Innocean USA names Jason Sperling CCO as he returns to agency side

Jason Sperling has been named chief creative officer of Innocean USA, returning to the agency world—and car advertising in particular—after two and a half years at Meta Reality Labs.

Sperling, who led creative on Honda at RPA before joining Meta, will now take the reins creatively on Hyundai, the Korean automaker that is Innocean’s largest client. His auto background, combined with his digital explorations as global executive creative director of Meta Reality Labs, will be a potent mix for Innocean going forward, the agency said.

“Jason has that perfect balance—the traditional campaign experience, as well as all the new tech and trends. We have a very big expectation of Jason and his leadership,” Innocean USA CEO Steve Jun told Ad Age.

Innocean USA has been without a CCO for four years. Barney Goldberg has been leading the agency’s creative department as  executive creative director since 2019, and retains that title. Sperling will start at Innocean on Feb. 20.

“There is institutional knowledge that comes from working on Honda—understanding that market, the full-funnel mentality, the need to maintain relevancy and find new ways to talk to people as markets change,” Sperling said. “And then from Meta, there’s the understanding of AR, VR, MR. Seeing how brands are using it, not just for marketing but for retail, for community, for all sorts of business-related aspects, it is really interesting.”

Sean Gilpin, chief business officer at Innocean USA, said the hiring of Sperling reflects a mandate from Hyundai, its luxury Genesis nameplate and other clients to embrace innovation.

“These brands have very high ambitions. We needed a creative partner that can help bring that to life,” said Gilpin. “Jason's experience at Meta combined with his auto background became a perfect combo to capitalize on some of that—helping us establish a name and a brand that's based on the successes of the accounts we have, but expanding into new accounts as well.” 

Sperling’s hire follows the promotion last fall of Cindy Scott to chief strategy officer at Innocean. “I’m building a chess board. Jason is a big piece and he's now at center stage,” Jun said.

Beyond being immersed in new technologies, Sperling said his time at Meta also gave him a useful glimpse into the client side—and how the relationships with agencies aren’t always optimized.

“The agency goals don't always correlate with the client goals,” he said. “As much as you want to be a cheerleader for the agency to do the best work possible—and it is a symbiotic relationship, where great work means good things for us and good things for them—we didn't always necessarily feel that. It's taught me really how to be a better agency person and client-minded person.” 

Meta has lost several high-profile execs in recent weeks. Teemu Suviala, global head of brand design for Meta Reality Labs, recently joined the WPP-owned brand and design consultancy Landor & Fitch. Also, Marne Levine, Meta’s chief business officer, resigned this week.

Sperling was at RPA for a decade before joining Meta. Prior to RPA, he held roles at TBWA\Media Arts Lab (where he was the head writer on Apple’s “Mac & PC” campaign), TBWA\Chiat\Day and Colby & Partners.