, but the ecosystem pulls in different directions. Colleagues, partners, distributors, investors. All with their own pressures and timelines.
I've spent twenty years navigating this complexity. What follows is a methodology for bringing people with you and actually getting there.
Paid content for Drinks Builders serious about their work. 👇🏻
