carwow

carwow is Europe’s leading marketplace for buying and selling cars. It has been injecting technology, ease of use, and transparency ever since its foundation in 2010. After placing their MD UK, Director of Analytics and Data Science, and Commercial Director, carwow came to us with the new mandate to find their CMO. Here’s how we did it.

Buying a car has never been easier

In spite of the rising encroachment of technology into consumers’ daily lives, many of the big purchases in life such as buying cars continued to happen in car dealerships. carwow’s conception came from the desire to digitise that space and offer consumers a haggle-free, seamless experience by letting them compare offers online and buy directly from trusted dealers that are registered with the platform.

Last year, the company expanded to help consumers sell their current cars with the acquisition of Wizzle, now known as the “Sell Your Car” division. This solved a huge pain point for both consumers and the industry and has come to represent a big step forward in the company’s journey.  

Growth times require the right leader 

Expanding carwow’s product portfolio proved to be an immediate success that drove rapid growth for the business. It soon became clear that carwow needed an experienced marketing leader that could stand up to the challenge of meeting the business’s ever-rising ambitions.
 

Both analytical, performance-based as well as creative, brand-led marketing were equally important for this role. Leading a sizable team of 50+ talented marketing professionals across multiple geographies added another layer of complexity to the assignment, and we soon became aware of the high calibre we were meant to pursue. 

Ben Carter was the one 

It’s always a privilege to go to market with an attractive opportunity, and carwow’s mission immediately resonated with the people we spoke with. Most of them had already used and loved the product and were happy to be considered for the role. 

We started our research by mapping the talent in high-growth consumer businesses across Europe while tapping into our existing network for recommendations. We identified Ben Carter right away.
Ben is a highly experienced CMO with excellent credentials for building some of the UK’s most recognised consumer brands. He is equally as effective in leading large cross-functional teams, and he found that this opportunity played perfectly to his strengths. Just under 120 days after our search started, carwow was thrilled with Ben and moved to offer him the role. Ben gladly accepted and is now settling into his new role, fully excited about the adventure to come. 

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