The Les Squeak logo is by LG2.
Les Squeak is the noisy name of the new creative collective founded by Laura Serra.
Serra started her career as a Globe and Mail columnist before joining Bensimon Byrne / Narrative / OneMethod in 2011. She was, most recently, executive creative director and executive producer at Mosaic North America, producing work for clients such as Audi, YouTube and Uber Eats.
Serra tells strategy the shop name refers to ‘squeaking’ a difficult project by a client – work which could have failed at any moment. But it is also inspired by a Mexican vacation and the sound of flip flops, which is apropos, given the agency’s first work is for legacy retailer Browns Shoes.
“This year, when I left Mosaic and [was] thinking about doing my own thing, this word ‘squeak’ never left me,” Serra says.
Browns was a natural fit for Les Squeak’s first campaign work: Serra has previously worked with Nike, Converse and Aldo.
“My feeling is that we’re going to stay more on the lifestyle side, and definitely more on the content side,” she says.
Les Squeak’s latest creative for Browns (below) is called “Homecoming / Le Retour” and follows a TikTok dancer, Sarah-Jade Bleau (@sjbleau) discovering a pair of Converse sneakers in an art gallery and being inspired to move.
In forming the leadership for Les Squeak, Serra says she sought out partners deeply entrenched in the subcultures of music, art, fashion, design and film. The Browns campaign has “all of the layers in it,” she says, marrying an influencer voice with local Montreal talent.
“We took a whimsical, carefree approach [and] I can say that, strategically, our approach was to empower young creatives from Montreal – to do work by them, for them,” Serra says. “In doing so, [we hoped] to create a little moment in culture and rally all this local talent around it.”
She also wants to make sure that whatever the shop is doing, it “has a pulse in it.”
Browns is an iconic, 80-year old Canadian company, Serra explains, and while many similar brands are having a tough time of late, Browns is thriving.
When it comes to growing the shop, Serra cites Gut founder and chair Anselmo Ramos as an idol. She says that the idea of the Gut shop – currently the AOR for Tim Hortons and Goodlife Fitness – was extremely influential and is hoping to follow in its footsteps as a relatively new shop that’s risen to prominence quickly.
“Until then, I feel like there’s a lot of good work to do in the Canadian market,” says Serra.
