Cannes 2025 highlight: Innocean Wins a Grand Prix for second year in a row

Last week Innocean won the Grand Prix in the Entertainment category at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity (Cannes Lions). This is the second consecutive year that Innocean has won a Grand Prix at Cannes.

Hyundai Motor Company’s ‘Night Fishing’ branded content picked up the Grand Prix in the Entertainment category and also won a Silver Lion in the prestigious Film category.

Last year the network pulled off a major coup, winning their first ever Grand Prix when they were awarded the Cannes Lions Grand Prix for Good.

The ‘Night Fishing’ campaign, a short branded film and the first of its kind to be screened in Korean cinemas, has captured widespread attention and earned multiple awards both at home and abroad. With ‘Night Fishing’, Innocean has won top honors at three major global advertising festivals this year alone, including the Clio Awards Grand Prix and the Spikes Asia Grand Prix.

The campaign stars actor Sukku Son and Hyundai Motor Company’s IONIQ 5 in a humanistic thriller set around a mysterious incident and plot twist at an electric vehicle charging station. With a total running time of approximately 13 minutes including end credits, the film became the first branded content to receive official theatrical release following review by the Korea Media Rating Board.

Innocean led the project from its initial concept, through international film festival submissions, to full-scale promotion and marketing. The film earned high praise for boldly introducing a new form of branded content—not as a traditional advertisement, but as a cinematic experience created by an advertising agency. With its groundbreaking use of car-mounted cameras and an engaging narrative structure, the film powerfully conveys the innovative spirit of the Hyundai Motor Company brand.

The jury for the Entertainment category at Cannes Lions highly praised the film, stating, “Most of the jury had no objections to awarding ‘Night Fishing’ the Grand Prix—it was that outstanding.” They added, “The Entertainment category is typically filled with large-scale, high-budget productions, but none felt as fresh or visionary as ‘Night Fishing,’ which truly showcased the future of branded content.”

Innocean also added two Bronze awards at this year’s Cannes Lions. Innocean won a bronze in the Digital Craft category for the ‘KIA SOUNDSCAPES’ campaign for the Kia EV9, submitted by Innocean Berlin. This campaign is a new concept project where Kia uses artificial intelligence (AI) to help people with visual impairments “hear and feel” scenery on the road. Using AI-based emotional technology that turns scenery into sound, the campaign conveys a more immersive driving experience to those with visual impairments.

Another Bronze in the Brand Experience & Activation category was awarded for the ‘CAMDOM’ campaign, developed in collaboration with Billy Boy, a company specializing in male contraception. The campaign highlights the importance of digital privacy through CAMDOM, a digital condom app that protects young adults during intimate moments by blocking all camera and microphone functions, helping to prevent the unauthorized recording or leaking of audio, photos, or videos.

Global CEO Yongwoo Lee of Innocean stated, “We’re honored to win the Grand Prix for the second year in a row—last year by our Berlin office, and this year by our Seoul headquarters. This achievement reaffirms our standing as a truly global top-tier marketing communications company.”