Written by Lyudmila Chicherova
In a world oversaturated with scrollable content, generic campaigns, and AI-generated noise, Anastasiia Khmelnitskaia is leading a creative rebellion. A globally awarded marketing strategist and content creator with over 4 million followers jury member for top-tier festivals like Brand Film Awards and NYFA, Anastasiia doesn’t just follow trends — she sets them.
From UGC activations in Turkey that turned street cats into viral icons, to scaling brand awareness through culturally immersive campaigns in India, her work lives at the intersection of empathy, data, and daring. And it’s not going unnoticed — her campaigns have helped win awards and brought brands into the cultural spotlight of new markets.
Creator first, strategist always
Anastasiia's journey began with a passion for storytelling and connection, which she cultivated at St. Petersburg State University of Film and Television. Her early content in beauty and lifestyle struck a chord, leading her to develop a distinctive "edu-tainment" format. By testing product claims through visual, honest experiments, she quickly earned the trust of a skeptical online audience. Her short-form videos, particularly on TikTok (@stasya.pro) and YouTube (@STASYA1PRO and @StasyaHops), helped shape content trends and attracted attention from global brands.
Her approach did not go unnoticed. Anastasiia was selected for TikTok’s Talent Program, joined YouTube's US Creator Community, and even saw her content featured on billboards in New York's Times Square. These milestones cemented her role as an international voice in creator-driven marketing.
Anastasiia is a trusted voice in the marketing industry. She serves as a judge for major industry awards, including the Brand Film Awards, Silver Mercury, PHNX Awards, and NYFA competitions. She is the only non-UK/EU expert on the Brand Film Awards panel and holds senior memberships with the E-Commerce & Digital Marketing Association and the Guild of Marketers.
Corporate Impact and C-Suite Strategy
While many creators stay in their niche, Anastasiia translated her creator insights into high-impact corporate strategy. At Karuna, working with a leading FinTech brand, she led a series of strategic overhauls that doubled brand awareness and achieved a 20% increase in organic traffic share. Her team restructured workflows, optimized creative processes, and executed campaigns that earned international awards including "Best Trading Platform Global 2023" and "Most Trusted Platform - Global 2023."
As Content Marketing Director at Sorry,Guys Creative Agency, she has brought this expertise to campaigns for clients like Henkel and Honor. Notably, she led the award-winning "Dubai, Always" campaign, which elevated Dubai’s digital presence on a global scale.
Global UGC Breakthrough
One of her most notable campaigns was a User-Generated Content (UGC) initiative for the Indian market, executed on local platforms Josh and Moj. The launch was timed with the Holi festival and featured hyper-local influencers, a catchy branded track, and a custom AR mask that made content creation easy and fun. The results: over 750 million impressions, market dominance in its segment, and a 1.5x reduction in customer acquisition costs.
The success of that campaign led to Anastasiia being invited to the professional conference by TikTok for Business in Cyprus, where she presented another campaign that achieved over 31% growth in brand awareness in Turkey. That campaign was a broad-reaching, game-changing 360-degree activation for a FinTech brand, featuring a core TikTok activation and a high-impact collaboration with one of Turkey's top-tier singers. The campaign's centerpiece was a UGC challenge designed to go viral across local platforms. Anastasiia and her team crafted every element with precision to maximize cultural relevance, resonance, and performance. Her experience in localizing content without losing authenticity has become a blueprint for effective cross-border marketing.
Good as a Strategy: Purpose-Driven Marketing
Another standout initiative in Turkey was a socially conscious campaign created for the same FinTech client. Anastasiia and her team developed a unique charitable project in response to devastating wildfires in the region. The centerpiece was a charity basketball game, where leading sports and lifestyle influencers competed to plant trees—with ten trees donated for every basket scored. In total, the initiative funded the planting of 1,400 trees. The campaign also invited fans to donate by voting for their favorite players, with all proceeds going to the trusted local foundation Ahbap. The project garnered over 20 million impressions and helped transform the brand's image from a digital finance platform to a socially invested community leader.
A Strategic Mind from the Start
Her work at IEEE CTSocTV and BTS further highlights her ability to merge creativity and business logic. She transformed technical content into engaging videos, boosting membership and expanding audience reach by over 1,000 followers. Even in niche markets, she proved that content can drive measurable outcomes.
Looking Ahead: Trends and Recommendations
With AI-generated content on the rise, and consumer trust at an all-time low, Anastasiia believes that the next frontier is deeper authenticity. She advises brands to simplify their messaging, invest in micro- and nano-influencer collaborations, and remain agile in a world where attention spans are shrinking.
Her core belief?
"Obsess over where your audience actually spends their time and show up there with real value," she says. "Make content that solves problems, tells your story, and creates genuine dialogue. That’s how you stop chasing trends and start setting them."
Anastasiia Khmelnitskaia isn’t just following digital trends—she’s shaping them.
