Best Advertising Agencies in Seoul (2026)

Introduction

Seoul’s advertising market is led by four agencies tied to large conglomerates (Cheil Worldwide, Innocean, HSAD and Daehong), with network offices and smaller specialist shops competing around them. The 9 agencies below were chosen for recent work, 2025 and 2026 recognition, and the strength of their client rosters.

The group agencies have spent 2026 chasing outside clients. Edaily reported in August that Daehong earns about 60% of its gross profit from non-affiliated clients, and that Innocean reached 45% in the first quarter. Campaign Brief Asia’s Korea Creative Rankings, published in February 2026, moved Innocean to first place ahead of Cheil, with Leo Korea third. Daishin Securities forecast about 18 trillion won of Korean ad spending in 2026, with digital at 64.1% and television at 12.4%. On the network side, Omnicom completed its acquisition of IPG at the end of 2025 and retired the DDB, FCB and MullenLowe brands.

Every agency here has a Seoul office in 2026, confirmed from a page opened during research. The list runs in no fixed order of merit, since the right choice depends on your brief, budget and how you like to work.

The best advertising agencies in Seoul

1. Cheil Worldwide

Samsung Group · Yongsan · cheil.com

Cheil was founded in 1973 as Samsung’s agency and now reports more than 8,000 staff and 56 offices worldwide, with its head office on Itaewon-ro in Yongsan. It ranked second in Campaign Brief Asia’s 2025 Korea Creative Rankings after three years at number one. Second-quarter 2026 operating profit was 92.7 billion won, according to Edaily.

Samsung remains the anchor, and its site also shows work for Netflix, Nongshim’s Shin Ramyun, Dongsuh Foods, Shinhan Financial Group and CJ’s bibigo. New clients in 2026 include Naver Shopping and Airbnb. About 29% of domestic gross profit came from non-affiliated clients in the first half of the year, so brands outside Samsung are a growing part of the business.

2. Innocean

Hyundai Motor Group · Gangnam · innocean.com

Innocean launched in 2005 as Hyundai Motor Group’s agency and is based at Landmark Tower on Gangnam-daero. It placed first in Korea and sixth in Asia in Campaign Brief Asia’s 2025 rankings, and ADFEST named it Independent Network of the Year in March 2026. Its US subsidiary also became the first Korean agency in the top 10 of Ad Age’s A-List.

“Night Fishing”, a Hyundai short film shot on an IONIQ 5’s built-in cameras, won Grand Prix at Cannes Lions, One Asia, Clio, MAD Stars and Spikes Asia. Non-affiliated wins this year include KT, Industrial Bank of Korea and the Korea Tourism Organization. In July 2026 it launched Cinema by Brand, a platform linking brands with the film industry.

3. HSAD

LG Group · Mapo-gu · hsad.co.kr

HSAD is LG’s agency, based in the LG Mapo Building, and describes itself as a marketing creative company following a 2024 repositioning. It has built its pitch around an AI platform called DASH, launched in late 2024, and added the DASH FLOW orchestration system in 2025. Seoulz reports five top prizes at the 2025 Digital Advertising Awards.

LG work includes promotional content for LGE.COM. Edaily lists new clients in gaming, finance, pharma and food, among them Dunamu and J-Sys Medical, with a stated focus on full-funnel marketing and generative engine optimisation. Teams wanting AI-assisted production at scale should ask to see how DASH is used on live accounts.

4. Daehong Communications

Lotte Group · Jung-gu · daehong.com

Daehong is Lotte’s agency, with a Seoul address on Tongil-ro and a 40-year anniversary marked in 2022. It leans further from its parent than the other group agencies: non-affiliated clients made up about 60% of gross profit in Edaily’s August 2026 report. Edaily writes the name as Daehong Planning.

New clients this year include SK Innovation, Nexon, CJ Olive Young and Naver Pay. Digital and media work runs with its subsidiary Spoon, so it is worth confirming which company will handle which part of an account.

5. TBWA\Korea

Omnicom · Gangnam · tbwakorea.com

TBWA\Korea is the Omnicom network’s creative office in Seoul, on Dosan-daero, led by CEO Soowon Lee. It describes its job as developing disruptive brand ideas that change culture.

Campaigns on its site include “Musical The Manner” for Coway’s bidets, a passport-themed campaign for Binggrae, and an antibacterial laundry campaign for Aekyung Industrial. All three are Korean consumer brands, which suits clients who want a domestic campaign with a global network behind the office.

6. Leo Korea

Publicis Groupe · Jung-gu · leoburnett.com

Leo Korea, still widely listed in Korea as Leo Burnett, was founded locally in 1991 and sits on Cheonggyecheon-ro in Jung-gu. It ranked third in Campaign Brief Asia’s 2025 Korea Creative Rankings, the highest of the network offices on this list.

It is part of Publicis Groupe Korea, alongside Welcomm Publicis, MSL Korea, Starcom, Zenith, Digitas and Contents Lab, so PR and media can sit with the same group. A recruitment listing for its media team asked for luxury brand experience in fashion, jewellery and watches. Client names are not published on the pages reviewed, so ask for a current roster at the first meeting.

7. Jung von Matt HANGANG

Independent (Jung von Matt Group) · Seongsu-dong · jvm.com

Jung von Matt HANGANG opened in Seoul in 2022 as part of the independent German group, with former Cheil creative head Bill Yom leading it at launch. A creative from the agency appears in Campaign Brief Asia’s 2025 Korean individual chart, and its focus is helping Korean brands go global while bringing global brands into Korea.

K-beauty is a large part of the roster: LANEIGE, TIRTIR, Innisfree and Sulwhasoo, alongside Hyundai, Diageo, Don Julio, Blizzard and PUBG. In April 2026 LANEIGE appointed it to lead the global rollout of its Bouncy & Firm Serum campaign, following a 2024 global campaign with BTS’s Jin.

8. Studio K110

Kakao Entertainment · Gangnam · studiok110.com

Studio K110 (스튜디오좋 in Korean) is Kakao Entertainment’s commercial content studio, run by former Cheil creatives Woori Nam and Jaewon Song from Dosan-daero. It calls itself a full-service ad agency and is known for branded content, with Korea Advertising Awards grand prizes in 2020 and 2021.

“Project XXX”, its long-running campaign for Lotte Chilsung’s Saero soju, won a Creative Strategy bronze at Spikes Asia 2025. Other recent work covers Wrtn’s Crack, CJ CheilJedang, Lotteria and Melon, and it also runs social channels for clients through a separate enquiry line.

9. Omnicom Media Korea

Omnicom · Gangnam · omnicommedia.com

Omnicom Media Korea, listed on its site as OMG Korea, is the holding company’s media operation in Seoul, based at 223 Teheran-ro. Haejin Yoo is General Manager, and Kyunghee Lee and Jay Mortensen hold the chief client and chief commercial officer posts.

It belongs on this list for buyers who separate media from creative, given how much Korean spend now sits in digital channels. The Korean page names no clients, so request relevant category experience and a current roster directly.

What to look for in a Seoul advertising agency

Start with group ties. Cheil, Innocean, HSAD and Daehong each serve a parent conglomerate, and all four are now actively looking for outside clients. That raises a practical question for any brand in a category close to the parent’s. Ask how conflicts are handled and which team would be walled off.

Decide where the campaign needs to run. Group agencies and network offices offer overseas offices, which matters when an account spans several markets. Jung von Matt HANGANG has built a practice around Korean beauty brands going global, while TBWA\Korea shows more work aimed at Korean audiences. Ask for examples that match your own direction of travel.

Check who will run the account, by name. Studio K110 and Jung von Matt HANGANG were both started or led by former Cheil creatives, so talent does move around this market. Awards are a useful signal here, though the people credited on a Campaign Brief Asia entry may not be the people assigned to your work.

Look at how production and approvals run day to day. A Korean campaign can involve celebrity talent, several film cuts, social variants and overseas adaptations, all reviewed by a client team and often a group company above it. Ask where the latest cut lives, how comments are gathered, and who signs off each round.

How Fabric helps advertising agency teams

Fabric gives an agency one workspace for its files, client feedback and team knowledge, with AI search across all of it. Agencies running several accounts can use the agency setup with one space per client, keeping briefs, scripts, decks and call notes together.

Film cuts and print files sit in Fabric’s cloud drive, which streams files on demand so they take no local disk space. Editors and art directors can open heavy files without a full download. Search works by meaning across documents, images and transcribed recordings, and results jump to the page or timestamp, which helps when a team needs a line from an old spot or a past campaign reference.

Client feedback runs through shared links, so a client can review without signing up. Share a cut or a folder with commenter access, and the client can leave timestamped comments on video and audio, draw on a video frame, draw on an image and attach a comment, or highlight text in a PDF. The team then marks each comment completed, so a round of amends works like a checklist. There is more on this workflow under review and approval.

For finished work, any file or folder can be published as a web page, which is view-only with optional download. Link analytics shows when each named recipient opened a link and how long they spent on it, which is useful for pitch decks.

On Team plans, self-writing docs can maintain a page for each client from meetings, Slack and the workspace itself, covering decisions, deliverables and open items. New account staff get the history without asking around.

Link analytics is included on Pro and Team plans, and self-writing docs on Team plans. See plans for teams.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best advertising agency in Seoul?

There is no single answer, as it depends on the brief. On recent recognition, Innocean ranked first in Campaign Brief Asia’s 2025 Korea Creative Rankings, Cheil second and Leo Korea third.

Can a brand outside Samsung, Hyundai, LG or Lotte hire their group agencies?

Yes, and all four are pursuing this work. Edaily reported in August 2026 that non-affiliated clients provide about 60% of Daehong’s gross profit and 45% of Innocean’s in the first quarter, with recent wins including Airbnb at Cheil and Dunamu at HSAD.

Which Seoul agencies suit a Korean brand going global?

Jung von Matt HANGANG specialises in this, with LANEIGE’s global rollout as a recent example. Cheil and Innocean both have large overseas networks, and Innocean’s US subsidiary reported revenue of $460 million in 2025.

What did Omnicom’s IPG acquisition change in Seoul?

Omnicom completed the deal at the end of 2025 and retired the DDB, FCB and MullenLowe brands worldwide. TBWA\Korea and Omnicom Media Korea are the Omnicom offices listed here. A current Seoul office for DDB or FCB could not be confirmed, so former clients should check directly with Omnicom.

How is this list different from Seoul’s creative agencies list?

This page focuses on group agencies, network offices and ad specialists. For independents and integrated idea shops, see the best creative agencies in Seoul.

Related lists

Advertising agencies in other cities: New York · London · Los Angeles · Singapore · Sydney

More in Seoul: Creative agencies · Marketing agencies · Branding agencies · Social media agencies · Video production · Content studios

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