Red Balloon appoints two executives

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Red Balloon’s new CMO, Rapthi Thanapalasingam.

Online experience retailer Red Balloon has appointed Rapthi Thanapalasingam to the newly created role of chief marketing officer (CMO) and has also appointed Brett Raven as its new chief technology officer (CTO).

Rapthi will start immediately and has more than 15 years experience in tourism, telecommunications and financial services. Most recently she led MasterCard’s Australian and New Zealand digital and social strategy.

Raven will start on January 30 and has more than 25 years of experience in software development, most recently as the CTO of Lux Group.

Both appointments are indicative of Red Balloon’s changing focus, moving beyond gifts as experiences and into travel and tourism more broadly.

“The relationship between CMO and CTO at RedBalloon is a vital one as we are both a marketing and technology company,” said CEO, Nick Baker. “[We’re] poised for some exciting new initiatives that will heavily impact both areas. Both hires are integral to the continued growth of RedBalloon.”

“Specifically, we were looking for a CMO with strong commercial and ecommerce experience, a pedigree in travel and tourism and a natural affinity for fast paced and progressive environments,” he continued.

Baker said Raven will be hitting the ground running moving into February, where he will be responsible for the e-commerce platform that the company has invested heavily in.

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