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Crafting a clear brand voice for Queer Social Club

Scope

Queer Social Club is a Portland-based mutual aid and events platform serving LGBTQ+ folks through in-person programming and a well-loved digital calendar. By Summer 2024, founder Sarah Crisp had been running it solo for two years and felt ready to scale—but unsure how to do it without losing the soul of the project.

They came to Marketing by Rocio for a Next Generation Branding Intensive—a hands-on strategy sprint designed to clarify vision, refine voice, and build out a marketing plan rooted in ethics and ease.

The scope included:

A 2-day, real-time branding intensive (branding + marketing)
Brand positioning, audience mapping, and visual tone definition
A full Brand Voice Style Guide, outlining tone, word choice, and messaging guidelines
A 12-month Marketing Game Plan with seasonal priorities, channel recommendations, and monetization pathways
Ongoing async support via email and Google Docs

Screenshot of Queer Social Club’s homepage featuring bold “Queer-Friendly Community” text, a dark background with organic purple shapes, and navigation links for events, sponsors, and membership. — Queer Social Club’s homepage reflects the organization’s playful, inclusive identity. During our Brand Strategy Intensive, I worked with the founder to clarify the brand’s voice and values—making it easier to connect with the queer communities they serve in Portland and Seattle.

Tools used

Google Workspace – Real-time collaboration on strategy docs, voice guides, and marketing calendars
Otter.ai – Live transcription to capture session insights and client language
Squarespace – Site audit and homepage strategy recommendations (within CMS constraints)
Mailchimp – Email review to align newsletters with new voice and community engagement goals
Instagram – Audit of past posts and post-session content planning
Google Meet – 2-day intensive facilitation, with built-in co-working, alignment, and real-time feedback loops

Solution

This was a fast-paced, collaborative engagement focused on clarity, alignment, and sustainable strategy.

Phase 1: Brand Strategy Intensive

I facilitated two 2-hour sessions (branding and marketing), where we mapped out QSC’s core values, key audiences, emotional tone, and community position. We worked through limiting beliefs around monetization and framed new language for funding, partnerships, and visibility that felt ethically aligned.

Sarah received a custom Brand Voice Guide including:

Tone pillars for QSC’s queer, community-centered voice
Example phrases and language to use/avoid
Storytelling strategies for social media, email, and press outreach
Personality mapping and messaging anchors

Phase 2: 12-month Marketing Plan

We co-developed a full-year marketing calendar that prioritized:

Events and programming with promotional timelines
Platform-specific strategies (email, IG, in-person flyers, local press)
Partnership opportunities
Funding/membership models rooted in access—not gatekeeping

This was supported by a monthly breakdown, suggested content cadence, and a “do less but better” ethos.

Results

The client left with total clarity on what QSC is, is not, and where it’s going
The Brand Voice Guide is now used by volunteers, collaborators, and partners to ensure consistency
The Marketing Plan helped secure new press coverage, and Sarah referenced it to onboard new hires
The streamlined brand voice made visual decisions easier, leading to a more cohesive look across social media and newsletters
Most importantly: the founder’s confidence in QSC’s value deepened—monetization no longer felt scary or “against the mission,” but like an extension of community care

A screenshot of Queer Social Club’s newer Instagram posts, displaying a mix of branded templates and consistent event visuals with cohesive style and color palette. — AFTER: After developing a Brand Voice Style Guide, the organization built out a consistent visual language rooted in the voice pillars we clarified. This transformation shows how strong, clear brand voice isn’t just about copy—it’s the foundation of cohesive design, too.

BEFORE: Prior to our collaboration, QSC’s visuals were created ad-hoc in Canva, with no shared style, color system, or hierarchy.

BEFORE the Brand Voice Guide: QSC’s newsletters delivered valuable info but lacked cohesion. Without clear voice, hierarchy, or design consistency, emails leaned on raw event listings. This made impact storytelling and brand partnerships harder to scale—especially for a community org ready to grow. Our strategy process focused on defining QSC’s tone, structure, and storytelling pillars, laying the groundwork for stronger campaigns and more engaging email communication.

AFTER: With a streamlined Brand Voice Style Guide in place, Queer Social Club’s newsletters now reflect a unified tone, aesthetic, and strategy. This email campaign pairs strong voice with cohesive design—showing how clear messaging can support community growth, funding goals, and audience trust.

Want a brand voice transformation like this? Let’s chat →

Testimonials

Sarah Crisp 🔗

Founder of Queer Social Club + Head of Product

“After running queersocialclub.com for two years alone, I knew I needed to level up the focus of the business but was overwhelmed and didn’t know where to start… so I decided to hire support from a marketing professional who understood both queer culture AND digital marketing strategy. Rocio was the perfect person for this! Working together has equipped me with a whole new level of tools, focus, and priorities for the next year of business and community-building. I plan to hire Rocio again as many times as possible, and recommend MBR to anyone looking for an efficient and creative marketing/branding expert!”

Year completed

2024

Services

Next Generation Branding Intensive

Website

https://queersocialclub.com/

Project team members

Rocio Sanchez
Brand Strategist

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Crafting a clear brand voice for Queer Social Club