Message
How INNOCEAN Stays At The Forefront For Its Initiatives
Jung A Kim Global CEO of INNOCEAN
Instead of immediate answers, what many of us need today would be lasting criteria and standards. The new leadership of INNOCEAN seeks to convey messages orbiting around vital criteria of decision-making and responsibility to follow through. Indeed, pursuit of directionality to remain valid over time, rather than instantly tangible outcome, has encompassed the conversation with Kim. Those curious about INNOCEAN’s today before its take-off for its new chapter, may find clues from the conversation with the new leadership figure of INNOCEAN.
Interview
Q. This is such a delight to have a conversation with you. You just took off on a new journey as Global CEO of INNOCEAN in November last year. Would you please tell us what flew into your mind, taking up entirely new roles and responsibilities?
Before I go to sleep every night, I open a memo app on my smartphone to keep a journal. This is what I left in my journal on November 1st, 2025, my first day as Global CEO to work on the twenty-third floor of the building – “Do what’s right and necessary for the future; even though the endeavor could be challenging; open a floor for qualified talents to draw exceptional outcomes; and looking out to five or ten years later, sow as many seeds as possible to sprout.” And most importantly, I finished the journal of the day with this – “Jung A, you’ve got to make it happen, and you’ve got to do them all properly.”
Q. Not to mention your families and colleagues, many of your loved ones and friends must have cheered for you and offered advice. Could you recall any unforgettable moments?
I can recall burly guys running to me with tears of joy in their eyes, the team who sent an extra-large sized bucket of potato chips to celebrate, and, most exciting of all, one of the team that sent a video clip featuring one of the celebrity MCs in Korea, Yoo Jaesuk. The team had happened to be at the shooting studio with Mr. Yoo on the day of the announcement and whipped up with a video clip to celebrate. At first, I thought the team created the video clip with AI and I felt enormously proud for how far the team has gone to hone their AI skills. But to my surprise, it didn’t take much time to figure out that the real person was appearing in the video message. I should apologize to the one-and-only MC in Korea, Mr. Yoo (laugh). The team made all the silly requests just to play a prank on me.
Q. Your time with INNOCEAN marked a whopping twenty years. What could have been the secret behind sustainability and longevity throughout your professional journey?
Well, I would stress that I’ve strived to align what I was asked to do with what I wanted to do. If I would have taken every project as a mandatory assignment to complete, then I would have never been able to keep up such a high standard for excellence for so many years and may even have burned out. I have boosted my own inner morale by always looking for new opportunities to try something new and explore ideas that were previously put on hold. These have been mantras to keep myself motivated to complete my tasks successfully. Any small wins throughout the journey should be more than I would have asked for. Looking back, my working method and outlook might have stemmed from so-called “final resolution” on every New Year’s Day. Every first day of year I say, “This is the last year you’ll be working.” This ensures I spend the next year trying everything to the fullest, ensuring no regrets at all. I’m confident to say I’d commit myself entirely, as if facing my last day of life, leaving nothing undone. Like every other year, after pouring everything in, I’d begin the new year with a new calendar page. And as I go over the list of untried things, it evolves into a new to-do list to energize me to push through the upcoming year. I have spent the past twenty years repeating this cycle. These years have built layers across my career for the past two decades, resulting in a proudly splendid outcome, much like a beautifully layered cake.
Q. As a leadership figure who started out her career as a copywriter, you must have an unparalleled connoisseurship. Please tell us how your experience and insights could turn into engines for business.
After spending my career as a creative talent first, I have been on the front lines to witness the fast-paced changes in clients’ demands and media evolution. I’m looking forward to using these experiences and my creative-first sensibility into useful tools to establish never-seen-before business models and unearth anything novel for creation. And as I pursue agility in actions and exquisiteness in experiments, we are poised to make breakthroughs with data science, digital media, and AI technology, making the most of INNOCEAN's strength – creativity.
Q. What are the qualities do you see INNOCEAN people should pursue in a fast-paced advertising industry? And could you also share your insights on what to pursue for such qualities for sustainable growth?
Agencies should not dwell on their roles as marketing campaign production agencies. Because today, boundaries of content are crumbling, and technological evolution is outpacing market needs. We all need to be able to graft and converge different ideas, have insights to interpret technology with more creativity for application, and keep analyzing hyper-personalized media. I look forward to seeing the entire INNOCEAN team pursue a restless learning process, boldly taking on challenges. To stand out from everybody else, patience will be the essence until you gather fruitful outcomes of your painstaking efforts. Most of all, we should all remember that we are professionals.
Q. New experiments such as “Night Fishing” campaign have added layers of INNOCEAN’s unique colors. What could be your areas of focus to build an organizational culture and encourage everybody keep facing challenges?
This year will mark the twenty-first anniversary of INNOCEAN. I wish the INNOCEAN team members, including myself, could be as youthful as a twenty-one-year-old. I’m here to pave the way for everybody to continue having wins – whether big or small – unleashing youthful energy. I aspire to create an organizational culture where anyone can create heroic stories of success. To make these possible, I’m looking to start and run special teams with focus on different areas, including AI creativity, space, content, and commerce.
Q. Going global, we should all look forward to finding INNOCEAN cementing its business spectrum. Could you please share your ideas on collaboration and communication in the global stage?
INNOCEAN has already grown into a company with more than four thousand global members, expanding to twenty-two different countries over the past two decades. Rather than remaining complacent over the past achievements, I seek to reinforce each of the global affiliates’ presence in respective local markets and pour more energy into further advancement of business with key clients, including Hyundai Motor Company and Kia, centering at digital technology. Further, my focus will also be on uncovering new local clients inspired by our past collaborations as steppingstones. I have high hopes for this new chapter of the INNOCEAN story.
Q. What do you see from INNOCEAN in ten years? Please tell us what kind of values INNOCEAN as a business seeks to generate, as well as your aspirations.
My hope for INNOCEAN in the coming decade is to emphasize the unique values that INNOCEAN brings to brands by providing comprehensive marketing communication services, from initial ideas to final execution. By leveraging all of the content that emerges from our work, we can showcase what sets us apart. My goal is for INNOCEAN to become a data-driven marketing platform and a central hub for creativity, while also fostering strong business partnerships with our clients through our proprietary content and expertise in IP businesses and commerce.
Q. Where do you find inspirations from? Please pick two to share with us, whether they are spaces, routines, or tangible objects.
I like photos or paintings with perspectives. Closely observing pictures or paintings that captured moments amid hustle and bustle, I finally find myself carefully contemplating. My view is that you won’t find much inspiration from videos, because you’re too busy using your own eyes and ears and won’t have time and energy to use your own brain. Soaps can be a source of inspiration to me in a similar sense. When I feel overwhelmed with thoughts or unwell, I try to spend a longer time in the shower booth. The aromas of soap bubbles have some magical power. Fragrant soap bubbles lathering from my fingertips help me sort through ideas and bring back order and peace to my mind. All thoughts and ideas flying around in my head seem to find their own places. Then I find pieces of thoughts flying into my mind before piecing together once again to get organized.
