Owen Fernandez, B.Tech; MBA

As a lecturer in the BEIED Executive Management Program, what is your impression of the participants?

I have always enjoyed taking courses for BEIED. Participants are willing to learn and always challenge the instructor. That’s better for me. This is not just another certification exercise, but a great platform for sharing knowledge in a creative environment. I look forward to coming back again.

What do you think today is the most important skill for a business leader?

The most important skill today for a business leader is the ability to realize the potential. To influence people to achieve visible and sustainable results.

In modern management – what is the most noticeable change or trend?

The big change is “proper leadership,” which basically means to influence everyone involved in the company to develop and deliver more. People are always able to do more and even surprise, but we need support, direction and appreciation, leadership with an example.

If you have to give only one advice to the people in the classroom, what will it be?

Restrictions are mental and self-imposed. What we can create in our minds and believe in it, we can do that.

Owen Fernandez was born in Bombay, India. He graduated high school and later engineered with honors one of the most prestigious technical institutes. He adds three more diplomas in Management, Import and Export, Marketing and MBA degree from City University, Seattle. He has 5 scholarships for high academic achievement and has traveled to more than 40 countries and has a work experience at senior management level in Africa, Asia and Europe. Fernandes has a Doctor of Business Administration from Comenius University in Slovakia.He also has a Six Sigma black belt. Owen is also a professional psychometric analyst and career coach and mentor. He is also trained in Pearson Edexcel techniques. In addition, he is active in MBA at City University in Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria and Romania, as well as in Slovakia Manager Academy (SMA) at the University of Gloucestershire – MBA and BEIED Bulgaria. Owen believes in the power of the next generation and advocates youth leadership. He was the mentor of many of his students in initial start-ups and career development.

Olaf Gyukema, Partner and Creative Director – TriplePro

What does modern marketing mean for you?

Guerilla thinking, thinking outside the framework.

Modern marketer – what qualities should he possess?

Analytical mind, strategic thinking and not be tempted by short-term brand victories. Side skills are important today. It is no longer true that if you are good at marketing, then you are a professional. Marketers today are partly strategists, partly copywriters, coders, and data analysts.

From a practical point of view – do you have a message to the new in the industry?

Never stop learning new methods and practices. Marketing is a profession that is changing every 3 months because of the technological evolution we are witnessing today. Hunger for knowledge is key to the profession. Also – something I learned long ago – Do not be interested in marketing, be interested in people.

What made you love the profession?

In the early years of college I had a course in consumer behavior and I was impressed by the variety of tactics and practices that persuaded the client to prefer product A instead of B. I thought that creating dreams and making people believe in them is a cause that  is worthy.

Radoslav Bimbalov, Managing Partner and Creative Director at The Smarts.

What is the essence of modern marketing?

Above all, it must be able to respond to the rapidly changing attitudes, interests and moods of consumers. To catch the right pulse and react immediately. It just needs to be reactive.

What qualities should the contemporary marketer possess?

Trampled paths and tried-and-tested marketing patterns are becoming more and more. They give peace and sometimes protect against failures, but inevitably lead to the loss of instincts. Today’s marketer should not allow his intuition to sleep – it is necessary to challenge her, even to stress her. And look for solutions outside the comfort zone.

What is your message to young people in the industry?

I always say the same to the youngsters who take the path I chose for myself years ago: Your job is to put yourself in people`s heads. So do not stop coming out of yourself.

Your biggest professional success?

I succeed every day – sometimes more, sometimes less, but every day. If I have to point out something specific – what we started with Gergana Ivanova – a small and elaborate agency named The Smarts, who from the first moment decided to be independent, whatever it costs. We work for some of the biggest clients in Bulgaria, we have a huge team and ambitions, yet we are completely independent – politically and financially. And this is our greatest pride.

Useful mistake?

Errors are smaller than the successes, but the number is probably the same. This parity is important to know where you are and not to forget how hard the earth is. The most painful mistakes for me are related to valuable people who have been part of my team but I was not able to hold  for one reason or another. And as it may be mutual, I look for guilt first in me.

Which has made you love this profession?

The feeling that you have influenced some people to make a decision without feeling manipulated by you. And without even having heard of you. It’s great …

Georgi Malchev, Managing Partner, Xplora.bg

What does modern marketing mean for you?

Let’s do it in one sentence: Less crap, talk to me in target users, self targeting, leads, ROI.

What qualities should the contemporary marketer possess?

Above all, flexibility and alertness – to seek, to read, to test, to apply, to improve, to analyze. And objectivity – some things are obviously working, others – they need improvement immediately. The modern marketer will find it difficult to work without a matrix – if he does not work very actively with the other teams – he will remain the one who clicks on the site, hanging out on social networks. Or the one who knows that a lot of money invested in TV advertising leads to a number of sales if there is an active offering of the service or product in the office or store. But … not the guy who along with others has made a truly integrated marketing and integrated sale machine that accelerates and becomes more efficient with any marketing activity.

What is your message to young people in the industry?

Be flexible, read, apply things, seek a specific and measurable result and improvement. And for a year or two they will become very good – imagine Neo in the Matrix. They will very quickly start not just as black martial arts but also “see the matrix”. And yet another message – this is a sector that will grow very fast in the coming years. There will be great demand and the young will choose what to do and where to do. But they will also have to deliver results. It is now possible to achieve growth in times, but this can not last forever. So do not delay!

What creates your love for the profession?

The ability to discover, create, build. And the professionals I meet and work with.

Prof. Dr. Desislava Boshnakova

In modern marketing – what is the most noticeable change or trend?

For me, this is the fact that we no longer work for people but WITH people.

What do you think today is the most important skill for a marketing manager?

The courage to look for new ways of doing their job – in other words, creativity.

If you have to give only one advice to the people in the classroom, what will it be?

Do not stop being yourself.

Ralitsa Andonova – Marketing Manager, Sopharma Trading

You have successfully completed BEIED and Triple Pro – Modern Marketing Management. Who was the most precious lesson?

The most valuable lesson is to realize that the knowledge you have is never enough and you can always learn something new and useful. I thank all the lecturers for the enthusiasm, the valuable ideas and experience with which we were charged during the lectures.

As an experienced marketing manager, what do you think today is the biggest challenge in this field?

The biggest challenge is to be able to successfully complete the projects within the time you have. The factors that you need to consider, analyze and suggest the right solution grow. At the same time, the work of other departments in the company depends on it, and any delay is at risk of failure.

What are the most valuable skills for the contemporary marketer?

Be positive, accept every problem as a challenge and every success as a reward for the efforts.

If you have to give some advice to young marketing managers – what will it be?

Be creative and not afraid to offer your ideas! Always set goals and reach them because the pointless actions lead to a certain failure! And most importantly, not to accept their work as an obligation, but as an opportunity to do what they love!

Galya Titova – Head of Marketing Innovations at SashiDo.io

You have successfully completed Modern Marketing Management. The most precious lesson?

I try not to qualify lessons as more valuable, valuable or less valuable because every lesson is always valuable. Throughout the course I learned a lot of things that I can use in the future and that will leave a lasting trace in my mind. Most valuable was that everything was happening in a very friendly and positive environment that allowed everyone to think and see the material through the look of their own work.

What do you think today is the biggest challenge in marketing?

The biggest challenge in our industry is always to keep up with new technologies, new trends and to be able to achieve the best possible results through them. Our profession requires constant learning and we must always be ready to open our minds to the new and to perceive the new technologies as small children perceive the world around us – with curiosity and positivism.

What are the most valuable skills for the contemporary marketer?

Modern marketer must have a lot of creativity, but at the same time good analytical thinking. But to achieve good results, you need to find a good balance between the two. For me this is the most valuable skill.

If you have to give some advice to young marketing managers – what will it be?

Try to perceive the world around you as young children. Be curious, test, analyze, and learn something new every day. Be brave and persistent, and never let anyone tell you “this cannot happen.”

Tsvetelina Ivanova, Marketing Manager, Spectronic LTD

You have successfully completed Modern Marketing Management. The most precious lesson?

All the lecturers were wonderful, some of them were particularly inspiring, but for me the most valuable lessons were the meetings with the people who take the decisions that I take every day. Sharing personal experiences and contacts is the most valuable in the program.

As an experienced marketing manager, what do you think today is the biggest challenge in this field?

The biggest challenge is to deal with many things at once. In my work, I have to be the decision-maker, a graphic designer, a creative specialist, digital marketing, events planner, have to communicate with business customers, and so on. I always plan my weeks in advance, and so I can fit into everything. I think that this is typical for many of the Marketing Managers in Bulgaria.

What are the most valuable skills for the contemporary marketer?

Most valuable is the ability to change. It is valuable to constantly inform yourself, to learn new things so that you can easily adapt. In an environment that is constantly changing, you cannot afford to remain the same.

If you have to give some advice to young marketing managers – what will it be?

If I have to give advice, it will be the same advice that every day I give to myself – we must strive to do exactly what we love, because in marketing, besides knowledge and experience, we must have passion too. Then things seem to happen successfully .

Christina Ivanova – Marketing, PR and Special Events, Bibendum Ltd

You have successfully completed BEIED and Triple Pro – Modern Marketing Management. Which was the most precious lesson?

The most valuable lesson was the reminder that we should always learn. In the sphere we have chosen or outside, but permanently. Our brain must be “fit”. A valuable lesson for me was also the fact that there are always interesting people you have not met in your career yet. And they enrich you in a surprisingly interesting way.

As an experienced marketing manager, what is the biggest challenge in this field today?

The biggest challenge is not to lose ourselves and the enthusiasm that each of us knows at the start of a new project. Staying in the galaxy of new ideas and not accepting anything from the past as a law. In our profession we have to constantly generate novelties and to do it, we have to keep track of the world, not just the marketing world, but everything else through the right funnel. And this is a serious challenge.

What are the most valuable skills for the contemporary marketer?

The modern marketer must become an orderly child. I do not know if it is possible, but it is important to be curious, observant, learn quickly, have the urge to start without much hesitation, try, be agile and do not despair if we fail (as children do – fall and continue, without recalling the failure). And in this children’s house, we can manage to prioritize, meet deadlines, achieve growth, and have fun.

If you have to give some advice to young marketing managers – what will it be?

You have to learn, each marketer, to combine the best of yourself and your environment at the right time. And never to be satisfied with temporary relaxation, it is harmful to people who are expected to be generators. The word “manager” often gives its owner a calmness, which in most cases hurts him. Let them stay constantly proving to themselves Juniors.

  Maxim Hristov – Sales Area Manager at Kaolin AD

You have successfully completed Modern Marketing Management. The most precious lesson?

Making quality marketing does not require huge resources, but rather skills and creativity.

What is today the biggest challenge in marketing?

To listen to your customers and analyze the environment constantly.

What are the most valuable skills for the contemporary marketer?

Creativity, Human to Human attitude , Professionalism / Specialization

If you have to give some advice to young marketing managers – what will it be?

Listen carefully, discuss, be critical to yourself, and think what could have been better and HOW!