A mysterious billboard has appeared by Netflix, containing nothing but three symbols.
But if you were around for the madness of 2021, these symbols will be no mystery at all.
Three years after Squid Game literally took over the world (and our brains), Netflix has announced Season 2 is on its way, via this clever billboard.
So while we wait in eager anticipation for Season 2, let's take a look at what marketing efforts pushed Squid Game to become a massive part of the culture at that time. Not only that, but how the show became a worldwide phenomenon that's still going strong, three years later.
Whether you watched it or not, there was no way to ignore the impact the show had, particularly on social media. It was one of the most viral topics of 2021. Squid Game became one of Netflix's most popular shows of all time. It stood in their Top 10 list for 20 weeks and continues to gain viewership to this day.
The show earned 14 Emmy nominations. Lee Jung-jae won the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, becoming the first Asian actor to win for a non-English role.
Visual design is probably the first thing that comes to mind when you think of the Korean drama. It's an indelible part of the show's identity. References to the Escherian stairwell, red jumpsuits akin to the ones from money heist, symbols similar to those from PlayStation. Squid Game uses the familiarity principle to appeal to its audience.
Wait, what's the familiarity principle? Also known as the mere-exposure effect, it's a psychological principle that suggests people tend to develop a preference for things simply because they are familiar with them. In other words, the more often we're exposed to something, the more we like it.
It works because repeated exposure to something takes away our uncertainty or ambiguity associated with it. It makes it more comfortable and easy to process. And this leads to a positive affective response.
This was a clever tactic, especially for Squid Game. The show was part of the introduction of Korean media to a mainstream western audience. So by applying the familiarity principle, it made it feel easier to approach, and is part of the reason it became so popular so quickly.
We all know this is the first rule of marketing. And the best way to do this is with data.
Squid Game was repeatedly rejected by production studios for almost 10 years. That was until Netflix, which is, if anything, a data-driven enterprise. Every time you choose a show, stop watching a show, or click 'like,' Netflix is gathering data about your preferences.
This, of course, drives what the platform recommends to you. And this giant pool of global user data provides a picture of the interests of the general audience, and the overarching cultural mood.
A decade ago, the cultural mood was not right for Squid Game. The world was not ready. Three years ago, Netflix used that data to predict it was the right time and took the risk. Obviously, it was a risk that paid off.
If you're smart, you'll pay attention to your own data and use it for future decision-making, just like Netflix did.
Actually, some believe it drives a whopping $6 trillion in annual spending worldwide. That's because we humans love to yap, particularly about things we have in common, like the shows we're watching.
