Dr Hyunsun Yoon

Overview

Hyunsun is a Senior Lecturer in Strategic Communications at the Department of Media, Culture and Creative Industries, City St. George's, University of London. As a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA), she has extensive experience in teaching and researching media, advertising, and marketing communications. She has published widely on these topics and successfully completed several research projects awarded by the British Academy, Leverhulme Trust, DM Trust and the Korean Cultural Centre UK. Her research interests revolve around promotional cultures, EDI in commercial communications, digital communications and older adults.

Hyunsun's work has been shared both nationally (in the UK) and internationally through continued collaborations and public engagement with the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), the European Institute for Commercial Communications Education (EdCom), and the History of Advertising Trust (HAT). Her international profile has a foundation in using education to empower under-represented communities and to improve the public experience of digital communications. DM Trust funded project on digital vulnerability and empowerment amongst older consumers and the BA/Leverhulme grant on minority ethnic older adults' perception of COVID-19 public health campaigns are such examples.

Prior to joining City St. George's, Hyunsun has taught and held mid-management roles at the University of Greenwich, University of East London and Cardiff University. She has won multiple student-led teaching awards over the years and student experience projects such as in-house student marketing agency. Her approach of teaching-informed research resulted in several publications about innovative assessment in marketing education, employability and student engagement. She is an elected board member of the research committee at EdCom and the academic jury for the pan-European student competition Ad Venture.

By taking critical advertising studies approach, Hyunsun's book Branded Entertainment in Korea (Routledge, 2020) examines the origins, development, current state, ethics and regulations of the new marketing strategy, branded entertainment, in South Korea, offering a closer look at the ethical challenges and controversies surrounding branded entertainment and the Korean popular and promotional culture. She is currently working on Rethinking Influence: Critical Approaches to Social Media Marketing (Kogan Page), focusing on the global south. She is a member of MeCCSA, ENAS (European Network of Ageing Studies), BSG (the British Society of Gerontology), and the Dunhill Medical Trust; and an advisory board member of UAL Branded Content Research Hub and ESRC/AHRC Branded Content Governance Project (2022-2025). Her current research centres on a digital reminiscence project of building a digital app for older adults and those living with dementia. She would be interested to hear from prospective PhD students working on advertising, marketing communications, consumer behaviour and the Korean popular culture.

PhD supervision:
Jinmyoung Lim
Youngjun Choi
Dannielle K Wright (External)

Qualifications

• CMBE (Certified Management & Business Educator), Chartered Association of Business Schools (CABS), United Kingdom, Mar 2022 – Mar 2024
• SFHEA, Higher Education Academy, United Kingdom, Nov 2018
• FHEA, Higher Education Academy, United Kingdom, Jan 2008
• PGCE, University of East London, United Kingdom, Sep 2006 – Jun 2007
• PhD, Cardiff University, United Kingdom, Sep 1996 – Nov 2005
• MA, Cardiff University, United Kingdom, Sep 1995 – Aug 1996
• BA (Hons), Ewha Womans University, South Korea, Mar 1991 – Aug 1995

Employment

• Programme Director, PGT Media, Communications and Creative Industries, City St. George's, University of London, Aug 2024 – present
• Senior Lecturer in Strategic Communications, City St. George's, University of London, Apr 2024 – present
• Elected Board Member - Research Committee, European Institute for Commercial Communications Education (EdCom), Oct 2022 – present
• Academic Jury, European Institute for Commercial Communications Education, Sep 2022 – present
• Programme Leader, Senior Lecturer, University of Greenwich, Sep 2017 – Mar 2024
• Consultant, 1HQ Branding Agency, Jun – Jul 2013
• Visiting Lecturer, Korea National University of Arts, Apr – May 2012
• Visiting Lecturer, Yonsei University, Jun – Sep 2011
• Senior Lecturer, University of East London, Sep 2010 – Aug 2017
• Lecturer, University of East London, Jan 2005 – Aug 2010
• Associate Lecturer (Hourly Paid Lecturer), Cardiff University, Sep 1997 – Aug 1999
• Doctoral Researcher, UNICEF, Jun – Oct 1997
• Programme Coordinator, Thomson Foundation, Sep 1996 – Feb 1997
• Honorary Ambassador for Gwent, Wales, UK, Gwent County Council, Sep 1996 – present

Languages

English (can read, write, speak, understand spoken and peer review) and Korean (can read, write, speak, understand spoken and peer review).

Featured publications

1. Yoon, H. (2020). Branded Entertainment in Korea. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-429-55266-3.
2. Yoon, H. and Lee, J. (2025). Genre in Transnational Television: A Case of Netflix Originals Korean Dramas. Television & New Media, 26(2), pp. 243–258. doi:10.1177/15274764241265040.

   [publisher’s website]

3. McKenna, B., Cai, W. and Yoon, H. (2023). Chinese older adults' social media use: a study of WeChat from a social practice perspective. Information Technology and People. doi:10.1108/itp-10-2022-0787.
4. Yoon, H. and Kelly, A.J. (2023). Brand Blunders and Race in Advertising: Issues, Implications, and Potential Actions from a Macromarketing Perspective. Journal of Macromarketing, 43(3), pp. 403–417. doi:10.1177/02761467231178550.

Publications by category