When Taylor Guitars decided to launch its first electric guitar, you could literally feel the excitement in the air. Of course, the stakes were high—the move into the electric market was risky for Taylor, a company synonymous with acoustic guitars—but there was no doubt that the guitar should go to market. It was a winner on all fronts: technical innovation, style and playability. As Taylor’s lead brand designer (my firm Mires has shepherded the Taylor Guitar brand for almost a decade), my assignment was to capture the essence of the new Thinline Five-Way (a.k.a. the “T5”).

Hatching a Plan: In typical Taylor and Mires fashion, the game plan for the T5 was hatched over a highly animated and collaborative lunch with Taylor’s director of marketing, Jonathan Forstot. The first order of business: Should the T5 be positioned as a brand extension or simply a new Taylor product? Because the introduction of the T5 signaled a larger strategic move for Taylor Guitars, we quickly decided the T5 should have a unique and more “electrified” identity and personality. Next came the launch strategy: To accommodate Taylor’s unorthodox schedule (the company planned to introduce the T5 at NAMM, the music industry’s largest national tradeshow, in January but the guitar would not ship to retailers until May), the key was building buzz.

To capture consumer interest, especially with a younger, “Rock n’ Roll” demographic, the Mires team developed a two-pronged approach: First, we would highlight early-adopters of the T5 (Taylor “seeded” the guitar with well-known musicians leading up to NAMM). Second, we would introduce a number of online product teasers and promotions—each one more compelling than the last.

Capturing the T5 in Action: In preparation for NAMM, Mires developed the T5 identity and a web-teaser proclaiming “The countdown begins,” but our creative tour de force began the weekend of the national music event. Artists as varied as Jason Mraz, Switchfoot, Story of the Year, Hanna-McEuen and La Ley were slated to play in the Taylor booth, and I saw this as a unique opportunity to capture the T5 in action. Eschewing NAMM’s bland tradeshow environment, we took the musicians “on the move,” snapping shots on the street, in freight elevators and hotel rooms, on rooftops. The photojournalistic nature of the shoot, with a small Mires team literally running from venue to venue, captured what I call the “Taylor psychographic”—the powerful connection musicians have with their guitar—with an authenticity that is wholly Taylor Guitars.

Using the Web to Build Buzz: With the NAMM photography as a visual cornerstone, Mires then turned our attention to the web. In an ideal world, each time a Taylor enthusiast visited the company’s website, I want them to be greeted by fresh imagery of the guitar, a new promotion or more detailed product information—ideally all three. Building on the momentum gained at NAMM, where “insiders” got their first real look at the T5, we launched a number of web-teasers to pique interest. Like any good “teaser,” these first introductions to the T5 showed glimpses of the guitar and hinted at its technical innovation and incredible sound. Over time, the teasers became more robust, culminating in full-blown online performances (a first for Taylor!) highlighting the guitar’s versatility in the hands of well-known artists. A series of web promotions—from electronic postcards featuring the T5 to a “refer a friend” contest to win a prototype of the guitar—continued to add to the momentum.

Now that the guitar has launched, we are in the midst of developing a full-blown web feature for the T5 (really, a mini website) packed with detailed product specifications and functionality that allows visitors to see a 360-degree view of each guitar. Of course, all of this is supplemented by offline materials—including a product brochure, point-of-purchase displays and promotional items—but our online efforts are really at the heart of the T5’s launch.

Flying Off the Shelves: Two months after hitting retailers, the T5 is the fastest selling guitar in the company’s 31-year history. Of course, that level of business success puts a smile on my face, but it is really anecdotal observations from the field that have me so excited. According to reports from Guitar Center, consumers were lined up outside stores the day the T5 was officially unveiled, with an unprecedented number of them purchasing the new guitar without playing it. As a brand designer, that’s the kind of success that really resonates with me.

Scott Mires is a nationally recognized designer and founding partner of Mires. Under his leadership, Mires has grown to become the largest brand design firm in San Diego and developed a client list that includes market leaders from Starbucks and Wal-Mart to Jabra and Qualcomm. An avid surfer and music fan, he stays up to date on cultural trends and has a particular interest in lifestyle marketing. Mires has received industry recognition from Communication Arts, Print and AIGA, to name a few. In addition, he has authored numerous articles on brand development and design and spoken at prominent industry conferences.