AI in Corporate Brand Design: Enhancing Visual Identity and Sensory Engagement to Influence Consumer Behaviour

In today’s competitive market, creating a distinctive and memorable brand is more important than ever. Advances in artificial intelligence (AI) are transforming corporate brand design, enabling companies to create personalised, dynamic visual identities that resonate with consumers on a sensory level.

This project aims to explore how AI can be integrated into corporate brand design to enhance visual identity and sensory engagement, ultimately influencing consumer perception, behaviour, and loyalty.

The research will investigate how AI-driven branding strategies can create impactful visual identities, focusing on the following key areas:

1. AI in visual identity development: Explore how AI can be used to design adaptive logos, colour schemes, and brand imagery that respond to consumer preferences and cultural contexts. The student will analyse how AI-driven design tools can produce cohesive and consistent brand visuals that maintain brand recognition while adapting to various consumer touchpoints.
2. Personalised sensory branding: Examine the role of AI in sensory branding, such as tailoring visual, auditory, and even olfactory brand elements to enhance the consumer experience. This includes studying how AI-driven tools can create personalised and memorable sensory experiences that deepen consumer-brand connections.
3. Influencing consumer behaviour through AI-enhanced brand design: Investigate how AI-driven visual identity elements influence consumer behaviour and purchasing decisions. The student will look at factors such as emotional response to brand visuals, brand loyalty, and the impact of adaptive brand designs on consumer engagement.
4. Dynamic brand engagement across platforms: Assess how AI can help brands create seamless, visually appealing, and consistent identities across digital and physical platforms. This includes exploring the role of AI in generating real-time, personalised brand visuals on websites, apps, and social media to maintain cohesive brand perception.
5. AI and brand authenticity: Consider the ethical implications and consumer perceptions of AI-driven branding, particularly around authenticity and transparency. This area will explore consumer attitudes toward AI-generated brand elements and how they influence trust and loyalty.

Research approach

The student will employ a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods, including case studies of brands using AI-driven design, consumer surveys on sensory branding, and interviews with branding professionals. Experimental studies may also be conducted to measure consumer responses to AI-generated visuals and sensory experiences, analysing factors such as engagement, brand recall, and purchasing intent.

Expected background

Candidates should have a background in branding, design, or marketing, with knowledge of AI applications in creative fields being advantageous. An understanding of consumer behaviour theory, sensory marketing, and visual identity will also support the project’s objectives. Analytical skills for interpreting data from consumer studies will be essential. 

How to apply

If you are interested in applying for the above PhD topic please follow the steps below:

1. Contact the supervisor by email or phone to discuss your interest and find out if you would be suitable. Supervisor details can be found on this topic page. The supervisor will guide you in developing the topic-specific research proposal, which will form part of your application.
2. Click on the 'Apply here' button on this page and you will be taken to the relevant PhD course page, where you can apply using an online application.
3. Complete the online application indicating your selected supervisor and include the research proposal for the topic you have selected.

Good luck!

This is a self funded topic

Brunel offers a number of funding options to research students that help cover the cost of their tuition fees, contribute to living expenses or both. See more information here: https://www.brunel.ac.uk/research/Research-degrees/Research-degree-funding. The UK Government is also offering Doctoral Student Loans for eligible students, and there is some funding available through the Research Councils. Many of our international students benefit from funding provided by their governments or employers. Brunel alumni enjoy tuition fee discounts of 15%.

Meet the Supervisor(s)

Pantea Foroudi - Pantea Foroudi (PhD, SFHEA, MSc (Honours), MA, BA (Honours)) is the business manager and solution architect at Foroudi Consultancy and is a member of the Marketing and Branding Department, Brunel Business School, London. Pantea has been working in the field of design, branding, and marketing since 1996, and she has experience as a creative innovator and practical problem-solver in visual identity, graphic design, and branding in different sectors. Her primary research interest has focused on consumer behaviour from a multidisciplinary approach based on two research streams: (i) Artificial Intelligence (AI), (ii) corporate brand design/visual and identity, and (iii) sustainable development goals (SDGs). Pantea has been published widely in international academic journals, such as the British Journal of Management, Journal of Business Research, European Journal of Marketing, International Journal of Hospitality Management, and others. She is the associate/senior editor of the International Journal of Hospitality Management, Journal of Business Research, International Journal of Hospitality Management, International Journal of Management Reviews, International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, and European Journal of International Management (EJIM), among others.

Related Research Group(s)

Marketing and Corporate Brand Management - Our research-active faculty are engaged in cutting-edge applied scholarship across a broad spectrum of marketing areas.

Marketing and Corporate Brand Management - copy - Our research-active faculty are engaged in cutting-edge applied scholarship across a broad spectrum of marketing areas.