The Client
An iconic Hawaiian footwear brand celebrating 80 years in business (founded 1946), known for handcrafted leather slippers made with premium materials. Now in its third generation of ownership, the brand serves customers worldwide from their Hawaiian headquarters with a lean e-commerce operation managed by a dedicated but stretched operator.
The Challenge
The brand's operator was using ChatGPT in a limited way — mostly for Meta ad copy and email campaigns based on prompts from a business coaching group. She knew AI had potential but didn't understand how to use it strategically or systematically. Ad performance was declining, manual processes were unsustainable for a lean team, and she constantly felt overwhelmed trying to track everything that needed to be done. There was no structured system for campaign planning, ad analysis, or marketing decision-making.
The Solution
Starting with an analysis of the brand's existing acquisition channels — Google Ads, Meta Ads, email flows, and campaigns — we provided clear, actionable recommendations to improve ROAS and then built an entire AI-powered marketing infrastructure from the ground up.
- Built complete AI-powered marketing system producing structured social media briefs, email briefs, and ad briefs
- Created weekly ad analysis process enabling confident decisions to kill losing ads, iterate on new ideas, and double down on winners
- Automated email campaign workflows using Claude AI and Asana integration
- Developed strategic marketing calendar with promotional campaigns aligned to seasonal patterns
- Replaced guesswork with a data-driven decision framework powered by AI analysis
The Results
- 40% year-over-year sales increase through AI-powered marketing systems
- Transformed operator confidence — from overwhelmed and reactive to confident and data-driven
- Structured decision-making — weekly ad analysis replaced gut-feeling choices
- Automated workflows — campaign creation time reduced dramatically through Claude AI + Asana integration
- 10+ year partnership that keeps evolving — from email marketing to Klaviyo migration to reviews/loyalty programs to full AI-powered systems
Key Takeaway
The most powerful AI transformation isn't about the technology — it's about the partnership. Over a decade, this relationship evolved through every major shift in digital marketing because both sides committed to continuous growth. The operator went from basic ChatGPT prompts to running a complete AI-powered marketing system, not because of a single tool implementation, but because of sustained coaching that built real capability.
