FAB 2026
Hospitality Hype
FAB Conference 2026 · Session Companion
Thanks for joining us at Hospitality Hype.
How to build buzz for your food & beverage business when you can't afford PR or marketing representation. The cheat sheet, the speakers, and the follow-up — all right here.
Mayter Scott & Julie Rhodes
The Cheat Sheet
Everything we covered — in 4 pages.
Print it, pin it, share it with your team. Foundational branding, real strategy, and an action checklist to start working through this week.
- Pep talk & tough love
- Build Your Brand — 7 essentials
- Build Your Strategy — 7 essentials
- Action checklist for this week
Build Your Brand
Build Your Strategy
A Quick Refresher
A pep talk & some tough love.
Because we know the second you walk out of a session, the inspiration starts to fade. So let's lock the most important parts in.
There's no magic bullet. Brand building takes time, intention, and consistency.
Foundational branding is essential before anything else.
You can't market what you haven't defined. You can't differentiate what you haven't anchored. And you can't talk to everyone.
The Two Sides Of The Coin
Brand. Strategy. Both. Always.
You need both to win. Foundations first (that's Mayter's lane). Strategic execution second (that's Julie's lane). One without the other doesn't work.
Mayter's Lane Build Your Brand
Foundations first. No shortcuts.
Story, image, content, social, PR, partnerships, differentiation.
1
Brand Story
Not your résumé. The answer to "why should I care?" — with the customer as the hero, not you.
2
Brand Image & Visual Identity
The silent ambassador. Consistency is being recognizable, not rigid.
3
Content Creation
How your brand shows up when you're not in the room. Authenticity beats production value.
4
Social Media
Be excellent on 2-3 platforms where your customers actually live. Rhythm beats virality.
5
Public Relations
Earned, not bought. Start local, start specific. Local press feeds your business.
6
Strategic Partnerships
Share a customer profile, not a product. Real value exchange. Clear ask, clear deliverable.
7
Differentiation
Standing out isn't being louder — it's being clearer. Lean into what's true about you.
Julie's Lane Build Your Strategy
Execution beats wishes.
Goals, customers, channels, tools, website, content, measurement.
1
Set Marketing Goals
Real goals are SMART. Start with TWO, not five. Marketing goals support business goals.
2
Identify Your Target Customer
Not "everyone." Get specific — your best customer, then 100 more of them.
3
Select Your Channels
Two or three where your customer already lives. Paid ads: diversify, niche > cattle call.
4
Pick The Right Tools
Email, social scheduler, CRM, website, AI assistant. Master before you add more.
5
Website UX (SEO + AIO)
Squarespace over WordPress. Mobile-fast. Local keywords. Claim your Google Business Profile.
6
Batch Plan Your Content
One half-day per month. Pick theme, brainstorm 8-12 pieces, write captions, source visuals, schedule.
7
Measurement Basics
3-5 numbers. Track weekly. Unique codes, coupon codes, unlinked landing pages = trackable.
Pulling It All Together
How small brands actually stand out.
It's not louder. It's not flashier. It's not bigger budgets. It's these three things — repeated, consistently, every single time.
01
Authenticity & Integrity
The brands that punch above their weight aren't pretending. They show up as themselves — imperfections and all — and customers feel the difference.
02
Community & Trust
Followers are vanity. Community is loyalty. A small group who genuinely cares will outperform a big audience that doesn't — every time.
03
Consistency Beats Clever
A decent email every Tuesday outperforms a brilliant one once a quarter. Rhythm builds trust. Trust builds buzz.
Your Action Checklist
Pick three. Tackle them this week. Then come back for the rest.
- Write your one-sentence brand story
- Audit your visual identity for consistency
- Define your ideal customer profile
- Choose your top 2-3 marketing channels
- Set 3 specific goals for the next 90 days
- Review your website on mobile — fix friction
- Claim & optimize your Google Business Profile
- Schedule a half-day content batching session
- Set up weekly tracking for 3-5 key metrics
- Identify one strategic partnership to pursue
Meet The Speakers
Two operators. One stage.
Different specialties, same playbook: real talk, no jargon, foundations first. Get to know us — and follow up if anything resonated.
Build Your Brand
Mayter Scott
Founder, Mayter Scott Creative
Mayter built her Nashville-based creative agency from a camera and a Wall Street Journal lucky break. Twenty-plus years in hospitality before that — line cook, server, GM. She still operates like one.
Mayter Scott Creative is a full-service agency for hospitality and lifestyle brands: photography, content, social, PR, digital marketing, and strategic partnerships. She works with restaurants, beverage brands, hotels, and culinary destinations who want to look the part — and back it up.
Build Your Strategy
Julie Rhodes
Founder, Not Your Hobby Marketing Solutions · COO, Kick Fizz
Julie is a fractional consultant who helps small craft beverage brands sell more, market smarter, and stop confusing being busy with making progress. Twelve years in beverage sales and distribution before consulting full-time in 2019.
She's also COO of Kick Fizz, a hemp-infused beverage brand she helped build from zero with a team of two and practically no budget. So she's not just teaching strategy — she's living it, one decision at a time.
Stay In Touch
All the links.
Connect with whichever one of us makes sense for your business. Or both. We don't compete — we complement.
Mayter Scott Creative
Web mayterscottcreative.com
Insta @mayterscottcreative
TikTok @mayterscottcreative
P.S. Julie also runs Kick Fizz — a hemp-infused beverage brand (low-dose Delta 9 THC + CBD, 21+). It's where she pressure-tests everything she teaches.
kickfizz.com →