What entrepreneurs can study from the success of Netflix’s Squid Game – Outbrain

Squid game.

Those are two words you may never have put together and suddenly it’s October 2021 and you don’t hear much anymore.

The Korean-produced, dystopian drama series produced and streamed by Netflix is ​​a record breaker in every way. Not just in terms of viewership or money (it made nearly $ 1 billion…), but also in relation to the mindshare of the audience, which ultimately defines every other success.

Marketers can learn a lot from Squid Game about how to engage audiences and drive them a little bit crazy for your brand or product. Let’s analyze the show and see what takeaways can inspire your next marketing campaign:

1. Design matters (a lot)

One of the most impressive aspects of the series is the visual design that pops out and stays with you, an indelible part of the character and identity of the series. The show’s creators incorporated many Elements that refer to well-known art, like the Escherian staircase and the red suits from Money Heist. This is important to keep in mind because familiarity is an effective way of engaging your audience. It creates a sense of comfort and belonging, which are keys to building trust and increasing affinity.

The series uses colors intelligently, as if from a fixed palette. The backgrounds are pastel tones that counteract effectively with the strong red of the team uniforms and the green of the players. The colors reinforce the underlying meaning of the story – innocent childish attitudes in light pastels, nasty devil colors for the staff, and the hope and renewal of green for the players whose lives we haunt! Marketers know that Color drives different emotions, and using different colors can have a huge impact on a campaign. Squid Game only makes it clearer.

Another design element that deserves a mention is the simple, clean icons that represent the games and guards’ masks. When it comes to Creating brand logos‘Simplicity is really important. It offers the viewer a somewhat blank blackboard to project their own feelings and perceptions onto, which is a big part of building a relationship with a brand. It’s also a good lesson to remind marketers to simplify their message just to make it easier for customers to assimilate.

source @RaminNasibov: Escherian Stairwell vs. Squid Game stairs

2. Know your audience – through data

“Know your audience” is the first rule of marketing. And it has proven to be one of the main reasons behind the incredible success of Squid Game.

The series was accidental Has been repeatedly rejected by production studios for almost 10 years. Nobody wanted to take it over until Netflix.

Netflix is ​​a data-driven company. Every time a user selects a show to watch, stops, likes, or searches for a track, Netflix collects information about their interests and preferences. This not only drives the recommendations to the particular user; The huge pool of global user data provides a picture of the mood and interests of the general viewer and even the overall cultural mood. This is a powerful, data-driven guide to help Netflix make smart decisions about what content to invest in and which to promote.

A decade ago the world wasn’t ready for Squid Game. Two years ago, Netflix used data to predict the time was right, so they took the risk. And it paid off. This should inspire marketers everywhere to pay close attention to their own data and use it intelligently in future decisions.

3. Word of mouth works, big time

If you work in the office, you’ve probably heard a lot about Squid Game water coolers. It cannot be avoided. That’s the power of word of mouth marketing, and Squid Game has probably accomplished it better than any other show.

In September 2021, the content popularity analysis showed that Squid Game was “the most sought after show in the world” 79X more interest in online discussions and searches than in any other series. “Squid Game” popped up everywhere from LinkedIn posts and feed notifications to table chats and overheard conversations on the bus or train.

It is believed that word of mouth is no less fueling than $ 6 trillion in annual spending worldwide. Word of mouth is and will remain the key to successful marketing and sales. Squid Game is proof in the pudding.

4. Be different

Whether you’re a brand, a company, or a TV show, the best thing you can ever do is stand out. Netflix is ​​working on this aspect and is investing more and more in series produced abroad which are very different from the usual Hollywood fodder: Squid Game, Fauda, ​​Money Heist, The list continues.

Why? Foreign productions are exotic and different in every way, from language to cultural references, values ​​and sensibilities. The look and feel are also unmistakable. While audiences love the familiar (as mentioned in the visual design section above), they are also drawn to the new and unusual. Squid Game is not only a “foreign” production, but also a Netflix original, part of the huge investments that Netflix makes in the creation and production of original content. In marketing, too, you are well on the way to differentiating yourself if you can bring something new to the table.

5. Go viral

Going viral isn’t necessarily something you can plan or predict. Even Netflix may have been surprised by Squid Game’s viral success. As a senior strategy analyst in the streaming industry Put it, “I assume that the [Netflix] Executives knew this was going to be a hit in South Korea because of the talent they used, because of the region they posted it in. I would bet good money on the fact that executives had no idea this was going to be a global hit. “

Squid Game has proven to be the epitome of contemporary “virality”. Since the show was released, there has been a tsunami from TikTokers posting videos of themselves playing the games. The mentions of Squid Game have exploded on social networks and feeds like Google Discover. Check out the steady and continuous increase in YouTube views of the show’s trailer:

source

While you can never force it to go viral, you can do your part to promote it, like Netflix has done with push notifications, referrals, and of course, the endless reminder to the world that Squid Game is the most popular show that was ever broadcast on the streaming platform. Even if the series drops from first place (is already happening, by the way), it will still be remembered as it broke records and kept the world busy. This is the kind of “virus” every marketer hopes for.

6. Be inspirational

Imitation is the most sincere form of flattery, and when you are “copied” in marketing you know you have succeeded. The success of Squid Game was born Variety of marketing campaigns, inspired by the popularity of the series (this blog post included!). Brands rushed to target their audiences with social media posts, ads, and images based on the show’s themes and images. The key element here is timing: brands had to act quickly to join the Squid Game train during its heyday. Fortunately, the icons and visuals of the show are so distinctive and simple that many brands could easily put together a quick, low-cost campaign that is geared towards instantly grabbing the attention of audiences with notoriously low attention spans.

Some brands have chosen to go harder than just social media posts. RHB, the fourth largest financial services company in Malaysia, even has Limited edition Visa card in Squid Game card design.

If you’ve missed the marketing related to Squid Game Frenzy, think of the next craze – act fast and engage audiences with an inspired campaign that now capitalizes on their interests.

There’s something about squid game …

Every artistic success has a certain indefinable quality, a feeling of wonder or magnetic attraction that is difficult to quantify. The incredible scope of Squid Game can never be fully understood, but we do know one thing: the right story, told in the right way to an audience ready to do so, can reach a level that marketers should aim for. Take what you can from Squid Game and use it to win your marketing game.