Reach For The Clouds

Althea Lim, the group chief executive officer of Gushcloud International, discusses the growth areas for the digital talent and media company in its next phase— and her dream of building the Hollywood of Asia

- Hashirin Nurin Hashimi

If there is one person who knows the power of influence, it is Althea Lim, the group chief executive officer of Gushcloud International. The influencer marketing, entertainment and commerce company she co-‘founded in 2011 was one of the first movers in the industry and is now seeing “influencers become an alternate solution to celebrities, as to who people will look up to in the future”.

Lim explains: “In the past, there was a clear distinction: an influencer is not a celebrity. But now, that distinction is starting to blur a little. People also expect a certain level of responsibility from influencers, [with respect to] what they do and say.” In fact, influencer marketing has become a key part of the marketing efforts of many brands today.

“Brands have tightened their spending during the pandemic and are looking for what we call alternate marketing solutions. While influencer marketing has become a mainstay, it’s always going to be known as an alternate solution, against other mainstays such as billboards, television, radio, Google and Facebook,” shares Lim. Furthermore, in the past two years, people have spent more time discovering content on various platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.