‘Unknown’ Auto Maker Awards Ad Account : Campaign: The South Korean company Kia, with U.S. headquarters in Irvine, will spend $30 million to introduce a sedan and a sports utility vehicle to the American public next year.

Kia Motors North America said Thursday that it has awarded its $30-million advertising account to San Francisco’s Goldberg Moser O’Neill.

The four agencies that were finalists in competition for the account had spent months on their pitches, bringing in experts familiar with the Daihatsu, Infiniti and Saturn accounts.

“When the stakes are this high, an agency will more likely spend the money,” said Terry Foutz, vice president and management supervisor for Kresser/Craig in Santa Monica, one of the four finalists. Kresser/Craig hired a free-lance expert on the Lincoln Mercury and Infiniti campaigns, Foutz said, and spent about nine months preparing its presentation.

Kia, South Korea’s second-largest car maker after Hyundai, plans to begin selling a four-door sedan in the United States in January. The company will follow with its sports utility vehicle, the Sportage, in the fall of 1994.

The sedan, priced at less than $9,000, will be marketed to young, college-educated consumers looking for reliable, thrifty transportation.

Dick Macedo, Kia’s marketing director, said the company chose Goldberg Moser O’Neill because the agency has had success introducing start-up and entrepreneurial businesses to the public. Among companies for which the agency has handled advertising are Dell Computers, Dreyer’s Ice Cream and Reno Air.

Kia, which has its U.S. headquarters in Irvine, has been in business for almost 50 years in Korea and commands 36% of the car and truck market there. But it is almost unknown in the United States, even though it makes the Festiva for Ford Motor Co.

“We have no company reputation, no brand equity and no reputation as a car maker in this country,” Macedo said. “And America doesn’t need another car. One of the key issues for us was looking for an agency that took an unconventional approach.”

Kia will roll out its product region by region, beginning with 11 western states and spending $30 million in advertising in the next 17 months.

Other finalists for the ad account were Stein Robaire Helm in Brentwood and Jordan, McGrath, Case & Taylor in New York. Another New York agency, Waring & LaRosa, teamed up with Kresser/Craig in its effort to woo Kia.