Innocean's overseas units win 7 honors at US, Middle East ad awards
Summary
Innocean’s overseas units won seven honors in the United States and the Middle East on Tuesday. Innocean USA won two silver awards at the 2026 Jay Chiat Awards for Hyundai Motor’s IONIQ 9 campaign and Genesis’ luxury campaign. Its social media team also received recognition, while the Middle East and Africa unit won three Kia campaign awards and was named digital agency of the year.
Key Facts
- The IONIQ 9 Escape Garage campaign generated 8.6 million views by featuring three creator families completing escape-room missions in the electric SUV.
- Hyundai Jingle Road Trip, which developed user-created TikTok jingle content into road-trip material, attracted 60 million views.
- Kia Tasman’s Tribes of Arabia documentary series followed three local car influencers across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Iraq.
- Kia K4’s Face Off short-form series won its category after surpassing 18 million views.
- The Middle East and Africa unit’s digital agency of the year award was its first since establishment.
The social media team of Innocean USA / Courtesy of Innocean
Innocean, the advertising affiliate of Hyundai Motor Group, said Tuesday its overseas units have won seven honors at advertising awards in the United States and the Middle East.
Innocean USA received two silver awards at the 2026 Jay Chiat Awards, hosted by the American Association of Advertising Agencies. The 29-year-old competition judges anonymized case studies on how strategic thinking delivered real business results.
Hyundai Motor’s “IONIQ 9 Escape Garage” won silver in the influencer and creator strategy category, while Genesis’ “A New Beginning in Luxury” took silver in automotive strategy. Both were produced with Canvas Worldwide, Innocean’s U.S. media subsidiary.
In the IONIQ 9 campaign, three creator families used the electric SUV’s interior space, seating and EV features to complete escape-room missions, drawing 8.6 million views.
Innocean USA’s social media team was also named in the agency social media category of marketing publication Adweek’s Team Visionary Awards. Its work included “Hyundai Jingle Road Trip,” which turned a jingle TikTok users made on their own into road trip content and drew 60 million views.
The company’s Middle East and Africa unit won in three categories for Kia campaigns at the Middle East Digital Marketing Excellence Awards and was named best digital agency of the year, its first award since its establishment. An award ceremony will be held Friday in Dubai.
Kia Tasman’s “Tribes of Arabia,” a five-part documentary series following three local car influencers across mountains and deserts in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Iraq, won in brand storytelling and influencer marketing. Kia K4’s short-form series “Face Off” won in the short-form video category after surpassing 18 million views.
“The awards show that the strategy, creative and execution capabilities of Innocean’s overseas units are recognized as competitive in key global markets,” said Steve Jun, Innocean’s executive vice president in charge of global business and the Americas.
This article was published with the assistance of generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.
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