Gushcloud eyes Japan, introduces SEA influencers to Japanese brands

Gushcloud International has plans to launch its ninth office in Japan, following investment from D2C Inc., a Japanese digital advertising and marketing company. D2C Inc was established as joint enterprise between Docomo, Dentsu and NTT advertising.The office will be set up within the same premises of the D2C office, allowing both companies to work even closer together to establish a footprint in Japan and the growing SEA market. The move will be led by Ng Siang Hang (pictured), newly appointed CEO of Gushcloud Agency following Gushcloud’s reorganisation into two divisions.According to press statement, Gushcloud Japan aims to focus on the company’s expansion into the North Asian market with three key aims. This includes engaging Japanese brands and agencies to effectively reach out to a “larger Southeast Asian audience” and helping influencers and content creators build a larger presence domestically and internationally. Additionally, the company aims to create more opportunities for creators across Asia for cross collaboration on various projects.The statement added that the investment by D2C Inc will allow Gushcloud to “enter the Japanese market with confidence”. Through the move, the company aims to bring its best practices and deep know-hows about the Southeast Asian influencer marketing industries to educate Japanese brands.“This will enable Japanese brands and agencies to work with and through us to engage more effectively with a larger audience size in Southeast Asia,” Ng said.Hiroaki Sawa, executive officer of D2C Inc, added that foreign visitors coming to Japan are increasing year by year, with the number reaching 24 million in 2016. He added that a majority of these visitors comes from Southeast Asia - markets where Gushcloud has a strong presence in. As such, through Gushcloud Japan, D2C aims to increase the inbound and outbound advertising services to Japanese companies that plan to promote and build their businesses in Southeast Asia.“With Gushcloud Japan, we also hope to build our influencers and content creators’ audience size in Southeast Asia to promote the Japanese culture,” Sawa said.Headquartered in Singapore, Gushcloud has operating offices in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam - as well as a presence in Korea and the United States. The company represents more than 12,000 social media influencers and online content creators across these eight countries.Most recently, Gushcloud International secured a US$3 million funding led by YG Investment, the investment arm under South Korean music label and entertainment agency YG Group. This was to strengthen the group and expand into larger markets within Southeast Asia such as Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam.In July this year, Gushcloud reorganised its global business into two business groups – Gushcloud Entertainment and Gushcloud Agency. The move saw Ng Siang Hiang assume the role of CEO of Gushcloud Agency, taking over from Lim. Both groups are housed under Gushcloud’s holding company brand Gushcloud International.Meanwhile in March, Gushcloud has acquired uFluencer Group, a US-based social media talent management agency, representing influencers and beauty content creators globally. The acquisition is 100% and marked the second time the influencer agency was making a move into the US market.