Case Study: Pallen's Martial Arts
A local community gem, Pallen’s Martial Arts was gearing up for expansion, and getting ready to open their brand new repurposed fitness center in the 2020 year. Their color palette was dated, they had variations of their hand drawn logos causing confusion, they were not sharing any story about themselves, and they struggled with communication to their clients, which impacted retention. They were looking to refresh their brand while keeping the essence of their logo, and develop themselves as a differentiator in the market in anticipation of their new move.
As a family business, there was a consistent sense of urgency and cohesiveness that revealed itself in the discovery phase, and that sense of striving and thriving for character development in their community is what set them apart as an outlier in their industry. Research also revealed that the purchasing power dynamic for lessons for children was more than 70% female parents, and that parents were not just searching for an activity for their children, they were searching for a sense of purpose and belonging. The new story emerged as a partnership community, the softer visual identity followed. With a streamlined logo and vibrant color palette—which deviated significantly from industry standards of just red and black—Pallen's was immediately set apart from competitors.
Although they opened their new doors a week before the March 2020 Covid-Shutdown, their new, mobile-friendly website was built to pivot into a completely digital at-home-experience tool, which helped them survive the impact Covid drove on their business model. Not only did they survive expansion in the midst of a pandemic while the doors or their competitors were closing, they dove into their new identity and messaging. Each time a new family "joins the tribe" they are given an orientation presentation about the inclusive story of striving and thriving as a community. This new brand has quadrupled retention rates, and Pallen's continues to thrive in the digital marketplace and in their relative spaces.