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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
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.
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“As platforms continue to grow, the different influencer categories will be split among them,” says Lim. “For example, you can be the top beauty influencer on YouTube, but somebody else is the number one beauty influencer on TikTok, or even on Twitch in time to come.” She offers this simple strategy: “With awareness, you need star power; with engagement, you need macro influencers; and with sales, you need micro influencers. Despite the market being saturated, there’s something for everyone.” This is why brands should consider an omnichannel approach.
She also sees more influencers veering towards becoming content creators. “Those who aren’t able to become creators will remain as influencers, but those who have the ability to create their own content, their own brand, their own identity, I think they’ll have longevity,” she observes.
One example is socialite‐turned‐entrepreneur Jamie Chua, who is represented by Gushcloud. “Jamie has gone beyond influencing [others with] what she eats, buys or wears, and is now creating content. We work closely with her on her YouTube channel and post‐produce a lot of the content together. She’s deeply involved in the creation process,” shares Lim, who cites Tan JianHao of Titan Digital Media as another stellar example who has transcended being just an influencer and is now running a media company.
“In the past, there was a clear distinction: an influencer is not a celebrity. But now, that distinction is starting to blur a little.”
Currently based in Los Angeles, Lim is driving Gushcloud’s global expansion into the US and China, as well as new business areas. Under her leadership, the Singapore‐headquartered company now runs four business units, focusing on managing talents, creating content, building brands, and leveraging technology and data as well as live commerce shows. It operates in 11 countries, including South Korea, China and the US.
In 2019, Gushcloud raised US$11 million in a funding round for global growth and named American hip‐hop mogul Russell Simmons as its president, who was tasked to expand its portfolio of US‐based talents and clients. The Def Jam Recordings co‐founder launched GC Studios, a global entertainment company, production studio and talent management firm based in LA, last year. He also recently collaborated with Snoop Dogg for the Masterminds of Hip‐Hop NFT collection exclusively on NFT marketplace Tokau.
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“It started out as an NFT project, but has taken on a life of its own. Snoop and Russell are now wanting to co‐produce a docufilm on hip‐hop, possibly a brand‐new album and a tour,” shares Lim, offering an example of “how intellectual property can live another day, beyond another medium, another platform”—something Gushcloud is looking to do. It also seeks to bring together the best talents from the East and the West. This is part of Lim’s dream
of building the Hollywood of Asia, to be exported to the world.
For now, Gushcloud sees the US as one of its fastest growing markets. “We have huge ambitions to list it, any time between 2025 and 2027, in Singapore or the US,” says Lim. “But we must first build Gushcloud as a Singaporean brand. We go into every meeting with strong Singaporean values of integrity, engineering and excellence.”
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Images: Gushcloud
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As Senior Editor of Tatler Singapore, Hashirin champions and refines the storytelling across platforms—curating and crafting compelling profiles, cover stories and features that spotlight visionaries shaping culture, business and impact. Driven by curiosity, she draws inspiration from the artists, changemakers and trailblazers she encounters through her work. Beyond the pages of Tatler, she is an avid supporter of local theatre and delights in seeking out art in every city she visits.
