Ravi Shankar joins Carsome Group as CMO

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Carsome has appointed former AirAsia's chief growth officer, Ravi Shankar, as its CMO. In his role, Shankar will oversee brand, marketing, digital, social media, public relations, growth, market research, and customer experience. He will also be working closely with Carsome’s chief brand officer, Derek Tan, on brand, creative, production, and sponsorships.

“I am thrilled to be a part of Carsome’s journey of building a trusted car ownership ecosystem using data and technology," said Shankar. Being the industry leader, Shankar added that Carsome is in a good position to bring change to user behaviour in the Southeast Asian region, where most car transactions are done offline. "We can move this online by establishing trust and the best customer experience at every touchpoint. I look forward to making Carsome the top-of-mind brand in this region and connecting the dots between brand, marketing, technology, and data,” he explained.

Shankar, a well-known marketer in Malaysia's advertising and marketing scene, was previously with AirAsia since 2017. During his departure from the company last September, Shankar told A+M that he was taking a break in India before deciding on his next move. Shankar first joined AirAsia in January 2017 as its group head of digital marketing for two years. In January 2019, Shankar took on the role of group head of digital marketing and analytics for close to two years. Before Shankar exited AirAsia, he helmed the role of chief growth officer for more than a year.

Before AirAsia, Shankar was regional head of performance and analytics at Lion and Lion based in Malaysia for two years. Prior to moving to Malaysia, Shankar was based in India and helmed the role of campaign management lead at Google for close to two years.

According to Carsome's co-founder and group CEO, Eric Cheng, the appointment was an important move to strengthen its leadership team to achieve greater heights. “Shankar is a data-driven marketer who balances creativity with excellent execution. We are very excited to have him onboard to accelerate our business growth and help establish Carsome’s mission in the market, which is to create a new standard of buying and selling cars,” Cheng added.

Carsome has in recent times made its presence felt in the region. It made headlines just this month, as it bagged US$290 million in a Series E round of funding. The funds, which brought the company's valuation to approximately US$1.7 billion, would be used to accelerate the company's investment in people, product, technology, data capability, infrastructure, and regional expansion of its retail brand, Carsome Certified, across key markets in Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand. The Group also previously bagged US$170 million in a Series D2 round of funding last year, which was used to focus on the growth and expansion of its B2C business. In July last year, it also became Malaysia's first tech unicorn when it acquired 19.9% of iCar Asia from Catcha Group.

On the marketing front, Carsome has also stealthily been building up its operations across the region. In Indonesia, it appointed Rowan Suhendy as its head of brand and consumer marketing. Suhendy's responsibilities include building Carsome’s brand image, presence, and awareness in Indonesia through all channels and ensuring they align with the brand's corporate image and identity.

In Malaysia, Melanie Mei, a former group account director from Ogilvy, joined the company as its new head of marketing for Malaysia. Mei handles the strategy, planning and execution of all Carsome brand, marketing and communications efforts for Malaysia.