BlueBee Case Study
How we augmented their sales team with a fresh website serving as a powerful lead generation engine.
Web Services
- Web Development
- Web Design
- Search Engine Optimization
- Conversion Optimization
Meet BlueBee
BlueBee is a European NGS Analysis company in the exciting ecosystem of precision medicine. Their unique genomics platform helps life sciences and diagnostic technology providers deploy analysis data workflow solutions globally. They can centralize their operational view and standardize genomics data processes for a diverse set of end-users and stakeholders.
Not only did BlueBee hit their aggressive web launch deadline for ASHG, but their website project served as the cornerstone for a complete company re-brand. Murmurs at a large conference were about BlueBee’s best-in-class website and booth design on the floor, but they would never admit this themselves (a very modest bunch).
Check out their homepage for Camilla, the modest chameleon, who symbolizes their fit-for-purpose approach to high performance genomics data solutions, which are typically white-labeled to assume the complete identity of their customer-partners. In this way, Camilla and BlueBee are standouts.
The Story
How We Helped BlueBee Transition from Startup to Scale-Up
The Challenge
BlueBee’s previous website had served the company for three years. In that time their businesses had advanced, but the old website had not evolved. They knew their mission very deeply, but it had not been translated into a tangible website. It was clear that it was time for a refresh approach.
BlueBee needed one vendor who could partner with them to completely refresh their brand positioning and role out effective lead generation tools for their sales team. We delivered the website on time and on budget with an aggressive deadline.
The Strategy
The website redesign was really a project for BlueBee to rebrand the company. The mission was to fine tune the messaging, understand how to use the website as a tool to generate leads, and make a real connection with their market.
We spoke directly to their customers to discover why they partner with BlueBee. Then we translated those customer insights into a beautiful design, intuitive website navigation, and a compelling offer to increase leads.
The Results
Not only did BlueBee hit their deadline for ASHG, but they received feedback that their website and booth were standout designs on the floor. Contact form submissions, demo requests, and site traffic are all up – and BlueBee’s sales team now has something tangible they are proud to link to.
Before, leads were captured manually. This was labor intensive and error prone. Now, incoming leads receive an automated response and are uploaded directly into Zoho. The team is thrilled with both the fresh new look and the marketing performance of the website.
“My experience with Supreme was fantastic!”
"It felt like I had a true partner, not just a vendor looking to wrap something up and throw it over the fence to me.
I had a full team with Supreme, I couldn’t have done it without you guys. It really has been of tremendous value."
Michelle Garred
Vice President Global Marketing, BLUEBEE
“My experience with Supreme was fantastic!”
"It felt like I had a true partner, not just a vendor looking to wrap something up and throw it over the fence to me.
I had a full team with Supreme, I couldn’t have done it without you guys. It really has been of tremendous value."
Michelle Garred
Vice President Global Marketing, BLUEBEE
Q&A With Michelle Garred
Why did you want to redesign your website?
The previous website had served the company for three years, so it was definitely time, as the company and our offering and how we were serving the market, and what we were focused on, had evolved quite a bit since that three year mark before.
“The website was really a project to rebrand the company, to fine-tune messaging, to figure out how to use this as a tool for lead generation.”
The website was really a project to rebrand the company, to fine-tune messaging, to figure out how to use this as a tool for lead generation, with still a pretty small team, and a real connection with our market.
Yeah, just really a transition for the company, how we want to connect with our market, how we wanted the website to function and to look. It was handed to me as a blank slate project, but of course with standards, constraints and our core mission to honor. There was a lot of freedom to operate, which is good and bad, as creating a website was never a project that I had personally been involved in before.
What was your experience with building a website going into this project?
Website design, development and optimization were not aspects of a website that I had personally been involved in before. The guidance was, we knew where we had been and where we were going, but how to make that tangible was for us to figure out. Our Supreme Opti team on the project brought so many perspectives and different skillsets to the table, that we tackled this large project incredibly creatively and efficiently.
“This was a new experience for me. I needed to work with a vendor who could bring the expertise, guidance, and project management to make this website a success.”
So, it was just me on the project, and it was very clear that I needed a partner. I needed to work with a vendor who could bring the expertise, guidance, and project management to make this website a success.
How did you find Supreme?
My ultimate goal is for someone to type in a keyword for something we do, and for that customer to find our website. So I thought if there’s a web vendor who is doing that well for themselves, it would give me confidence that it would help us achieve that for our products and audience.
“I literally just Googled ‘life sciences web design’ and Supreme came up as a top-ranked option.”
On Supreme’s website I saw household brands in our industry that I am very familiar with. So that gave me immediate confidence. I saw some key statements and even a few statistics on performance around the web projects that you deliver.
It was just very clear how to get in touch with you so I filled out a form and Sheldon reached me pretty much immediately. We had a chat, and it seemed like the spirit of who Supreme is, of what you are achieving with your customers, the range of services, and just how agile I felt the whole process would be, really seemed like a perfect fit.
How did you decide on Supreme as a partner, what was your most important selection criteria?
I’d say performance and outcome of the site. By this point I had total confidence that you had the range of skillsets–from creative design, security, SEO and other optimizations. And you had the framework to manage a complex project like this effectively, I could see your expertise and your personality as a company, and I appreciated the spirit and values that you have.
“I felt like I knew what we were getting into. The outcome is what I needed to show to the organization. The outcome is what will help us really scale and help grow the company.”
One value I know I spoke about with Sheldon was we’re very budget conscious. We’re a small company that operates extremely efficiently, and I was coming in inheriting a budget. And I was honestly a little nervous. I’m going to embark on this, and what if this blows us out of budget or time? Sheldon was very reassuring that what we were carving out was achievable, and if we went over a little bit, that that’s okay, we’re not gonna get the surprise $10,000 bill or suprise anything, really. But we just evened it out and took a holistic look at the period of time to ensure that we’re meeting deliverables.
I felt like I knew what we were getting into, and that ultimately it was–the outcome is what I needed to show to the organization, the outcome is what will help us really scale and help grow the company. So, that was the most important thing.
What was your experience like working with Supreme?
The experience with Supreme was fantastic! You have the tools to make it clear in terms of ownership and due dates, with Trello, the Excel sheet that we had, the different team members that were really experts in their field for SEO or design. All of your work directly with me was very clear about how we optimize a headline and how we think about these things.
“The experience with Supreme was fantastic! I had a full team with Supreme, I couldn’t have done it without you guys. It really has been of tremendous value.”
I would say it was always incredibly valuable and productive. The interviews that you guys completed with our customers has been really meaningful to us as a company. I shared excerpts of that even during our commercial meeting a few weeks ago.
That worked to bring that customer voice into the project. It was really foundational, and it continues to be a part of our reflection and how we will fine tune things.
The website was the tangible thing that was bringing together our entire brand redesign. So from this, the whole process was helping us to refine our value proposition, how we say things differently, how we stand out, but yet build confidence in a way that would be received well from our target audience.
So it was, yeah, really an important project that helped challenge everything that we were doing. And the fact that I had a full team with Supreme to do that, I mean, I couldn’t have done it without you guys. It really, really has been of tremendous value.
What are you confident doing now that you weren't able to do before?
The call to action is now coming in with an automated response and an automated upload to our Zoho CRM. So, great work has been done there, whereas before this was a manual process and very error-prone. But we have closed loops of automation now happening. The technical maintenance of the site–we had been doing that in house. Now, Supreme is serving that function for us, so it frees up internal resources to focus more on our core technology and not the website. It has been fantastic.
“We have control of the content, but honestly sometimes I don’t have the time. I know that there’s a team there that I can say, “Hey, we have an urgent need to make change X, Y, or Z.” And the team is there and is so responsive.”
We have control of changing and evolving the content, but honestly sometimes I don’t have the time. I know that there’s a team there that I can say, “Hey, we have an urgent need to make change X, Y, or Z.” And the team is there and is so responsive. It’s like we have a team on this. It really feels like an extension of our company, which is very cool.
We’re already starting to see performance improvements in our search rankings, which is fantastic. But yeah, it’s really a full-service option that has been very flexible and responsive. It’s certainly helping us focus on the other areas of marketing and building our business and serving our customers. To know that this is handled is really, really wonderful.
So it was, yeah, really an important project that helped challenge everything that we were doing. And the fact that I had a full team with Supreme to do that, I mean, I couldn’t have done it without you guys. It really, really has been of tremendous value.
Overall, has the project had a positive impact on your business?
“Yes! We’re already seeing more contact form fills and demo requests from the right people.”
We’re already seeing more contact form fills and demo requests from the right people. And there is more traffic to the website.
So these are very positive indicators. And as we track those through the sales funnel, we’re getting the right people. So that’s very valuable.
Can you tell me about the outcome of the website itself, in terms of the look and feel, the design of the website?
Yeah, so again, it was not like we were building a website that was reflecting an existing brand. But that would be way too easy. So we decided to really create the brand as this project was unfolding.
“We wanted a fresh look and feel, something friendly, something beautiful, something that inspires our deeper mission.”
We were going from a very IT kind of technical company in the way that we message and visually brand ourselves to what we hope is a more, ultimately healthcare-oriented company. We wanted a fresh look and feel, something friendly, something beautiful, something that inspires our deeper mission.
What feedback have you heard about your new website?
I’ve heard so many compliments like, “it has such a fresh look, it is on message, and it is something that we can use as a tool, that the sales team will link to it in discussions, or send their prospects there.” This is something we really were not using our previous website for. It was just there because…you have to have a website, right? But this wasn’t used at all.
“It has such a fresh look, it is on message, it is something that we can use as a tool, that the sales team will link to it in discussions.”
To think that this was something that the sales team, the technical teams, the executives were saying: “We’re evolving, we’re ready to scale, we’re in growth mode.” And this is one very external way to show that. Now, it’s something that’s very engaging, that makes people want to know more. That was really our goal.
What are you most excited about for BlueBee in the future?
We have such an opportunity at this time. The era of where we’re at with the convergence of technology and the generation of data is amazing. But now with an offering like BlueBee, we can really bring maximal value and user experience out of this data and the complete data solution.
We’re able to scale building fit-for-purpose solutions on the core of technology that adheres to medical device data compliance. It is incredibly scalable and very configurable. So, we can do all of this very efficiently, and provide that to top technology vendors in the field to integrate with their assays or instrumentation. It’s very exciting.
“It’s clear that what we’re putting out in the market is helping to show that we care about what we’re doing, that we are approaching things differently, but differently in a way to really partner with the community.”
I’m excited about BlueBee’s fit in the precision medicine space, in the ecosystem, how we’re bringing value to clinical laboratories, to assay manufacturers, and to our business. I think the growth will reflect our commitment to making data solutions secure, compliant in a global way, very scalable, and in a very cost-efficient kind of way.
We really stood out at this last conference. For such small company to visually make that impact is fantastic. How we serve our partners and end users is the kernel of it all, of course. But the web project now extends this excellence to an earlier and much larger audience that we can now look forward to engaging with.
