Malaysian platform Astro has taken a step further into the ‘creator economy’, investing in “culture-first digital marketing venture” KULT and, using a different approach to content and platform assets, eyeing a bigger share of the space that exists beyond Astro’s current reach.   

KULT’s promise is to “help brands move at the speed of culture” with full-funnel digital marketing solutions. That means blending data, content and creators “to drive deeper audience resonance and cultural relevance across today’s most influential platforms”. 

Although it sounds like an agency, KULT bosses aren’t keen on the label, preferring to be called a “digital marketing solutions partner”. 

“We partner with agencies, we feed into the agency ecosystem,” says Cynthia Seow, Astro’s director of digital and customer experience and KULT director.

The new business, based in the trendy Bangsar area of Kuala Lumpur, operates entirely separately from Astro and its platforms, although it has access to Astro’s full ecosystem and assets, including first-party audience data across traditional/digital/social platforms as well as premium content. KULT is also able to activate campaigns across external (read non-Astro) channels. 

The idea is to expand opportunities, not to cannibalise the existing business; Astro used the phrase “incrementality to media investments” in its investor note, and said the venture “unlocks new revenue streams and strengthens Astro’s position as a holistic media and marketing powerhouse and a strong partner in the ecosystem”.

Seow talks about tapping incremental revenue, experimental budgets and KULT’s value as an IP-agnostic entity. “Whichever IP I use doesn’t matter to the client, as long as I deliver the eyeballs, outcome, awareness,” she says. 

About a dozen people are involved in KULT, which lives in its own office separate from Astro, and is headed by digital/adtech/startup industry veteran René Menezes with Astro’s Seow. 

Seow talks about turning “reach and attention into real cultural impact and commercial outcomes” and delivering attention “that truly resonates, not just impressions that disappear”.

Astro’s broad reach across age- and language groups is compelling, and Seow has assembled a seasoned affiliate marketing team to deliver digital conversions for brands.

On a monthly basis, Astro produces around 100,000 pieces of content across various digital platforms, reaching a combined following of over 130 million across more than 300 profile and brand pages. With Malaysia’s population at approximately 36 million, this gives us an average of three to four content touch points per Malaysian," she says.

While it gets its feet under the table and its deck to brands, KULT is part of Astro’s new play for a place in the “age of endless scroll”.

“We empower brands to actively move with culture, shape crucial conversations, and drive measurable, real-world impact. This is more than marketing, it’s a movement,” she says.

Clarification (15 July 2025)

This story has been updated to reflect the number of piece of content Astro creates every month across platforms is 100,000.