Creative Leadership in Motion: Joonmo Yang on Hyundai MOBIS’s Campaign

I was born and raised in the US and earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Pratt Institute in New York. Living in the city back then was a transformative experience because of how lively and culturally rich it felt. I recall a day when one of my professors shared Levi’s classic Go Forth campaign for inspiration—that’s what sparked my interest in the field. It was all about how to make people feel and remember something in the most efficient way.

After graduating, I started as a marketing designer and later became an art director at agencies across LA and New York City. I’ve worked on brand campaigns spanning F&B, travel, and B2B tech. Currently, I serve as Creative Director at BorderX, a global digital and creative agency based in Seoul. Our core mission is to help brands reach new markets through globally impactful work.

What I hope to get out of every project is something to be proud of: work that’s on-brief, impactful, and is also creatively fulfilling to make. With Move Improved, balancing those three was a win on its own. The award is like the cherry on top. It’s awesome to see the team and the agency get this sort of industry recognition.

The brief was simple: position Hyundai MOBIS as a leading mobility solutions provider. From the start, Hyundai MOBIS made it clear they were looking for an innovative approach to their first global launch campaign. We also wanted to do something beyond a straightforward B2B tech explainer.

One thing we did was intentionally simplify the narrative. The B2B tech category is full of technical buzzwords, and the average person has become desensitized to them. Since we targeted a mass audience beyond typical B2B personas, we needed to condense Hyundai MOBIS’ brand promise into something simple and universally understood—hence Move Improved and the short films that followed.

I’ll paraphrase author Al Ries to describe part of the ideation process: we needed to understand that most people’s minds are oversimplified when consuming advertising due to an overcommunicated society. The way to reach the oversimplified mind is with an oversimplified message.

Another key aspect was balancing humor and relatability in the hero films. We partnered with a director experienced in working with skilled improv actors to achieve this, rather than relying on prescriptive, line-by-line performances. The absurdity needed to be grounded in relatability to truly resonate with people.

Historically, Hyundai MOBIS was often mistaken for a car manufacturer rather than a mobility tech innovator. Clearly establishing what MOBIS is and does was part of our approach to addressing this. Early discussions considered whether the creative should focus solely on highlighting this misperception. Ultimately, focusing on Hyundai MOBIS’ own story was enough to help people truly understand the nature of their business and, by extension, why it matters to them.

Secondly, we faced a generational shift away from our category. Millennials engaged the least with B2B content, and Gen Z is driving less. We tailored our strategy to bridge this gap by focusing on category exposure and adopting a humorous, nontraditional approach to B2B marketing. This strategic choice reflected the consumption preferences of our target audience.

It’s proof that carving your own path is rewarding. When a category always does and says the same thing, it’s easy to draw conclusions about ‘best practices’ when deciding what to create. Convincing a brand to take the path less traveled requires a lot of care, given the nature of our industry. Many parties need to be absolutely sure before decisions are made. So this award validates those ambitions—not just for me and the agency, but for brands as well.

Hyundai MOBIS executives told us the campaign made their own employees see the company differently, and they feel proud to be part of it. That sort of feedback is always great to hear. Marketing performance is one thing, but making an impact on the internal culture says a lot, too.

Go chase unconventional ideas with confidence and handle them with care. Responsibly guide your idea into reality by ensuring it’s strategically sound and that you have clear reasons why it makes sense for the client’s business. Sell it well so all parties involved can support it, too.

We’re excited about where things are heading. At BorderX, we aim to keep creating work that hits the sweet spot between strategy and creativity. The ways we execute are evolving rapidly with the rise of AI and shifts in how brands market these days. On that front, we always stay up to date because it helps shape our approach for future projects.

It might sound cliché, but just go for it. If you don’t succeed, just try again next time. The only way to guarantee you’ll never succeed is by not trying. I think failure is actually a great way to build confidence; once you realize failure isn’t that bad, it becomes easier to go for things. It might help to have this mindset: “If I win, great. If I don’t, great. What matters is that I tried.”

Keep doing your thing! I’m a fan of my peers, and it’s always fun to see the latest projects coming from our industry. We all influence each other in one way or another.

To the Hyundai MOBIS team for setting an ambitious tone from the start and working toward a shared vision with us. Thanks also to everyone at BorderX involved for their ambition and collaboration. We appreciate our production partners, Tiger House Films and No Mercy. Lastly, massive thanks to executive producer Jason Carpenter and director Matthew Pollock for bringing this idea to life with us.

‘Move Improved’ proves that any brand can join in on the fun. I think that sums up our approach to B2B tech marketing.

We’ve got a few projects in the pipeline—some in tech, some in skincare, and others. The team and I jumped straight back into work after award season, and I’m excited to see where things go.