Kuudes

What Kuudes does

Kuudes (legal entity Kuudes Kerros Helsinki Oy) is a privately-held Nordic strategy and brand design agency founded in 2004 in Helsinki, Finland. Originally operating as Kuudes Kerros, the firm shortened its name to Kuudes in January 2017 to coincide with the opening of a Stockholm studio, repositioning itself from a Finnish agency to a Nordiclly-active player with offices at Kalevankatu 4 in Helsinki and Stadsgården 6 in Stockholm. The agency operates across brand strategy, brand identity and design, service design, digital experience design, retail and interior design, packaging, and customer insight research, combining these disciplines across the full engagement lifecycle from insight to execution.

Core proprietary assets include the Informed Consumer research methodology — an annual large-scale Nordic consumer study combining ethnography, fieldwork, quantitative research, and future-scenario methods, run in Finland since 2008 and extended to Sweden in 2017 — and the Kuudes Concept Lab, a rapid co-creation service-design tool for crystallising and testing strategic concepts. Service delivery is multidisciplinary across branding, strategy, digital, and retail design, supported by senior leadership including founder/CEO Jari Danielsson and Stockholm Managing Director Annika Mesimäki (formerly of Unilever, Fiskars, Arla, and L'Oréal).

Kuudes generates revenue through project-based professional services engagements under quote-driven pricing, with no subscription, seat, or software product lines. The firm targets Nordic enterprises and large organizations (Anora, LähiTapiola, Fortum, Kesko, VR Group, Aalto University, City of Helsinki), consumer-goods brands (Arla, Fazer, 3 Friends, Bara Båba, Picnic, Pasta Box), government and public-sector bodies, purpose-driven and cultural organisations (Helsinki Pride, Ylva, Amos Rex), and retail and commercial real-estate developers. Go-to-market is relationship-driven and senior-led, leveraging the website, Behance, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook as portfolio-driven marketing channels, with named partners handling enterprise conversations directly.

Name

Kuudes

Legal name

Kuudes Kerros Helsinki Oy

Website

https://kuudes.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2004

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Kuudes is a Nordic strategy and brand design agency combining proprietary consumer insight research with strategic consulting and award-winning design across brand, service, digital, and retail disciplines for enterprise, public-sector, and consumer-goods clients in Finland and Sweden.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Brand Design & Strategy Services

NAICS

Graphic Design Services (54143), Interior Design Services (54141)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

Integrated Full-Service Creative Agencies (MPAAAAAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Environmental & Experiential Brand Design (Retail/Exhibit/Signage) (MPAAAEAG)

Keywords

• Brand strategy consulting
• Brand identity design
• Service design
• Consumer insight research
• Retail design services

Headquarters

HQ city

Helsinki

HQ country

Finland

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Professional Services (Brand Strategy & Design Consulting): Kuudes generates revenue through project-based consulting engagements for brand strategy, brand identity, service design, digital design, and retail/interior design. Services are delivered across the Nordic region to enterprise and mid-market clients. Pricing is quote-based and project-scoped, with engagements typically spanning months and covering multiple disciplines (insight, strategy, design, implementation).

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Kuudes is a Nordic strategy and brand design agency that delivers project-based consulting engagements covering brand strategy, brand identity and visual design, service design, digital experience design, retail and interior design, and consumer insight research. The agency combines proprietary consumer research (Informed Consumer) and a rapid co-creation tool (Kuudes Concept Lab) with multidisciplinary design execution to help enterprises and large organisations build differentiated brands and customer experiences across the Nordics.

Product overview

Kuudes is a Nordic strategy and brand design agency offering professional services rather than a software product platform. The agency provides a comprehensive suite of design and strategy services organized around two main disciplines: Branding & Design and Strategy & Innovation. These services encompass visual identity development, packaging design, brand strategy, digital experience design, service design, and retail design. The agency also conducts consumer research through their proprietary Informed Consumer methodology. All services are delivered through client engagements and project-based work rather than a software-as-a-service or product-based model.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Branding & Design Award-winning brand design services covering visual identity, packaging design, and brand communication materials. Delivered as project engagements to Nordic enterprises and large organisations across categories such as FMCG, energy, transportation, and cultural institutions.
• Strategy & Innovation
• Digital Experience Design
• Service Design
• Retail Design
• Customer Insight & Research Consumer research methodology combining ethnography, fieldwork, quantitative research, and future scenario methods to produce Nordic consumer insight and segmentation. Conducted annually since 2008 in Finland and since 2017 in Sweden; outputs feed brand strategy and portfolio engagements for enterprise clients.

Quantifiable outcome

• Arla Lempi sales grew to 7x the previous brand level after Kuudes redesign
• +7 more outcomes

Named customers18 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• TCS (Tata Consultancy Services)coreTechnology or IntegrationKuudes partnered with multinational IT service company TCS as a design partner within LähiTapiola's Digital Competence Center, collaborating with all business divisions to develop new digital services for B2C and B2B customers. The partnership enabled Kuudes to support LähiTapiola's digital transformation at scale.
• Oy Karelian Trains Ltd (owned by VR Group and Russian Railways)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerKuudes worked with Oy Karelian Trains Ltd — a joint venture between VR Group and Russian Railways — on the Allegro train refurbishment and brand experience redesign. The partnership involved co-development of interior design, passenger experience, and visual identity for the Helsinki–St. Petersburg high-speed rail service.
• Lahdelma & Mahlamäki ArchitectsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLahdelma & Mahlamäki Architects were the lead architects for the physical renovation of Easton Helsinki, working alongside Kuudes which provided the commercial concept, brand identity, and omnichannel service design. Architecture and design were developed in close collaboration.
• Kristo Vedenoja (Photographer)minorOthersKristo Vedenoja was the photographer for the Ylva brand identity project, providing photography that plays with different urban perspectives for the student union-owned conglomerate's new visual identity.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights8 records

Direct peers

• Pentagram: The most established multi-partner, multi-disciplinary design and brand identity consultancy in the world. Highly comparable to Kuudes because both operate as integrated creative agencies working on visual identity, brand strategy and packaging for large enterprises across multiple offices.
• Wolff Olins: Global brand consultancy working on brand strategy, identity and experience design for major corporates (including much-publicised city and corporate rebrands). Closely comparable to Kuudes' integrated brand strategy + identity positioning.
• Bold Scandinavia: Nordic branding and design agency with offices in Norway, Denmark and Sweden. Directly comparable to Kuudes as a Scandinavian multi-disciplinary branding and design competitor chasing the same Nordic enterprise accounts.
• Landor & Fitch: Global branding and design network active across brand strategy, identity and experience. Comparable to Kuudes as a multi-office branding consultancy serving enterprise clients on insight-led, design-led engagements.
• Siegel+Gale: Global brand strategy and design consultancy operating on insight-led 'simple' brand engagements. Direct peer to Kuudes because it competes for the same brand strategy + identity mandates from mid-market and enterprise clients.
• Snask: Stockholm-based creative agency known for identity, packaging and brand experience work. Comparable as a Stockholm-headquartered creative competitor overlapping with Kuudes' Swedish client base and design-led positioning.
• Heydays: Oslo-based design and innovation consultancy with a similar service mix spanning brand, service and digital design. Comparable to Kuudes as a small Nordic design competitor operating at the intersection of insight, brand and service design.
• SEK Design: Stockholm-based brand and design agency whose former employees now hold senior roles at Kuudes (e.g., Strategy Director Sofia Uitto). Direct peer for Nordic brand strategy and identity mandates and a natural hiring/competitive reference point.

Broad incumbents

• frog (frog design): Global design and strategy firm (part of Capgemini Engineering) operating across brand, product, service and experience design. Comparable as a broad incumbent competitor on enterprise digital and service design briefs that overlap with Kuudes' digital and service design practices.
• IDEO: Global design and innovation consultancy with a much wider service footprint (innovation, service design, digital, strategy). Comparable as a broad incumbent that overlaps with Kuudes on service design, digital design and innovation work for large organisations.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/kuudesdesign
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/kuudes
• Instagraminstagram.com/kuudes
• Xx.com/kuudesdesign

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Kuudes