Aikiforest is a Singapore aikido studio with a real teacher, a loyal core, and — until 2023 — almost no marketing. I came on as its brand and marketing consultant and have worked with it since. This is the one project in this portfolio that isn't a concept: ongoing, real-client work, with sign-ups to show for it.
Aikiforest Aikido is a small Singapore studio with deep teaching credibility and almost no marketing presence. I joined as its brand and marketing consultant in 2023 and have worked with it since — which makes this the one case study here that shipped to a real audience rather than a brief. The challenge: grow sign-ups (parents enrolling children, plus adult learners) with no media budget, in a category where the product is hard to photograph and easy to keep putting off.
The early copy sold aikido the way the studio talks about it internally — technique, philosophy, discipline. But parents weren't buying technique; they were managing a problem. The reframe came from what parents actually worry about: too much screen time, restless school holidays, and kids who need somewhere to put their energy.
I led an end-to-end marketing redesign:
Beyond parents, I built a B2B schools pitch deck positioning aikido against the MOE Character & Citizenship Education (CCE) and Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) frameworks — so a school could see the class as curriculum, not an add-on. It included three modular course offerings tailored to Primary, Secondary, and Junior College students.
The one number that matters: earlier copy work contributed to a 10% increase in 2024 sign-ups — a real lift, from a real studio, with no added media spend. The brand system and schools deck turned a one-off campaign into an ongoing marketing function the studio still runs.
If I ran it again → I'd instrument the funnel from day one — UTM-tagged links across the WhatsApp and SAFRA channels — so I could prove which distribution bets drove the 10%, not just that the campaign did.