For more than 10 years, El Cajon-based Taylor Guitars has looked to brand design firm Mires to help bring its products to the market.

The local guitar company, which is one of the most well-known manufacturers of high-end acoustic guitars, once again turned to the Little Italy-based firm to help create and sustain a brand identity for its newest venture, the T5, also known as the Taylor Guitar Thinline Five-Way.

Mires, which began working on the campaign in November, was hired to build buzz for the T5, Taylor’s first hybrid electric and acoustic guitar.

The company, which had only two months to come up with a plan, began to establish the guitar’s credibility by profiling popular musicians using the guitar, as well as using the Internet to tease the product’s upcoming launch.

Mires, which has 20 employees, built brand buzz for the T5 by taking photos of musicians using the guitar and incorporating that into the campaign.

“For us the key was to capture the visuality of these guys playing the guitar,” said President Scott Mires.

The pictures, which included shots of local singer-songwriter Jason Mraz and local band Switchfoot, were used in Web promotions, print material and point of purchase displays.

Mires, which designated six staff members to the project, also created 30-second video clips of artists using the product.

“The key is continuity,” Mires said. “Understanding how to best touch the audience and how to do it in the most consistent way.”

The company, which projects its revenue to reach $3.5 million to $4 million by the end of 2005, is in the process of launching an additional Web component to the campaign in the next several weeks, he said.

“The campaign has been a success, as the product has become the best selling guitar in Taylor’s 31-year history,” Mires said.

“According to Taylor Guitars, the T5 is expected to generate 100 times more sales than the cost of the entire campaign,” he said. Mires would not disclose the cost of the campaign.