From blockbuster ads to AI-powered startup ally: the reinvention of Innocean

The SK hynix advertisement "Memori Girl," released last month, opens with actor Kim Min-ha striding through a city street, commanding a flock of sheep that has suddenly invaded the urban scene. A yodeling jingle — "Me~eh~eh~eh~mory" — plays in the background, a wordplay on "memory semiconductor" that has made the spot one of the most addictive ads of the year.

Innocean, a South Korean full-service advertising agency, produced the commercial by filming the actor's performance on a studio set and then using AI to composite the sheep's movements into the footage. The video surpassed 1.1 million views on YouTube within three weeks of its release.

Innocean had already drawn attention in September last year with "The Great Journey," a six-minute-and-thirty-second cinematic ad chronicling SK hynix's growth story. The production took 275 days to complete and drew particular notice for its closing sequence, in which computer graphics rendered a completed vision of the semiconductor cluster in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province.

The agency had previously been credited with setting a new direction for brand advertising through "Night Fishing," a short film starring the Hyundai Motor Ioniq 5 that swept major domestic and international advertising awards.

Innocean has been steadily expanding across multiple fronts — from film planning and production to hybrid formats combining live-action footage with generative AI, and on to brand consulting — building a track record that stretches well beyond conventional advertising.

Innocean confirmed its growth potential in the first quarter through entertainment marketing built around film content. Its US subsidiary Canvas Worldwide successfully handled local media placement for the science-fiction film "Project Hail Mary," which opened in March, demonstrating the unit's profitability.

Strong performance at home and abroad pushed Innocean's first-quarter operating profit to a record high for any first quarter in the company's history. Operating profit rose 33.3 percent year-on-year to 39.8 billion won ($25.7 million), a result analysts described as an earnings surprise. The figure also surpassed the 36.5 billion won operating profit posted in the same period by industry leader Cheil Worldwide — the first time Innocean had outperformed Cheil since 2016.

Gross profit — revenue minus cost of sales — came in at 250.1 billion won, while net profit for the period reached 39.6 billion won. Both figures rose from the same period a year earlier, by 7.7 percent and 134.5 percent, respectively.

Domestic gross profit climbed 7.8 percent year-on-year to 50.3 billion won, with growth in the customer experience segment credited as the main driver. Large-scale offline projects — including the Kia global dealership, the KT Corp showroom at Gwanghwamun and the Olive venue — led the expansion.

Overseas gross profit grew 7.7 percent to 199.8 billion won, lifted by gains in the Americas and Europe. The Americas region recorded 137.3 billion won, buoyed by the "Project Hail Mary" effect as well as the addition of online gaming platform Roblox as a new client. Industry observers expect Innocean's combined Americas and Europe gross profit to exceed 200 billion won in the second quarter.

In February, Innocean ranked first in South Korea and sixth in Asia in the "2025 Creative Rankings" published by global advertising trade publication Campaign Brief Asia. The ranking is based on a tally of wins at major international advertising awards in 2024 and 2025, lending the result particular significance.

In March, Innocean became the first South Korean advertising agency to break into the top 10 "best marketing companies" list in the United States, which accounts for 35.3 percent of the global advertising market.

Ad Age, a marketing trade publication often compared to the Oscars of the advertising world, compiles its A-List by evaluating agencies active in the United States on criteria including creative achievement, business performance and industry influence.

Innocean's inclusion on the A-List was recognition of its capabilities — the payoff of consistently building its track record and competitive strength in the US market since establishing its American subsidiary in 2008.

The Americas accounts for an estimated 55 percent of Innocean's total gross profit, making it the agency's most strategically important region.

Innocean first made its mark in the US market in 2010, when it became the first South Korean advertising agency to produce a Super Bowl commercial. In 2018, it acquired US creative agency David & Goliath, securing new rights to handle advertising production for Kia's US operations. It also added prominent local brands such as Universal Studios and HBO to its client roster.

Innocean's US subsidiary currently counts Hyundai Motor, Kia, Genesis, Hankook Tire, golf equipment brand TaylorMade, chicken fast-food chain El Pollo Loco, hot dog restaurant chain Wienerschnitzel and NEFT vodka among its clients.

The US subsidiary posted 2025 revenue of $460 million, up 7.7 percent year-on-year, ranking second in California, where it is headquartered. The agency also operates offices in New York, Chicago and Dallas, conducting business across the United States.

Innocean entered a new leadership era in November last year when Kim Jeong-a was appointed president and chief executive. Since taking the helm, Kim has been recalibrating the agency's business strategy, identifying new growth engines in response to structural shifts in the advertising and marketing market.

A notable initiative has been a partnership with venture capital firm SBVA — formerly SoftBank Ventures — to support the growth of innovative startups. On June 16, Innocean hosted the "UP 2026" forum at its Gangnam headquarters, bringing together more than 10 domestic companies in SBVA's portfolio to work through their growth strategies.

Participants included professional social community Blind, as well as Kream (a limited-edition goods trading platform), Ohouse (a lifestyle platform), Quinit (a lifestyle platform targeting consumers in their 40s and 50s), Laundrygo (a mobile laundry service), Rael (a global women's wellness brand), Gravity Labs (an AI-based healthcare platform) and Modusign (an electronic signature service).

Innocean plans to draw on its creative capabilities and data assets to help these startups develop growth strategies, while also exploring future business collaboration opportunities.

Operating under a "Beyond Agency" vision, Innocean aims to move past the conventional role of a marketing agency focused solely on producing advertisements, identifying new opportunities to expand the foundation for its future business.