Gushcloud

Gushcloud is an influencer marketing and media company based in Singapore.[1]

Founding

The company, an influencer marketing network, was cofounded in 2011[1] by Vincent Ha,[2] and Althea Lim,[3] who had previously founded Gush Ad. In March 2012, the company raised seed money from Singhome Fund.[1] In the first five months about 27,000 users joined the site, in order to be a part of the company’s advertising campaigns.[2] A San Francisco office was opened in 2012, and the company began to move into Indonesia.[4]

Gush Media

In October 2013 Gushcloud partnered with Newcast to launched Gush Media. Paul Bischoff described it as, “a marketplace where brands can find local ‘influencers’ to promote their products.” Potential clients enter the details of the social media influencers they want to work with into a search engine, which brings up ideal candidates to work with. Bischoff states further that, within two hours of selecting a candidate, the “social media influencers will start posting about the products and services via their online channels,” whether it is via their blog, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, or other feed.[1] In 2014 the company ran a hackathon in Malaysia entitled Hackademy, the largest in the country.[5] As of February 2015, Gush Media managed about 200 social media influencers.[3] Later, Gush Media was renamed Gushcloud.

Criticisms

A public dispute developed in late 2014 between Gushcloud and blogger Wendy Cheng, an influencer sponsored by one of Gushcloud’s competitors. Cheng alleged that Gushcloud inflated the viewership statistics of the influencers they represented and did not follow proper procedures for marking sponsored social media posts,[6] in addition to creating campaigns that targeted a client’s competitors negatively.[7] In response, Gushcloud co-founder Lim planned to meet with other social media marketing firms to establish industry and ethical guidelines, which Cheng stated was a positive move.[8]

Timothy Ho wrote of the dispute that, “It may be exciting to follow the catfight… but at the end of the day, it is all about business.” Ho pointed out that while Gushcloud’s finances had been misquoted in earlier news articles, the company had expanded substantially since its founding, and Cheng had misstated the reality of Gushcloud’s financials over time. He also pointed out Cheng’s financial relationship with Gushcloud’s competitor.[9]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Paul Bischoff (October 22, 2013). "Gush Media marketplace lets social media elites sell their tweets (and their credibility)". Tech in Asia. Retrieved March 17, 2015.
  2. 1 2 Rick Martin (February 2, 2012). "Gushcloud Wants Users to Gush On Favorite Things Online". Arena Gushcloud. Tech in Asia. Retrieved March 27, 2015.
  3. 1 2 Priscilla Goy (February 2, 2015). "Social media celebrities helping charities spread the word on causes". Straits Times. Retrieved March 27, 2015.
  4. ↑ https://www.techinasia.com/gushcloud-us-indonesia/
  5. ↑ http://www.digitalnewsasia.com/sizzle-fizzle/hackademy-not-just-another-hit-and-run-hackathon
  6. ↑ Bryna Singh (January 4, 2015). "Influencers hold court, but how credible are they?". Straits Times. Retrieved March 27, 2015.
  7. ↑ Emily Tan (March 18, 2015). "When agencies sin in a client's name: Singtel & Gushcloud". PR Week. Retrieved March 27, 2015.
  8. ↑ "Gushcloud co-founder and Xiaxue discuss regulations for blogs". Channel News Asia. January 8, 2015. Retrieved March 27, 2015.
  9. ↑ Timothy Ho (December 31, 2014). "Uncovering The Financial Truths Behind The Xiaxue-Gushcloud Catfight". Yahoo Finance. Retrieved March 27, 2015.

External links

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