INNOCEAN Renews Global Media Partnership with Havas Through 2026
INNOCEAN extends Havas Media Network partnership through 2026, deploying data-led solutions across Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis globally. Reflects agency consolidation reshaping Asia-Pacific operations.
INNOCEAN, the Seoul-based marketing communications company for Hyundai Motor Group, has renewed its international media partnership with Havas Media Network, effective January 2026. The mandate covers Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis brands across Europe, the Middle East, Asia Pacific, and Latin America.
The partnership will operate through joint teams positioned in five strategic locations: Seoul, Frankfurt, Dubai, New Delhi, and Jakarta. This distributed structure reflects the operational complexity of coordinating media strategy for three automotive brands spanning multiple continents.
Partnership Emphasizes Data Infrastructure
According to Havas Media Network, the renewed agreement prioritizes strengthening data and technology capabilities to improve customer acquisition, conversion, and retention across Hyundai Motor Group's global markets. The companies plan to deploy integrated, data-led media solutions through Havas's Converged.AI platform.
Mission Media
"We are pleased to extend our partnership with Havas Media Network," said Steve Jun, head of global business at INNOCEAN. "Together, we will continue to accelerate growth by creating more connected and effective customer experiences for Hyundai Motor Group brands."
Peter Mears, global CEO of Havas Media Network, added: "INNOCEAN and Havas Media Network have a shared commitment to innovation, impact and global excellence at scale. In extending our storied relationship, we look forward to driving transformative business outcomes through Converged.AI."
Consolidation Wave Reshapes Agency Operations
The partnership renewal comes amid unprecedented consolidation in the global media agency sector during 2025. Omnicom's acquisition of Interpublic Group, completed in late November, created the world's largest advertising holding company by revenue. The combined entity generated $528.3 million in Asia Pacific new business billings, making it the second-largest region for the merged operation.
The consolidation wave triggered over 4,000 job cuts across global media agencies as companies rationalized overlapping operations. WPP retired its GroupM brand in May 2025, launching WPP Media as a unified entity managing over $60 billion in media spend across 80 markets under a single profit-and-loss structure.
Publicis Groupe strengthened its Southeast Asia position through the October 2025 acquisition of HEPMIL Media Group, parent company of SGAG, integrating data infrastructure covering 800 million profiles.
Multi-Market Coordination Drives Agency Demand
Two-thirds of Asia Pacific marketers plan agency consolidation by 2027 for operational efficiency. This trend drives demand for unified media operations that can coordinate across multiple markets while maintaining local expertise.
The INNOCEAN-Havas partnership illustrates this balance. Singapore typically functions as the strategic hub for Asia Pacific media operations, while Thailand excels in creativity, Vietnam in digital capabilities, Malaysia in cultural adaptation, China in technology scale, Australia in measurement, and India in digital growth.
In Malaysia, INNOCEAN appointed Mad Hat Asia for a 12-month public relations retainer running from May 2025 to April 2026 for Hyundai Motor Malaysia, demonstrating the coordination of multiple agency partnerships within regional operations.
The partnership reflects broader shifts toward platforms that can manage customer experiences at scale across diverse markets while adapting to local dynamics through distributed team structures.
Want to stay up-to-date on the stories shaping Asia's media, marketing, and comms industry? Subscribe to Mission Media for exclusive insights, campaign deep-dives, and actionable intel.
