Wine/Hospitality

Are you ready to spark some buzz?

Cultivating Buzzworthy Experiences in Wine and Hospitality

Storytelling is at the heart of every initiative Spark + Buzz undertakes, designed to authentically inspire audiences, drive results and enhance engagement. We pride ourselves on being a boutique consultancy that provides clients both creative and strategic solutions without the traditional agency price tag.

Spark + Buzz (pronounced Spark and Buzz) believes that proactive marketing and communication strategies can lay the foundation for business prosperity and harmony, creating raving fans, repeat customers, and engaged employees. We also believe your brand represents the collective experiences and interactions that individuals have with your product and company, and it should be managed with care and precision.

We love to challenge assumptions and create unique experiences that will live on in the hearts and minds of many, also known as a term we’ve coined, storied hospitality. Storied hospitality is crafting experiences so unique and memorable, they become storied and legendary. Customers are craving personal touches from brands–they want feel seen and connected with brands more than ever before. In an age of ever-increasing technology and AI experimentation, those human touches will become more important. Storied hospitality creates those experiences that have customers, fans and vendors raving about you, your product and/or your organization.

Are you ready to cultivate buzzworthy experiences?

See what our clients are saying:

Courtney and I have worked on a few [public relations] projects together. She is not only a pleasure to work with on a personal and professional level, she brings a sense of calm and control to all situations and really sees the big picture to have the best outcome. I highly recommend Spark + Buzz and would definitely use her to assist on future projects should the need arise. — Nathan, Healthcare CEO

Courtney is remarkable. I made the best decision hiring Spark + Buzz Communications to design my brand and logo. The professionalism, attention to detail and great attitude made working with Courtney a worthwhile experience. I highly recommend Spark + Buzz for your communications and marketing needs. — Ivy, Executive Coach

Worthy brought on Spark + Buzz to assist some of our healthcare clients during a strenuous time. Courtney was absolutely incredible to work with in terms of her responsiveness and diligence in putting together an incredible product for these clients. We would highly recommend utilizing Courtney and Spark + Buzz for any of your public relations, branding, or marketing efforts. — Ryan, CEO, Worthy Insurance

When Courtney let us know that she was starting her own boutique marketing and branding company we jumped at the opportunity to be one of her first clients. She was incredibly helpful in reviewing, revising, and refining our message both internally and externally. Spark + Buzz crafted how we project our mission to our staff and how we position ourselves to our existing and potential clients to be more relevant and top of mind. Courtney is a real marketing professional who has a firm grasp of her client's strengths and finds inventive ways to accentuate them to a wider audience. – Andrew, Owner, Spectrum Printing

Working with Courtney and Spark + Buzz Communications has not only helped my organization realize the need for clarity of message and brand, but actually work towards that with a focus that has brought us to a place of pride and excitement for the future. I run a networking group that has been evolving over time and with the different iterations of message we've been carrying, meeting Courtney and talking with her has really connected our scattered dots into a cohesive identity that has steered our reach and community involvement level to that we could have only dreamed of a year ago. — Rebecca, Founder, Uniquely UpCounty

I had the pleasure of working with Courtney and Spark + Buzz on content development and other marketing services for Wilshire. She is a terrific writer and brought a wealth of marketing knowledge and experience to the engagement. However, what is really special about Courtney is the attitude and approach she brought to the engagement. Combined with her technical proficiency, those additional skills made a difference. I’d highly recommend Spark + Buzz to anyone who is looking for a strong marketer who will deliver a high-quality work product and collaborate well with their team. — Don, CEO, Wilshire Finance Partners

Spark + Buzz changed the way I thought about marketing and communications within and beyond our company's doors. I appreciate Courtney's strategic approach through the development and implementation stages of our website and marketing plan. Courtney ensures the "why" of our business shines through in every detail and is remarkably talented. Courtney remains supportive of our marketing plan and is genuinely willing to help in any way she can so that we can continue providing care for those we serve. —Kathryn, COO, Functional Pathways

Have you ever had something (like a website) that you thought was “fine”? It was doing its job so you didn’t give it much thought. Then you spend the time and money to have it redesigned by a professional. Only to realize that “fine” was not fine after all. That is exactly what happened with the Women Business Owners of Montgomery County logo and website. After working with Courtney Malengo and her team at Spark and Buzz we now have an amazing logo that we are excited to put on everything and a website that we are proud to show off.

We also had Courtney’s team design a complimentary social media template to make sure that we are consistent in our brand.
Courtney was fabulous to work with. She answered questions patiently, dealt with our (sometimes odd) requests, and guided us smoothly through the process of redesigning a website.
—Heather, Former Board Chair, WBO

It is hard to sum up all that Spark + Buzz and Courtney Malengo are. Just like a person has a face, so does an organization. And conveying an invisible personality of an inanimate entity takes creativity and brilliance. Courtney possesses the intuitive nature to see the soul of an organization and bring it to life! Now the companies we consider “our babies,” can be understood for exactly what they are and trying to bring to this world. For any company looking to bring their creation to life, Spark + Buzz is the place to go!

—Nicole, HD Enterprises + Aerospace BD

Spark & Buzz was so wonderful to work with on a design for a special wine realease at our winery. Courtney worked tirelessly until the design was exactly what I was looking for and it was a great success and favorite of our customers when we released the product! Thanks Courtney for all your hard work and attention to detail and of course a perfect design!

—Pam, Owner, 61 Vineyard

In 2023, we engaged Spark + Buzz Communications to create a custom, onsite hospitality training workshop to inspire and educate my leadership team. Courtney's in-person session served as a great way to launch our hospitality initiative and help us create memorable experiences for our residents. The workshop earned nothing but high remarks and positive feedback. Our staff was inspired to improve our overall marketing and resident relationships. She even shared some of her signature Spark + Buzz hospitality, including arriving with hand decorated Casa de Modesto sugar cookies and later mailing me one of Spark + Buzz's infamous blue boxes filled with Maryland-themed treats. It made my day. I can't wait to collaborate with Courtney and Spark + Buzz again.

—Paul, Executive Director, Casa de Modesto

After receiving proposals from a few different marketing partners, it was obvious to me that I needed to work with Spark + Buzz Communications. Courtney launched our work together with a 2-Day retreat where she listened, asked questions, challenged my assumptions and ultimately helped get out of my head onto paper my hopes and dreams for my business. For me, hiring a marketing partner was all about my messaging, my story, and the brand I wanted to create. Courtney heard me and worked tirelessly to help me bring my business story and brand to life. Not only did she guide me through the branding, messaging, logo, and website process, she ultimately helped me find confidence in my story and message. I now feel like I have a unified brand and message matrix and the tools necessary to put myself out there and share with people what I do and the value I bring to clients. If you want someone to help you create a great brand and bring your story to life, you need to work with Courtney and Spark + Buzz!

—Will, Founder, Work Wonder