Blog / Michigan Rock School Students Help Launch New Line of Epiphone Guitars
In July 2022 Michigan Rock School students were featured in print ads, website content, and videos to launch a new line of Epiphone Guitars. The Epiphone Power Players line of guitars are scaled-down versions of the classic Gibson Les Paul and Gibson SG models. Because they are specifically sized and designed for kids, we jumped at the opportunity to be involved in the launch of such a cool line of guitars!
Months before the Power Players guitars were released, John Kozicki, founder of Michigan Rock School, was asked to consult for the campaign by D/Cal Agency. D/Cal is a Detroit-based advertising agency that works closely with Gibson brands. John was recruited for his decades of experience understanding how kids learn guitar. Additionally for his expertise in helping parents choose the right guitar for their kids, and understanding the sometimes complex dynamics between parents and kids when they begin to take music lessons.
D/Cal and Michigan Rock School coordinated a “product immersion” event with MI/RS students and parents. The students and parents had the opportunity to try out the yet to be released guitars and provide their thoughts and feedback. D/Cal then shared what they learned with Epiphone and the information from the students and parents to develop the advertising campaign for the product launch a few months following. To see some highlights from that event, watch the video below.
Executives from Gibson and Epiphone loved the feedback they got from Michigan Rock School students so much that they invited them to be featured in the advertising campaign to launch the Power Players line of guitars! In June 2022 the kids got Rock Star treatment at a professional production that included photo shoots and video of them playing the guitars while having fun! Images of the kids were used for print and web ads, and are prominently featured on the Epiphone website. Video of the students were used in commercials to launch the Power Players guitar line, featured on the Epiphone website, YouTube, and a slew of other sites across the web. Their parents were excited to see their kids everywhere, and the kids were even paid for their appearance in the ads to launch a new line of guitars for a worldwide brand.
What an awesome experience this was for our student and Michigan Rock School community! Huge thanks to our friends from Gibson Guitars and D/Cal Agency!
