Steve Jun transferred to Huntington Beach in 2015 to help boost INNOCEAN Worldwide Americas’ growth beyond its core automotive account, Hyundai Motor America Inc. He jumpstarted the process last month with the acquisition of David & Goliath in El Segundo for about $71 million.
The move essentially puts creative advertising for several Orange County-based companies under one roof—Hyundai and Genesis Motor America in Fountain Valley, and Kia Motors America and smart-TV maker Vizio Inc. in Irvine.
“I believe the acquisition of David & Goliath will make both of our organizations stronger,” Jun said via email. “While we are both creatively-driven agencies … D&G has several years on us actively pitching and winning new accounts. We’ve always supported each other as independent agencies and I anticipate that to only increase as our overall goals become more aligned.”
The deal builds on organic growth at the agency, which added Champion Auto Parts, TaylorMade, Finish Line, Hankook Tires, NRG and Foot Joy to its client base in recent years. David & Goliath, founded in 1999, develops ads for Kia, the California Lottery, Jack in the Box, New Amsterdam Vodka, popchips, Vizio, Universal Studios Hollywood, Homeboy Industries and Covenant House.
“For the foreseeable future, there is essentially no change in our duties and the way we work,” Jun said. “D&G will remain as its own agency but now just within the INNOCEAN network.”
Also part of the network is Canvas Worldwide LLC, a joint venture between New York-based Horizon Media Inc. and INNOCEAN Worldwide Inc., a subsidiary of Seoul-based Hyundai Motor Group and parent company of INNOCEAN in Huntington Beach. The media-buying agency launched in 2016 in Playa Vista with just under 100 employees, including transplants from Interpublic Group of Cos.’ Initiative, the agency that previously handled more than $1 billon in media buying for Kia and Hyundai.
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Jun grew up in Seoul, where as a young child he often followed his scientist father on fish-sampling outings, or fishing, as he and his brother called it. He said he was “fascinated with advertising since you can work on many different brands and industries,” and there was “always something to learn about.” In 1995 he became managing director of Diamond Ad America, whose main client was Hyundai. Bates Worldwide Inc. acquired the agency in 1999, and in 2000 named Jun group account director at its Diamond Bates Korea. A year-long stint as director at ABLEA preceded a 2005 move to help Hyundai Motor Co.—namely Sung-Yi Chung, the granddaughter of company founder Chung Ju-yung—establish INNOCEAN Worldwide in the Gangnam part of Seoul.
Jun also set up a number of INNOCEAN’s offices around the world, and in early 2014 was appointed chief executive of INNOCEAN Europe. The Frankfurt-based agency’s client roster included Turkish Airlines, Gushlow & Cole in U.K., Critas in Spain and Affelou in France. His goal there was to promote the agency’s growth and acquire new customers outside the automotive sector.
Then came the call from INNOCEAN Global Chief Executive Ahn Kun-hee, who asked him “to move to the Huntington Beach office, as our relationship with our local clients needed to be improved.”
The agency, which opened its doors in 2009 as the in-house ad shop for Hyundai Motor America, also brought on Chief Operating Officer Tim Blett, who previously served as president of now-defunct agency Doner in Newport Beach. Hyundai a few months later hired Dean Evans as chief marketing officer, while Jun added Eric Springer as the agency’s chief creative officer, a new role. Springer replaced executive creative director Greg Braun, who left two months after the new chief executive’s arrival. Jun also hired data scientist Shamsa Jafri in 2016 to help advance the agency’s analytics capabilities.
“I feel very lucky to have accomplished so many things after I joined the U.S. office —winning 100% of the Hyundai Tier 2 (dealer group) business, winning the AdMeter number 1 spot for our 2016 Super Bowl spot (which was also the first non-U.S. automotive brand to win) and launching our internal Data Science unit,” Jun said. “It’s been a very successful and satisfying time period in my career at INNOCEAN.”
The ad shop, which employs 350 in Huntington Beach, reported $274 million in 2016 revenue, a 7% increase over 2015, making it No. 2 on the Business Journal’s list of the top OC agencies. David & Goliath had revenue estimated at $50 million in 2016.
Jun said that diversifying its portfolio continues to be a “primary goal and we’re looking to do that with several growth strategies, including investing further in our data science practice to better align our clients’ need to deliver a seamless customer experience to their consumers, as well as content creation, shopper marketing and other disciplines … While we are proud of our history beginning as the in-house agency for Hyundai, our future is much bigger.”
What was the best business advice he got during his 30-plus career in advertising?
“Stay curious.”
