The greatest value for the client comes from the holistic digital system

Please introduce yourself briefly and tell us about your professional journey so far.

I started working in marketing in a world without digital advertising. Today, I run a business that cannot exist without it.

My name is Petya Stoyanova and my professional path as a marketing expert has gone through several different but very connected stages - corporate, agency as an employee and now as a business owner. The first serious professional steps I took were at DHL Bulgaria, where I led the marketing department. There, I learned discipline, processes, and working to international standards – a foundation that I still use today. After that, I moved into the agency world – at New Moment New Ideas Group. I was fortunate to be part of the largest advertising agency in Bulgaria at that time, a recipient of numerous awards from Bulgarian and international festivals. I learned communications decomposed– from strategy to the last detail in execution. This was the place where I understood that good ideas are worth as much as their actual execution and application. After that, I jumped into the telecom business in the role of Director of Marketing Communications at Globul (for younger colleagues, this is Yettel nowJ) , where I participated in building the brand in our market, in one of the most competitive and rapidly developing industries. In 2014, I had the opportunity to become part of the team at Mtel/A1. For more than six years I was Director of Marketing Communications, working on key projects, including the rebranding of Mtel to A1.

What I can say about myself after over 30 years of experience in marketing is that I have never felt comfortable in a predictable environment. I cannot stand routine in my work. The moment I sense it, I know it’s time for a change. I have sought challenges in every form – because that’s where I have found satisfaction and growth. Maybe this mindset naturally led to the next step: the creation of a digital agency Power Brand.

How did the idea for creating Power Brand come about and what is your role in the agency's development today?

Power Brand was born not as an “idea,” but as a response to a very specific problem that I saw daily in business. Companies and particularly those with online stores, were increasingly entering the digital space and e-commerce, but rarely had the internal resources, knowledge, and focus to manage this process comprehensively. Work was done piecemeal – someone creates the website, another runs the ads, a third deals with SEO. And in the end, no one takes real responsibility for the result. My experience showed me that this model does not work. There was a lack of connectivity, strategy, a team that viewed the digital representation of the brand as a whole system, not as separate channels.

Thus, the idea for Power Brand emerged – an agency that manages digital presence as an ecosystem, especially in the management of online stores, where every small weakness leads to direct loss of sales. Our goal from the very beginning was clear – to be a partner who has not only the expertise but also the responsibility to develop the brand with a focus on real business results. Today, my role in Power Brand remains central, I actively participate in the strategic decisions of the clients. At the same time, I work on developing new services, especially towards automation and AI, because I believe that the next big difference between businesses will not be who advertises more, but who works smarter.

How would you describe Power Brand to businesses looking for not just a digital agency, but a long-term partner?

Honestly – we are not for everyone. If you are looking for an agency that simply “runs ads,” posts content, and tells you that “the reach is excellent and you have achieved thousands of impressions,” we probably won’t be a good fit. There are many such services.

Power Brand is for companies that focus on their digital representation and aim for specific sales through this channel. We do not think in campaigns or projects, but in results. We dive deep into the business – we study the products, we delve into the business model and offer the reasonable percentage that the client should invest in communication, we analyze customer behavior and the entire path to purchase. Often the problem is not in the advertising, but in the offer, in the website in the product prices.  We work as an external marketing team, which takes responsibility for the results, not just for the activities. Long-term partnership for us means being able to say “we'll stop this campaign because it’s not working,” “we’ll change this,” “it’s good to invest in…” – and to stand behind these decisions with data and experience. In the end – we are not just an agency. We are a team that stands by you and thinks about your business as if it were our own.

What does partnership with clients mean to you and how do you apply it in practice in your daily work?

For us, partnership begins where the contract ends. Of course, we have clearly defined commitments, but the real value does not come from fulfilling them, but from doing more – when you see that there is room for improvement. We usually start with a limited scope – a few services for the client to test us, and for us to prove that we can and achieve results. Within a few months, after the start, we usually take on a larger part of the processes and begin to manage the account comprehensively. The truth is that often clients come to us after disappointment – they have spent significant budgets without real results. In such cases, our first task is not just to “fix the marketing,” but to restore trust and change the way they view digital agencies.

Partnership for us means that we care not just whether there is traffic or campaigns, but how the entire business performs – how the website converts, what the quality of sales is, at what value they are and what the real growth rate is compared to competitors, how offline sales are doing and what the relationship is between all channels. Very often this means going beyond the initial task. For example, we recently discovered a serious problem in the product descriptions of our client, as the limitation to fix them came from the functionalities of an old ERP system and the way products were entered. Instead of saying, this as “it’s not in our scope,” we found a solution using AI that bypassed the limitations of the ERP system and significantly improved the content and presentation of the products. This was not part of the contract. But it was part of our responsibility towards the final result.

Because in the end partnership is not a checklist. It is an attitude – to seek solutions, even when you are not obliged to, and to think about the growth of the client's business.

Which services and solutions of the agency currently have the greatest value for clients?

The greatest value today does not come from a separate service, but from how all elements work together. Clients appreciate our ability to build and manage a comprehensive growth system, rather than just executing specific tasks.

If I had to list specific services, the first and foremost is strategy– a clear direction on how the business should develop in the digital environment. What channels to use, how to allocate the budget, which products to prioritize and when and how to measure success. Without this, every advertisement is practically directionless.

Immediately after that comes management of paid advertising – Meta and Google. But not as an isolated activity, but as part of the overall model. The greatest value comes from continuous optimization and upgrading of campaigns.

A key role is also played by SEO  and technical support– not only for increasing organic traffic in Google but also for positioning brands in the new type of search based on artificial intelligence. This requires a different approach to content, website structure, and the way information is presented and understood by systems.

The main value for clients at the moment comes from automation of processes using AI, as it makes the business more efficient and profitable.

And perhaps the most valuable service, although the hardest to measure, is our consulting role – the ability to ask the right questions and guide clients towards solutions that have a real business effect, even when they are not the most obvious.

To put it simply – the value is not in what we do, but in knowing why we do it and how it affects the business.

Tell us a bit more about the types of automations you do for clients?

We started automating processes that are time-consuming, routine, and difficult to keep people doing for long.

Managing an online store requires constant attention to details that take hours of work every day. We prioritize automating these processes so you can focus on growing the business. Quality descriptions and images are the foundation of every successful online store. We automate the creation and updating of product texts optimized for search engines, processing and publishing images, as well as synchronizing content between different platforms and sales channels. Another automation is tracking competitors' prices (which is impossible manually with a large assortment). Our systems monitor competitors' prices in real-time, compare them with yours, and generate specific change proposals — tailored to your requirements (margin, pricing strategy). You approve, the system executes. Another interesting automation, which we are very proud of, is social media management (communication for new products on the site or those on promotion). We are still in a testing environment, but the results are quite promising.

What are the most significant results that Power Brand has achieved so far, and what conclusions have you drawn from them?

The most important result for us is not a single “success,” but that we are building long-term partnerships. We have clients with whom we have been working for over 4-5 years – and this is the clearest indicator that we are creating real value. From a business results perspective, with well-structured work, we see stable and predictable growth – usually between 10% and 30% annually. These are not “peaks,” but sustainable development, which is much more valuable for a business. In specific campaigns, we achieve very strong operational results – we have projects with ROAS over 22, as well as cases where we have improved the cost per acquisition (CPA) by over 500% compared to the beginning of our collaboration with the client. However, for us, these numbers matter only when they are sustainable and linked to real profit, not short-term effects.

Not to mention that a large part of our new clients come through referrals. This shows not only satisfaction but also trust – something that is hard to earn in our sector.

How is artificial intelligence already finding its place in Power Brand's work – from data analysis to content and campaign creation and optimization?

Artificial intelligence is no longer an “add-on” to our work – it is an integrated part of how we make decisions and manage processes. Its greatest value comes from allowing us to work faster, more structured, and with much better visibility over the data.

One of the main problems in digital marketing is that information is fragmented – Meta, Google, SEO tools, CRM, eCommerce platforms. That’s why we develop our own solutions and applications that aggregate this data into a unified dashboard. This way, we can monitor progress in real-time, identify problems, and react in time.  AI plays a key role in data analysis – processing large volumes of information, discovering dependencies, generating insights, and comparing with competitors and the market. This is the foundation for building a working strategy. But here, the human role remains paramount– because context, market specifics, and real business thinking cannot be automated. In content creation, we use AI as an accelerator. It allows us to test more variants, be more flexible, and optimize faster what works.

We also use AI for benchmarking and validating ideas – based on consumer behavior, search, and competitive environment. This way, we reduce the risk of decisions based solely on intuition. In this context, the way we build our team is also changing. AI now takes on a large part of the operational and routine work for which we previously hired people. Today, we are looking for a different profile – people who have experience, and even if they don’t, can think, analyze, and offer unconventional solutions to problems. To summarize – AI does not replace marketing, but makes it smarter and faster. The difference comes from how you use it. For us, it is a tool for better decisions, but the responsibility for them remains entirely human. If your readers recognize themselves in this way of thinking – we are always open to new additions to the team and would be happy to hear from them at info@powerbrand.bg.

What are the risks and limitations of using artificial intelligence in digital marketing and how do you address them?

Artificial intelligence offers enormous opportunities but also carries very real risks. One of the main risks is related to the quality of information. AI can generate content quickly, but not always correctly or appropriately for the specific business and market. That’s why every piece of content goes through human review and adaptation – because context is critical. Another serious risk is homogenization. When everyone uses the same tools, there is a danger that brands will start to sound the same. This is particularly evident in content and advertising messages. Our approach is to use AI as a base, but the creative idea and final tone are always further developed by an expert. There is also a risk of misinterpreting data. AI can identify dependencies, but does not always understand the reasons behind them. Therefore, we combine analysis with business logic and experience – to avoid making decisions based solely on algorithms. Last but not least are the issues of security and data privacy – especially when working with client information. We work with clear internal rules and careful selection of the tools we use.

Therefore, our approach is clear – we use AI as a tool for efficiency and scale, but maintain human control over strategy, creativity, and final decisions. Ultimately, the risk is not in the technology itself, but in how it is used. And that’s where the difference lies.

How is technological evolution changing the role of the digital agency and client expectations?

Technological evolution is not just changing the market – it is sifting it. In the coming years, we will see how a large part of digital agencies will fall away if they do not change their way of working. What was once “expertise” is increasingly automated or accessible to businesses themselves. If your value lies in “running ads” or “making websites,” you are already at risk. The role of the agency is shifting sharply – from executor to thinker and strategist. From a team that works with tools to a partner who understands the business and makes decisions. Because tools are no longer an advantage – they are a given. What is created is easily copied – campaigns, visuals, etc. What cannot be copied is the way of thinking. That’s why creative and strategic thinking becomes critically important. In a sense, there is already a competition between humans and artificial intelligence – but not who will work more, but who will think better. Another key factor is speed. Today, problems are seen almost the moment they arise. This means there is no room for slow processes and “reports after a month.” The expectation is for real-time reaction.

At the same time, businesses face an enormous choice of platforms, tools, and integrations. The new challenge is not access to them, but the ability to choose the right ones and connect them into a working system. This is where agencies need to provide value. At the same time, clients are becoming increasingly knowledgeable. They have access to data, see results, and ask specific questions. With good reason, they expect more – not just execution, but a clear direction and real results. The truth is that the standard is rising for everyone. And those who cannot adapt – will fall away. I think that only those who can think, take responsibility, and turn technology into real business growth will remain.

What are the goals and ideas that drive Power Brand in the coming years?

One of our main focuses going forward will be the automation of processes in managing online stores and marketing teams. Another key element is the model of working with clients. We are increasingly discussing partnerships based on results, not monthly fees. This means going much deeper into managing businesses – not just as a marketing partner, but as part of the business model itself. This is a greater responsibility, but also a natural evolution – when you have confidence in what you do, you start to stand behind your results. At the same time, we are looking beyond Bulgaria. We are considering steps towards the European market, where we see an opportunity to apply this working model and enhance it.