Netflix

For the second season of the cult series Squid Game, Netflix needed to reach out to the Czech audience with an engaging campaign that would build on the global success of the first season. The entire marketing strategy was handled by our long-term partner Konektor, who approached us as a technology specialist. Our task was to create interactive HTML5 banners for the biggest Czech media platforms including Seznam.cz, Blesk, Reflex and Aha! We joined forces with Konektor's graphic designers to bring the darkly playful atmosphere of the series into digital form - while meeting the strict technical requirements of the media.

We had to create 4 unique banners, which gradually progressed in creative and technical complexity. The main constraint was the limit of 500 kB per banner - which is literally a "fight for every kilobyte" for animations, interactive elements and quality graphics. The most challenging was a banner simulating the unwrapping of a gift: with a click of the mouse, the user had to literally "tear off" the wrapping to reveal the contents. But how to create a smooth paper tearing animation without exceeding the data limit? And how to incorporate explosions or glitch effects into banners without exceeding the 500 kB limit?

Before the actual creation, we thoroughly disassembled each banner into its smallest parts:

• Pre-production optimization: we designed the graphic elements (textures, icons, effects) as repeatable "building blocks" to minimize redundancy. For example, the pink background with icons is a small repeating block, or the animation of the eye imitating "Big Brother" is composed of only 6 repeating frames.
• Smart compression: to maximize data savings, we took an innovative approach: we merged all the graphical elements of the banner into a single file, to which we then applied global compression. This not only reduced the overall size of the banner, but also ensured that every pixel and every effect was optimized in the context of the entire design, not in isolation. The result was a perfect balance between quality and loading speed.

The result was 4 banners that combined technical precision with creative wildness:

• The first banner was the cleanest and most data-efficient. Above the maze of the Squid Game field, only basic information was given with a light animation.
• The second banner contained interactive elements where the visitor could unwrap their Squid Game as a Christmas present. When clicked, the wrapping paper was gradually torn away to reveal the full graphics. All the while, of course, the eye was watching it, as with Squid Game your every move is monitored.
• The third banner is a wake-up call from hell itself. The initially innocent banner turns out to be a giant fiery explosion that transforms the look of the entire banner and engages the visitor with several other elements and excerpts from the series.
• The last, fourth banner is transformed from its iconic pink to black by glitch effects.

Here we see proof that even under the pressure of technical limits, it is possible to create exceptional, graphically rich campaigns.

Although the results of the campaign are top secret, we can reveal that Netflix was pleased with the collaboration. We thank Connector for their long-standing trust and look forward to more unconventional projects that push the boundaries of digital marketing.