Carousell appoints new marketing director

Classified marketplace Carousell has appointed Sudarshan Balachandran as its new marketing director, as confirmed by Carousell to MARKETING-INTERACTIVE.

In his new role, Balachandran will play a pivotal role in steering Carousell’s marketing strategy across all six markets, namely, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Taiwan. He will also play a key role in strengthening Carousell's brand identity and driving product innovation through effective marketing strategies to foster sustainable, profitable growth.

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Balachandran brings with him over 12 years of integrated marketing experience across both marketing agencies and technologies firms across the region. Prior to joining Carousell, he held the position of director of marketing (APAC) for Verticals at foodpanda, where he spearheaded the successful introduction of innovative business verticals, including grocery delivery, shops marketplace, consumer-to-consumer delivery, and a subscription program.

Before his stint at foodpanda, Balachandran was instrumental in launching Agoda's memorable global brand campaign, which featured the lively and engaging Agojis as brand mascots. 

Balachandran will be reporting to Bryan Teo, Carousell's chief operating officer in his new role, according to Carousell.

"I'm very excited to join Carousell. For over a decade, Carousell has brought together communities across the region through the platform, be it over shared hobbies or rallying in support during the global pandemic. Being involved in scaling the reach and impact of this platform is something that I'm looking forward to," said Balachandran to MARKETING-INTERACTIVE. 

Carousell has been in the news recently after it launched its new Certified Luxury’ programme to make luxury goods more accessible for its users.

With sustainability at its core, Carousell aims to make second-hand goods the first choice for consumers, and making luxury goods accessible to more people encourages more people to make more sustainable choices.

“With Certified Luxury, you get real luxury at a fraction of the cost, with trust and with the same quality assured. In this way, we allow for ‘’second-hand deals’, with a first-rate experience', giving our consumer the best of both worlds,” said Gijs Verheijke, head of luxury at Carousell in his launch address.

With booming overconsumption, the resale platform allows for consumers to make more sustainable choices. Verheijke said that Carousell’s goal with ‘Certified Luxury’ is to create an inversion wherein first-hand goods will supplement second-hand goods, as a result of consumers being inspired to re-use items and only buy new ones when necessary.

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