Ismaele
Michelotti.

Companies come with different problems. Positioning before an export push. Brand structure that hasn’t kept up with the business. A market entry that isn’t landing.

The work is always strategic advisory, direct with founders or senior management. No junior consultants, no deliverable factories. I take on a small number of engagements at a time.

Engagements are either project-based or ongoing retainer. Clients are mostly Italian manufacturers and premium businesses going international; occasionally the opposite, foreign operators entering the Italian market.

For projects that require an operational team, I work through MOAR Studio. If what you’re dealing with sounds like a positioning problem, the right first step is a conversation.

1. Wine

   Gave a winery a clearer identity at home, and a stronger pull internationally.

   At home, stronger names were absorbing their identity. Abroad, their exports landed without weight. A five-year brand vision and refreshed online presence strengthened them at home and earned real attraction abroad. Consolidated US, Canada and EU; opened Japan, China and Singapore.

2. Furniture

   Repositioned an internationally-active furniture maker, from chasing work to fielding inbound.

   Already operating across borders, but without a defining edge. Built their online presence from scratch around solid-surface interior fit-outs for shipbuilders. Consolidated Italy and raised international reputation; inbound increased.

3. Interior design

   Lifted a premium interior-design studio past its regional ceiling.

   Plateaued at regional commissions despite the quality of the work. Social and commercial strategy that crossed regional borders. Now expanded to Milan, collaborating with leading interior studios and art directors.

I started in the Italian design and manufacturing sector, trained specifically to position Italian product companies for international markets. That context shaped how I read business problems: through the lens of what a company actually makes, not just how it communicates.

The last seven years split between advisory work and building things. I founded MOAR Studio in 2021, a brand advisory practice based in the Triveneto, still active for projects requiring an operational team.

Before and alongside that, I co-founded several ventures: performance marketing, property management, and AI-assisted creative production. Most of them taught me something useful. Some of them taught me the same thing twice.

A consistent part of that work has involved Italian companies entering foreign markets, and in several cases Japanese import and export operators working with Italian manufacturers.

Currently splitting time between Italy and Lithuania.