Carousell appoints Essence as integrated media agency of record

Essence, part of GroupM, has announced that it has been awarded the integrated media duties for classifieds marketplace Carousell, led out of their Singapore office.

Launched in August 2012, Carousell began in Singapore, and is now one of the world’s largest and fastest-growing classifieds marketplaces in eight markets across Southeast Asia, Taiwan and Hong Kong. Carousell is backed by leading investors including Telenor Group, Rakuten Ventures, Naver and Sequoia Capital India. The Carousell marketplace has a diverse range of products across a variety of categories, including automobiles, property, home services, electronics and fashion accessories.

The agency’s scope of work for Carousell includes brand and performance marketing in Singapore, the Philippines and Hong Kong. Essence’s offering covers media services such as media planning, media activation, automation and media technology, alongside its specialist capabilities such as consulting, analytics, data strategy, ecommerce, experience, strategy and advertising operations.

As part of the partnership, Essence’s first activities with Carousell include a campaign to build brand awareness among its target consumers in Hong Kong, a campaign to establish the brand’s versatility across products and service categories in Singapore and the Philippines, as well as conducting the agency’s Essence Media Health Check consulting service with Carousell’s team on its performance marketing campaigns.

“As one of the world’s leading classifieds platforms, we are so excited to have found such great partners in Essence, who enable us to establish meaningful ways to connect with our users at scale, no matter which part of the funnel they are at,” said Cassandra Leong, Director for Brand at Carousell.

“Carousell is an inspiring brand that believes in using technology to solve meaningful problems at scale, and always improving in crafting the most seamless user experience for people to sell what they do not need and find what they need. Likewise, through Essence’s data-driven approach to media, consulting, commerce and content, enhanced by technology and a commitment to constant improvement, we are excited to help Carousell deliver the most valuable experiences for its consumers, as well as accelerate marketing transformation and business growth for the brand in this region,” said Monica Bhatia (pictured), Senior Vice President, Client Partner, APAC and Managing Director, Singapore at Essence.

Carousell is the latest brand to join Essence’s growing portfolio of clients in Singapore, which includes Airbnb, the Financial Times, Google, NBCUniversal and Scoot. Since Essence’s entry into APAC with its Singapore office in 2013, the agency has rapidly expanded to 11 offices across seven countries in the region.