From ‘let’s do this’ to ‘launched’ in two weeks, the story of QC x Streetwear.
Qween City started in 2016 when editor Kristy Mangel pivoted from producing comedy shows to a longer-lasting format, the webzine! Apparel was a goal as soon as QweenCity reached the benchmark of posting content daily. Since I’d begun consulting on extension strategies, a couple of streetwear concepts began to form. Two weeks before Thanksgiving 2018, QC editor Kristy Michelle gave me the go-ahead to launch the line.
“get it on” cyber Monday promotion
Branding
Kristy had built the subtopic formula, QC x GP. Extrapolating the concept to QC x Streetwear made sense.
Design
Streetwear is evocative of band t-shirts and skateboard brands. These designs use the QC Crown logo in the same context.
Sourcing
We decided on a small run on an exclusive pre-order basis. Wooden T-shirts won out as the screen printer for our first run of merch for a number of reasons. The setup and placement fees were lower than average and they offer soft slim fit shirts. Plus the shop’s other projects reflected good taste in kind with our own concept.
Webstore
I used Big Commerce to create a stunning webstore in two days. The free features are more than adequate for our e-commerce needs. SDPR handled everything from the creative elements to the nitty; designed graphics, wrote product descriptions, and configured shipping. I even ran a coupon code promo.
Screencap of men’s design on the QC x Streetwear webstore
teaser ad
Marketing
QC ran a teaser campaign online including both organic and sponsored posts on Facebook and Instagram.
The look was consistent and bold throughout the preview, Black Friday launch, and Cyber Monday promotion. Put on Your Crown and Get it On won out as slogans.
The end product resulted in high exposure and a boost in revenue for an up-and-coming start-up!