The On-Premise Playbook: A Guide to High-Value Bar Partnerships— Expert Talks

2026-02-11

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Send a textAs on-premise venues navigate an increasingly fragmented spirits landscape, the relationship between brands and bars has reached a critical inflection point. This Expert Talk features Chris Maffeo, the Founder of MAFFEO DRINKS, to examine why most brand-bar partnerships fail before they begin, and how misaligned incentives, from listing fees that deliver no ROI to guest shifts where brand managers never appear, erode trust on both sides.Chris explores the disconnect between boardroom strategy and bar-floor execution, introducing a practical...

Send a text

As on-premise venues navigate an increasingly fragmented spirits landscape, the relationship between brands and bars has reached a critical inflection point. This Expert Talk features Chris Maffeo, the Founder of MAFFEO DRINKS, to examine why most brand-bar partnerships fail before they begin, and how misaligned incentives, from listing fees that deliver no ROI to guest shifts where brand managers never appear, erode trust on both sides.

Chris explores the disconnect between boardroom strategy and bar-floor execution, introducing a practical "if-then" framework for sustainable partnerships that balances bartender personal brand-building with genuine brand advocacy. Chris reveals why treating activations as transactions rather than relationships undermines everyone's bottom line, and demonstrates how accountability gaps, from finance teams demanding immediate returns to bartenders rotating between competing portfolios, can be transformed into long-term value creation.

Featured Guests:

Chris Maffeo, Founder, MAFFEO DRINKS

Mentioned in this episode:

MAFFEO Drinks

Watch on YouTube:

The On-Premise Playbook: A Guide to High-Value Bar Partnerships

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