Senior Assistant Professor Aleksey Potebnya, Ph.D.
Senior Assistant Professor Aleksey Potebnya, Ph.D., is a faculty member at the Department of Business Administration, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography and a professional qualification as a geography teacher, awarded in 2005. He also holds a master’s degree in Business Administration with a specialization in marketing, and a Ph.D. in Professional Field 3.7. Administration and Management, Doctoral Programme in Business Administration.
Since 2015, he has been a part-time assistant professor; since 2021, a full-time assistant professor; and since 2023, he has held the academic position of senior assistant professor at the Department of Business Administration. In the period 2024–2026, he served as Scientific Secretary of the department. He is fluent in Bulgarian, Russian and English.
He teaches in bachelor’s and master’s programmes at the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, the Faculty of Philosophy, the Faculty of Journalism and Mass Communication, the Faculty of Geology and Geography, the Faculty of Education, and the Department of Sport at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”. His main teaching areas include marketing, digital marketing, consumer behaviour, brand management, advertising, sales, merchandising, gamification and tourism marketing.
Dr. Potebnya has been the administrator of the master’s programme in Digital Marketing since 2022. From the 2024/2025 academic year, the programme was transformed into the first fully distance-learning master’s programme at the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration. It offers a contemporary approach to marketing education in a digital environment by combining theoretical training, practical assignments, project-based work and the application of digital tools.
Dr. Potebnya is also the Director of the master’s programme Gamification in Business, the Public Sector and the Non-Governmental Sector. The programme examines the application of game mechanics, game thinking and gamified approaches in management, education, organisational development, marketing, and the engagement of users, employees and communities.
In the period 2019–2023, Dr. Potebnya was part of the team of TechnoMagicLand Interactive Centre for Science and Technology — the first entirely Bulgarian STEM centre applying hands-on, demonstrational and interactive approaches in non-formal education, including through gamification. The centre plays an important role in promoting science and technology among children and young people.
Teaching Activity
Dr. Aleksey Potebnya participates in the teaching of the following courses:
“Marketing” for bachelor’s programmes — since 2015, jointly with Dr. Mirena Todorova-Ekmechi and Prof. Neviana Krasteva, D.Sc. (Economics); since 2017, with Prof. Neviana Krasteva, D.Sc. (Economics); since 2024, with Prof. Neviana Krasteva, D.Sc. (Economics), Senior Assistant Professor Irena Mladenova, Ph.D., and Assistant Professor Teodor Daskalov.
“Digital Marketing” for bachelor’s programmes — since 2017, jointly with part-time lecturer Krasi Eneva, and since 2019 also with part-time lecturers Georgi Ivanov and Kostadin Pashev.
“Merchandising” for bachelor’s programmes — since 2018, jointly with Prof. Neviana Krasteva, D.Sc. (Economics).
“Personal Selling” for bachelor’s programmes — since 2018, jointly with Prof. Neviana Krasteva, D.Sc. (Economics).
“Fundamentals of Successful Sales and Merchandising” for master’s programmes — since 2018, jointly with Prof. Neviana Krasteva, D.Sc. (Economics).
“Brand Management” for bachelor’s programmes at the Faculty of Journalism and Mass Communication — since 2019, jointly with Associate Professor Raya Kanazireva, Ph.D.
“Marketing and Digital Marketing” for bachelor’s programmes, taught in English — since 2020, jointly with Prof. Neviana Krasteva, D.Sc. (Economics).
“Fundamentals of Successful Sales” for master’s programmes, taught in English — since 2021, jointly with Prof. Neviana Krasteva, D.Sc. (Economics).
“Business Process Gamification Project” for master’s programmes — since 2021.
“Play as a Means of Education and Learning” for master’s programmes — since 2021, jointly with Prof. Tsvetan Davidkov, D.Sc., and Associate Professor Silvia Tsvetanska, Ph.D.; since 2022, jointly with Associate Professor Silvia Tsvetanska, Ph.D.
“Advertising” for bachelor’s programmes — since 2023.
“Introduction to Digital Marketing in Tourism” for bachelor’s programmes at the Faculty of Geology and Geography — since 2024, jointly with Prof. Sonya Mileva, D.Sc. (Economics).
“Marketing of Sports Activities” for the master’s programme Non-Formal Education and Sports Innovation — a joint programme involving the Faculty of Education, the Department of Sport and the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration.
Academic Supervision
Dr. Aleksey Potebnya supervises master’s theses on topics related to his main teaching and research areas. These include marketing and marketing management, digital marketing, artificial intelligence in marketing, gamification, the psychology of consumer behaviour, brand management, advertising, sales, tourism marketing and sports marketing.
His academic supervision is oriented towards combining theoretical grounding, methodological precision and practical applicability. Particular attention is paid to current transformations in the digital environment, consumer behaviour, trust-building, the application of artificial intelligence and the use of game mechanics in educational, organisational and marketing contexts.
Research Interests and Publications
Dr. Potebnya’s research interests are in the fields of marketing management, digital marketing, trust in the digital environment, consumer behaviour, gamification, artificial intelligence in marketing, brand management and innovative approaches to marketing education.
In his publications Digital Marketing: Artificial Intelligence and Consumer Behaviour and Digital Marketing: An Introduction, he examines issues related to digital strategies, consumer behaviour and the transformation of marketing in the digital environment.
His dissertation, Evaluation of Existing Forms of Brand Presence in the Digital Environment and a Proposal for Its Optimisation, was defended in 2023. It focuses on the digital presence of brands, trust in the digital environment and opportunities for optimising communication between organisations and their audiences.
Dr. Potebnya is also a co-author of studies dedicated to gamification and the psychology of consumer behaviour. These works analyse the application of game mechanics in marketing, education and consumer engagement. He participates in academic forums and publications related to the development of gamified electronic resources for marketing education, including through the use of folk tales, literary texts and interactive digital platforms.
Research and Project Activity
Dr. Aleksey Potebnya is actively involved in research and applied projects related to gamification, digital transformation, marketing, education and the information environment.
He is part of the team of the project Gamification in Education for Building an Effective System of Competences in the Context of Industry 5.0, focused on the opportunities offered by gamification for competence development under conditions of digital transformation and new industrial paradigms.
He also participates in the project Gamification in Education and the Workplace under the SUMMIT programme, funded through the Recovery and Resilience Facility. The project studies, develops and applies gamified approaches in educational and organisational environments, with an emphasis on contemporary learning, engagement and competence development.
He is the principal investigator of a project under the procedure for funding research or artistic and creative activity in the fields of science or the arts in which Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” provides training for students and doctoral candidates. The project is entitled Exploring Global and Bulgarian Solutions to Water Stress through Communications and Marketing.
Dr. Potebnya is also part of the team of the interdisciplinary CoDE project — Environment for Countering Disinformation in Bulgaria. The project is aimed at researching and analysing the information space in Bulgaria, with a focus on disinformation, strategic communications and building resilience against information influence. The project involves the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, the Faculty of Philosophy, the GATE Institute at Sofia University, the Institute of Information and Communication Technologies at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, the European Software Institute, and partner organisations from the technology and communication sectors.
Professional Experience
Dr. Potebnya combines his academic work with practical experience in marketing, communications and consulting. He has been a practising marketing specialist and consultant since 2003, including work on projects for Bulgarian and international brands. His professional experience supports his teaching and research, particularly in the areas of digital marketing, brand communications, consumer behaviour, sales and the application of innovative educational approaches.
Contact Information
Office hours:
Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Office 211
Wednesday, 16:00–18:00, by prior appointment
Email: aleksey.potebnia@feb.uni-sofia.bg
Profile: Sofia University Research Activity Database
Researcher ID / Web of Science: A-8196-2019
ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3791-0326