Salt Bank Marketing Chief: AI Answers Are Becoming a Third Discovery Front

What Salt Bank's Marketing Chief Says About AI and Customer Discovery

In a late-April 2026 interview with Forbes Romania, Salt Bank's marketing and communications director Viorel Ruse argued that artificial intelligence is creating a third major channel for brand discovery, alongside Google and social media. His central point: when consumers ask ChatGPT, Gemini or similar assistants for recommendations, the answer they receive often becomes their shortlist. "If they don't mention you, you don't exist in the conversation," he said.

Ruse described digital as the foundation of the bank's promotion strategy, but said brands are also built through offline and traditional channels because trust and consistency do not come from one place. Looking at channels, he said paid search remains the clearest source of return because users are already searching with intent. Customer relationship management and the existing client base are the most stable growth channel, while influencer marketing has matured toward relevance rather than audience size.

Ruse said organic social media now has limited impact without paid amplification, and positioned TikTok as strong for awareness rather than classic conversion. On agency relationships, he said expectations have risen: agencies should supply strategy, data integration, creativity and real consultancy, not just media buying, and those with strong technology and AI tools gain speed in testing and optimization.

Asked about Romanian consumers under government austerity measures, Ruse said customers are more careful and calculative, wanting stability and relevant offers rather than generic promotions. He said contextual campaigns anchored in current events worked best, citing a response to higher petrol prices that offered something back for each litre of fuel. The broader lesson, he said, is not to build rigid strategies: leave room for the unpredictable and keep campaigns modular.

Why AI Answers, CRM and Contextual Campaigns Are Reshaping Romanian Marketing

AI Answers Are Becoming a Filter for Purchase Decisions

Ruse's argument goes beyond a prediction about search. If AI assistants increasingly produce the shortlist, then brands must optimize not only for human users or search engines but for being present in machine-generated responses. This is a strategic shift: visibility moves from rankings and feeds to a recommendation layer. The statement is an executive's view rather than a proven market result, but it matches a broader shift in how consumers discover products.

Where Salt Bank Sees Real Marketing ROI

Ruse's channel ranking is specific: paid search first because intent is already present, followed by CRM and the existing customer base as the most controllable and stable growth lever. Influencer marketing, in his view, is about clear relevant communities rather than reach. TikTok is awareness, not conversion. This suggests a budget logic in which performance channels and owned data are favored over broad brand building, and it explains why organic social is now treated as needing paid support.

Consumer Caution Is Reshaping Campaign Design

The Romanian market context is central. Ruse describes customers making more calculated decisions and wanting a sense that a brand is close to them. The fuel-price campaign example is relevant because it shows marketing that responds to a specific cost-of-living pressure rather than a polished brand message. The implication is that relevance in moments of stress may outperform volume or frequency.

What Marketers and Agencies Should Prioritize After Ruse's Playbook

For Marketing Teams

• Treat AI assistants as a discovery channel: build content and structured brand information that can appear in ChatGPT or Gemini answers, not only in Google or social feeds.
• Follow the ROI order Ruse describes: protect paid search budget for high-intent moments and treat CRM and existing customers as a primary growth channel rather than chasing only new traffic.
• Design modular, context-sensitive campaigns that can react to real consumer pressures, as Salt Bank did with the fuel-price response, instead of locking in rigid annual plans.
• Use TikTok for awareness but do not measure it primarily as a direct conversion channel, based on Ruse's account.
• Strengthen owned audiences and direct communication channels to reduce dependence on platform algorithms and rented reach.

For Agency Partners

• Move beyond media buying in pitches: bring strategy, data integration, creative input and consultancy tied to the client's specific moment.
• Show practical AI and technology capability that speeds up testing and optimization, because Ruse says the tool matters less than how it is used.