The Challenge

O2’s bubble motif has been a central part of the brand’s identity for over two decades, originally captured using live-action film techniques. As the brand expanded into global markets and more digital formats, the original assets became increasingly difficult to adapt consistently.

Limitations emerged around control, repeatability, and scalability. Variations in lighting, movement, and behaviour made it challenging for teams across regions to deploy the bubbles confidently while maintaining a consistent brand expression.

The challenge was to preserve the recognisable character of the bubbles while enabling greater flexibility and long-term usability.

The Approach

Fakery reinterpreted the bubble system in CGI, carefully analysing the original footage to understand its physical properties, motion behaviour, and visual nuances.

Rather than recreating a fixed animation, we developed a controlled CGI asset library that allowed precise manipulation of refraction, surface tension, scale, and movement. This approach ensured the bubbles could be adapted to different contexts while remaining true to the brand’s visual heritage.

The system was designed to function as a reusable brand asset rather than a single campaign execution.

Revealing What Matters

The CGI rebuild shifted the bubbles from a static archive of footage into a flexible visual system.

By controlling motion, density, and interaction, the bubbles could seamlessly transition between soft, ambient expressions and more energetic, high-impact moments, depending on the campaign's needs. This gave creative teams a clear, reliable way to express the O2 brand across a wide range of formats without compromising consistency.

The focus was on control and clarity, not reinvention.

The Outcome

The CGI bubble system now supports O2’s global brand activity across television, social, digital out-of-home, and experiential environments.

Local teams can deploy the bubbles with confidence, adapting them to different narratives and formats while maintaining a coherent visual identity. The result is a future-proof asset system that balances brand recognition with creative flexibility.