Creativity as a key competence in advertising industry: Knowledge management and creative potential stimulation

The study purpose is to investigate the development of creativity in the process of knowledge management in the advertising industry. The novelty of the research is in the study of creativity and social intelligence management as key competencies of this industry. The study is motivated by the high need for continuous improvement in the quality of training of employees in the advertising industry. The respondents group for the online study was formed by simple randomisation from representatives of the advertising industry in the Russian Federation (42 people) and China (45 people). The training methodology consisted of several online exercises in the form of situational tasks aimed at stimulating creativity as well as the development of communicative, image qualities and social intelligence. Statistical analysis was performed using STATISTICA 13.3 software (StatSoft Inc.). To compare quantitative data in the group of respondents before and after the training, a paired Student’s t-test was used to test the null hypothesis about the absence of statistically significant differences in the results of tests of creativity and other significant variables for pre- and post-test after applying the training methodology. The null hypothesis was rejected. The research has shown the possibilities of stimulation of creative potential and development of active thinking, its fluency and flexibility by means of training sessions.