Situated Artificial Intelligence for Brand Identity Creation: Grounding Generative Content in Digital Branding

Sammanfattning

This thesis explores how organizations employ generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) in the creation of brand identity within digital advertising contexts, with a particular focus on the concept of grounding as part of the Situated AI framework. Grounding refers to the alignment of AI generated outputs with the authentic values, vision, and cultural context of a brand. While GenAI offers unprecedented capabilities for producing creative and scalable content, the quality and strategic value of such outputs depend heavily on the extent to which they are anchored in brand-specific knowledge and organizational objectives. A qualitative research design was adopted, drawing on semi-structured interviews with selected creative agencies. These agencies varied in their adoption of GenAI, from experimental integration in early creative stages to more structured and brand aligned uses. The interviews examined how practitioners design, refine, and re-prompt AI systems to achieve grounded outcomes, and how organizational processes, brand guidelines, and human oversight influence the role of GenAI in branding. Findings indicate that effective grounding requires a combination of technical prompt engineering skills, iterative design processes, and deep familiarity with brand identity. Agencies that embedded GenAI within collaborative workflows and maintained continuous human input were more likely to produce outputs that reinforced brand authenticity and strategic positioning, whereas superficial or unstructured use of GenAI often led to outputs that lacked contextual fit or emotional resonance. The study contributes to both theory and practice by demonstrating how grounding operates as a critical mechanism for aligning GenAI outputs with brand identity, extending the Situated AI framework into the domain of creative brand work. It also offers practical insights for organizations seeking to integrate GenAI in ways that enhance creativity without compromising brand coherence.