Category Archives: Clients

Blue Buffalo sold for 8 Billion

An $8 billion brand started in a small barn with a bunch of good people

Those who know the story of Squeaky know that one of our very first clients was SoBe Beverages. We worked closely with the creative forces behind SoBe, including the Bishop Family, John Bello and a slew of brand all-stars that included Mike Joyce, Tom Small Horn, Dave Spinato and Scott Moffit.

This team, along with so many others, created a new beverage category that paved the way for the “Red Bulls of the world” and planted the seeds of engagement for a conscious-consumer populous. At SoBe, product innovation was as important as consumer acceptance and meeting the expectations of a new market. Squeaky’s work was to utilize emerging digital technologies to foster engagement and real relationships between the brand and its audience.

After the acquisition of SoBe beverage by PepsiCo, the Bishops set their talents on an all-new mission, and Squeaky was fortunate enough to continue as their digital agency.  They recognized that there was no human-grade dog food on the market and thus set out to develop a product that was centered on great nutrition for pets and celebrated the passion of pet owners.

Driving up to their office for the first time (which was actually a barn), we had no idea those initial conversations would manifest into the Blue Buffalo brand. The focus in those early days was rooted in a commitment to making the lives of pets better and thus challenging the biggest pet food brands in the market. Their passion was to produce and bring to market better food for pets and to engage the owners who wanted more for their four-footed family members.

Squeaky worked closely with the Blue Buffalo team to identify the attributes of both the product and the audience, which manifested into Blue Buffalo’s digital strategy.  We designed and developed their very first website and community engagement initiatives, including the now-vintage Blue Buffalo Trading Cards (two of our own pets were part of the early series). We also developed an interactive matrix “True Blue Test” that provided health information about pets and animal cancer to better educate pet-owners about the well-being of their pets.

It goes without saying that the headlines of Blue Buffalo’s sale to General Mills for $8 Billion brought the biggest smile to our faces. (No – we didn’t reap any financial rewards, just pride points).

We are proud and fortunate to have worked together during the brand’s formative years; proud of the success they achieved in working on a vision tirelessly and for its impact on pet nutrition and cancer awareness; and proud of the trusted relationship we built with Blue Buffalo, as we continue to build with all of our clients. Relationships centered on innovation, good work and progression.

The phenomenal success of one of our very first clients is inspiring, as it reminds us that vision, focus and perseverance can manifest itself into a brand that becomes a market leader.

We want to send big congratulations to our friend Billy Bishop and the rest of the team at Blue Buffalo. Bravo.

Squeaky Partners With Sony Foundation to Launch YouCan.org.au

Squeaky Partners With Sony Foundation to Launch YouCan.org.au

Squeaky has partnered with the Sony Foundation Australia to build a networking platform for young people in Australia who are dealing with cancer. We leveraged our platform IHadCancer.com, a digital health and lifestyle brand dedicated to improving the day-to-day life of cancer survivors, fighters and caregivers, to launch You Can Connect (youcan.org.au).

The platform provides an online extension of You Can, a youth cancer program set up by the Sony Foundation Australia in 2010. You Can’s aim is to fund specialised youth cancer centres around Australia to address the current gap in the healthcare system. According to You Can, “Currently, young Australians with cancer are a ‘forgotten generation’ who are falling through the gaps of our medical system. Young people aged between 16 and 25 have significantly poorer survival rates than children and older adults due to a lack of access to age appropriate care.

You Can Connect was born out of the need identified by You Can and Peter MacCallum Hospital, Melbourne for a place where young people affected by cancer could reach out for peer support, or get peer support, no matter where they were, their proximity to a physical You Can Centre or what stage they were at in their journey. A place where they could go when they can’t talk to their parents, when their mates don’t get it, a place where they won’t have to censor their journey. A virtual You Can Centre where all the discussions were by young people, for young people.

About the partnership, Sophie Ryan, CEO of the Sony Foundation says, “We believe this [partnership] would have a huge success rate in Australia and really tap into an area that desperately requires more engagement, support and networking for so many.”

“Cancer is a disease that can take all of your control away,” said Mailet Lopez, the CEO and founder of IHadCancer.com and Managing Director of Squeaky. “You feel helpless, lost, afraid, confused, and — most troubling — alone. This is an even more pressing issue for younger cancer patients who are limited to a much smaller pool of peers capable of empathizing with their experiences. As a result, many people diagnosed with cancer between the ages of 15 – 35 have no support system and no way of finding one despite there being millions of people in the world going through the same experiences.”

Mailet founded IHadCancer while she was in this demographic because she wanted to make sure no one else would have the difficulties connecting with others the way she did during her cancer journey. Although she had great support from her family, she found that they couldn’t fully understand what she was going through. She spent a lot of time searching online, but she couldn’t find a resource that easily connected her with someone who could answer specific questions.

After finishing treatment, Mailet decided that she wanted to help other patients deal with cancer, so with the help and support of Squeaky, she set out to build an online community that would allow people to search by age, gender, location, type of cancer and year diagnosed to find others who truly understood.

Both IHadCancer and You Can Connect were designed, developed and are managed in-house at Squeaky.

Visit You Can Connect here.