Co-creating Visual Brand Coherence at Wärtsilä : A Service Design Approach to Visual Identity and Expression
L'Esperance, Corey (2025)
2025
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2025112529579
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2025112529579
Tiivistelmä
Branded photo and video content shapes audience perceptions. In large legacy organizations, visual branding can become fragmented, reactive, and trend-driven without strategic guidance. This thesis addresses these problems in visual production and explains how a clear strategy improves consistency across channels. The study is commissioned by Wärtsilä.
The purpose is to examine how service-design methods align branded photo/video with long-term strategy by treating visual identity as a co-created service. Beneficiaries include internal brand and marketing teams and external creative partners. The objectives are to align photo/video with long-term strategy; identify improvement areas; establish shared tools and consistent commissioning and production; and strengthen co-creation across stakeholder groups. The theoretical framework integrates service design, brand identity, signaling theory, service-dominant logic, co-design/design thinking, and creative direction.
A service-design approach with the Double Diamond model is used as the development method. It includes interviews, persona maps, and pain-point matrices. Three workshop tools were used: stakeholder mapping, a signaling-theory session, and a Brand Identity Prism workshop. Results show a visual–strategic disconnect and operational gaps: strategy-to-production handoffs produce generic visuals; thin briefs, late involvement, and unclear governance undermine emotional intent.
Prototypes were developed to address identified gaps: a Narrative-to-Visual Playbook and a Proactive Content Commissioning Strategy that translate strategy into actionable visual cues and improve cross-team handoffs. The findings highlight the importance of internal alignment, shared frameworks, and strategic storytelling in visual branding. Practical tools and a signaling framework are proposed to embed service design mindsets into branding workflows. This study contributes to understanding how intentional co-creation and visual storytelling can strengthen brand integrity and build emotionally resonant brand experiences in complex organizational environments.
The purpose is to examine how service-design methods align branded photo/video with long-term strategy by treating visual identity as a co-created service. Beneficiaries include internal brand and marketing teams and external creative partners. The objectives are to align photo/video with long-term strategy; identify improvement areas; establish shared tools and consistent commissioning and production; and strengthen co-creation across stakeholder groups. The theoretical framework integrates service design, brand identity, signaling theory, service-dominant logic, co-design/design thinking, and creative direction.
A service-design approach with the Double Diamond model is used as the development method. It includes interviews, persona maps, and pain-point matrices. Three workshop tools were used: stakeholder mapping, a signaling-theory session, and a Brand Identity Prism workshop. Results show a visual–strategic disconnect and operational gaps: strategy-to-production handoffs produce generic visuals; thin briefs, late involvement, and unclear governance undermine emotional intent.
Prototypes were developed to address identified gaps: a Narrative-to-Visual Playbook and a Proactive Content Commissioning Strategy that translate strategy into actionable visual cues and improve cross-team handoffs. The findings highlight the importance of internal alignment, shared frameworks, and strategic storytelling in visual branding. Practical tools and a signaling framework are proposed to embed service design mindsets into branding workflows. This study contributes to understanding how intentional co-creation and visual storytelling can strengthen brand integrity and build emotionally resonant brand experiences in complex organizational environments.