TX Whiskey
The Challenge
In 2021, TX Whiskey lacked a dedicated online presence, relegated to a subpage on Firestone & Robertson's corporate site. This diluted its brand potential in a competitive spirits market, where digital storytelling is key to building loyalty and driving sales. The parent company sought a complete rebrand to capture a "rugged yet refined gentleman" vibe—think aged leather, Texas heritage, and sophisticated minimalism—while the agency (Tombras) was briefed to build a website that went beyond static pages. It needed to be an "experience": immersive, cohesive with the new branding, and scalable for future expansions like product launches or events.
Key pain points:
- Brand Dilution: No standalone site meant missed opportunities for targeted marketing and SEO, limiting visibility in a $40B+ U.S. whiskey market.
- User Engagement: Existing subpage was informational but uninspiring, failing to evoke the brand's story or convert visitors to buyers.
- Cohesiveness: New brand elements (logos, typography, color palettes) had to integrate seamlessly across digital touchpoints, ensuring scalability without redesigns.
- Performance Goals: Launch timed with social ads to spike traffic and sales, requiring mobile-first design for quick loads and intuitive navigation.
The brief emphasized translating the rebrand into a site that felt premium and experiential—e.g., interactive product explorers, storytelling sections on Texas roots, and easy e-commerce integrations.
My Design Approach
Leveraging the fresh branding elements from the Tombras brand team, I partnered with a UX strategist and content strategist to architect a site that balanced aesthetics with functionality. We conducted stakeholder workshops and competitive audits (e.g., vs. Jack Daniel's or Bulleit) to define user journeys, prioritizing mobile users (60%+ of spirits traffic). Focus: Create an immersive experience that guided visitors from discovery to purchase, while building a modular component system for long-term scalability.
Key Design Phases:
- Site Mapping & Wireframing: Collaborated to outline core pages (e.g., Home, Products, Story, Shop Locator) and user flows. Ensured "rugged refined" aesthetic through earthy tones, textured backgrounds, and elegant typography.
- Branding Translation: Adapted brand elements—e.g., custom icons for whiskey notes, parallax scrolling for depth—into digital formats. Made the site feel like a virtual distillery tour.
- Component Library: Designed reusable modules (e.g., product cards, hero banners, accordions) in Figma for easy CMS integration, allowing clients to add pages without agency help.
- Prototyping & Iteration: Built high-fidelity prototypes; tested with 20+ users for engagement (e.g., time on site, click-throughs). Refined for accessibility (e.g., alt text for images, keyboard nav).
- Handoff & Launch Prep: Delivered specs to devs; coordinated with social team for ad-aligned visuals.
Results & Impact
Launched in late 2021 alongside targeted social media ads (e.g., Instagram/Facebook campaigns highlighting the rebrand), the site delivered immediate ROI, validated by analytics and sales data.
Key Metrics:
- Traffic Surge: Huge spike in website visits (e.g., 150%+ increase in first month) driven by ads, with improved SEO ranking TX Whiskey independently.
- Sales Growth: 28% spike in overall sales post-launch, attributed to enhanced e-commerce flows and brand storytelling that converted browsers to buyers.
- Engagement Boost: Average session duration up 35%; Bounce rate down 22%, as the experiential design kept users exploring.
- Brand Lift: Social shares increased 40%, with users praising the "authentic Texas feel"; Set a template for parent company expansions.
- Business Uplift: Strengthened standalone presence, enabling direct-to-consumer strategies and partnerships; Client reported easier content updates via components.
The project not only elevated TX Whiskey's digital footprint but positioned it as a premium player, with the site still influencing marketing efforts years later.
