On June 9, 2021 the fifth module of the Business Academy for Starting Entrepreneurs in Troyan was held. The lecture was dedicated to the topic “Marketing and Advertising”, and the participants were introduced to marketing, its principles and driving forces by Gergana Ivanova, managing partner in the advertising agency “The Smarts Group” and a member of the Management Board of the Council of Women in Business in Bulgaria.

The training passed with the following program:

• Build my brand

• Marketing plan

• How to advertise my product or service?

• Digital tools

• Marketing campaign

Marketing is a key tool to increase sales and is necessary for any business, regardless of its size and scope. The course covered the basic principles of marketing, namely:

• 4 “P” of the marketing mix

• Building a marketing strategy and marketing plan

• Communication strategy – analyzing the audience and crafting of messages

• Selection of channels for communication and implementation

During the training there were practical examples putting marketing theory into practice. The participants went through practical tasks and worked in four groups to determine the marketing mix, which will be useful to them in building their business projects.

Module 6 of the BASE program will take place on June 16, 2021 with the topic “Prices and pricing” and lecturer will be Alexander Grozdanov, creator of Dextrophobia Rooms.

About the lecturer:

Gergana Ivanova is the founder and partner of the communication group “The Smarts”, which includes the creative agency “The Smarts”, media agency “IQMedia”, PR agency “Paragraph 42” and the production studio “Shoot!”. She has over 20 years of experience in the Bulgarian communication industry. In 2008, together with his colleague Rado Bimbalov, they founded “The Smarts”, an independent creative agency, which today is among the market leaders. Among the clients of the group are a number of large Bulgarian and foreign advertisers and their brands. “The Smarts” gratuitously supports a number of causes in three main areas – the protection of disadvantaged children, the fight against smoking and the development of art in our country. In 2017, “The Smarts” officially launched the “Internship”, a training and inspiration program in the field of communications. The agency has been repeatedly awarded for advertising effectiveness at the Effie Bulgaria competition, has won three EPICA awards from the international competition EPICA AWARDS, as well as awards from the national advertising festival FARA. Gergana Ivanova is a member of the MB of the “Council of Women in Business in Bulgaria” and of the MB of Bulgarian Public Relations Association. He is a graduate of the English Language High School in Burgas and the Faculty of History of Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”. She consolidated his managerial experience in the Executive Management Program at BEIED (2006-2007). In 2017-2018 she completed the Executive Transition Program of ESMT Berlin.