The advantages with product placement in blogs compared to traditional media is shown in earlier empirical findings where consumers found blog posts more credible and informative than a corresponding article in a web paper. It can therefore be argued that the informal structure and personal tonality of the blog reinforces the effects of product placement on brand attitude and intention to buy as the consumer has no persuasion knowledge and does not detect the rewriting of the product as commercial.This paper?s overall aim is to provide concrete implications for how to manage product placement on fashion blogs. The purpose of the essay is therefore to investigate the communicative effects of product placement in fashion blogs as well as to examine if a revelation of commercial interest behind a blog posts about a certain brand effects the consumers? attitude towards the blog and/or brand attitude and intention to buy.

AbstractTitle: External communication and brand strategies in Swedish municipalities? Author: Philip Hagne & Einar Svensson? Tutor: Jessica Gustafsson? Purpose: The aim of this thesis was to study and obtain greater understanding on how Swedish municipalities use external communication and branding strategies to gain and attract more residents. The key questions to be answered in this thesis were: What does the external communication look like in the selected municipalities? Are the selected municipalities trying to establish their own brand? What does the work on creating the brand look like??Method/Material: This thesis is based on material collected trough interviews with people working with external communication in eleven swedish municipalities. The selected municipalities where divided into two groups based on their negative or positive population growth between 2005 and 2012.

The retailing industry has an extremely high density of brands. In order to differentiate its offer, both retailers and suppliers, are constantly forced to come up with new ways to launch their products. A collaborative strategy between two brands is called co-branding, which means that both the private label and the supplier's brand are displayed on the new product packaging. Several studies have shown that a co-branding strategy is successful, but many operators are still reluctant to use co-branding in fear of long-term losses due to potentially damaged business relations. The objective of this study is to explain how the product- and brand related value for customers, retailers and suppliers is affected by co-branding between private labels and national brands.

Lately it has become more common to question the companies? actions in how they affect their surroundings. Today, the expression ?Corporate Social Responsibility? often is mentioned in this connection. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), is a concept whereby companies voluntarily integrate social and environmental concerns in their business operation.In Sweden there is a big difference between different businesses when it comes to their Corporate Social Responsibility.

?CSR and political consumption ? a study of Nike?s and Puma?s CSR-reports?The purpose of this dissertation is to examine if political consumption has influenced multinational corporations to improve their Corporate Social Responsibility reports and policies more, than a company who has not been a target for political consumption.This dissertation is a content analysis of Nike?s and Puma?s first (Nike 2001, Puma 2001) and latest (Nike 2007/09, Puma 2007/08) CSR- reports. Archie Carroll?s model of Corporate Social Responsibility is used as theoretical framework in this study. The model is used to focus on four areas within CSR; economic, legal, ethical and philanthropic.

Aim: The purpose of this study is to examine and analyze how insurance companies work to create value and confidence in their brands and then compare whether consumers perceive brands as companies seek.Method: The study is a gap analysis of both qualitative and quantitative in nature containing both interviews with insurance companies and a survey carried out on consumers. The study has been developed by analytical induction.Data: Consists of interviews with representatives from the insurance companies and survey responses from 99 consumers.Conclusion: From the study it can be concluded that the insurance industry is unique in its kind as a difficulty and complexity is obviously applicable to convey an overall impression to the consumer, which in turn will produce a brand value to the company. Creating a high brand value through good marketing where it maintained a good congruence between firms striving and consumer perception, is according to the scientists complicated because the lack of perceived quality affects the the big picture..

Throughout many years there have been discussions within the European Union (EU) regarding harmonization and improvement of accounting rules for companies with listed shares or other securities. The ambition exists to adopt, the within the union applied accounting standards, to those applied globally. These discussions lead the year 2002 to adoption by the council and parliament of international accounting standards (IFRS). The ordinance meant that all listed European companies have to adopt international accounting standards, accepted for application within the EU, for their consolidated accounts.During July 2003 the Swedish Government Official Reports issued a report (SOU 2003:71) stating, among other things, the differences and oppositions of implementing IFRS on a corporate level in Sweden, since corporate disclosure is regulated in Swedish law by Bokföringslagen (BFL) and Årsredovisningslagen (ÅRL). One of the main obstacles for the full implementation of IFRS is that a company?s annual report underlies the governmental taxation and an implementation of IFRS would affect this balance.

A co-operation is established when a group of people, sharing the same preferences and values, come together in order to satisfy a common need. The co-operative association should be democratic, governed and supervised by its members and open to everyone. The purpose of this article is to, from our ideal type, study similarities and differences regarding the corporate governance of the consumers? and the producers? co-operative movement. The motive behind our choice of alignment is that the mechanisms of corporate governance often are described from the perspective of the joint-stock company, making it valuable and interesting to study these mechanisms from the co-operative point of view.

Undersökningens syfte är att analysera hur portföljbolags Strategiska inriktning och CorporateGovernance-arbete påverkas av ett skifte till Private Equity-ägande. Uppsatsens empiriska material består av intervjuer med anställda i två stora, forskningsintensiva bolag som avnoterats från Stockholmsbörsen genom Private Equity. I undersökningen identifieras hållpunkter för portföljbolagets Strategi och Corporate Governance-arbete, vilka alla på något sätt påverkats av övergången till Private Equity. Det kan konstateras en märkbar förskjutning i portföljbolagets strategiska inriktning till följd av Private Equity-bolagets tydliga ägarstrategi.Vidare medför ägarskiftet förändringar i styrelse och ledning, samtidigt som avståndet mellan ägare-styrelse-ledning reduceras avsevärt..

Syfte: Att identifiera de problem och/eller svårigheter som uppstått efter införandet av IAS 39 och dess krav på att finansiella instrument ska värderas till verkligt värde. Metod: Uppsatsen har genomförts med hjälpa av en induktiv metod. Primärdata har samlats in genom kvalitativa intervjuer. Sekundärdata består av facklitteratur och vetenskapliga artiklar. Teoretiska perspektiv: Teorin om det institutionella tänkandet har använts samt Streek & Schmitters modell.

Title: Crisis communication strategy and brand ? A case study of Swedish Red Crossthrough dialog analysisAuthor: Anneli SaarelaPresented: 01.06.2010Purpose: The study addresses the subjects of crisis communication and organisational brand, in relation to stakeholders and brand reputation. The purpose of this essay is to study the dialog regarding the crisis of remunerations with the Swedish Red Cross and how the organisation responds to the criticism. An identification and analysis of the discourse regarding the brand are also included in the study. Part of the empirical material will also be used in relation to Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT).

Due to the increase of the emission of greenhouse gas and climate changes more and more customers demand environmentally sustainable products. The increased demand of sustainable products from cradle to grave is something that has affected the food sector. Many retailers within the food sector feel that they are less or more forced to be environmentally friendly. Nowadays many retailers have chosen to show customers and stakeholders that they want to ?do good? by publishing annual sustainability reports. The Swedish food market has been one of many markets investing in being environmentally friendly.

The leadership within healthcare is a constantly discussed subject. The discussion today is evolving around the physicians' lack of strive towards becoming managers within healthcare organizations. Furthermore the leadership that the nurse practice when becoming manager is on the other hand not discussed. The purpose of this study is to describe important factors of the leadership the nurse practice upon physicians in a healthcare organization as well as to explain why that is. To fulfill this purpose, we have used a qualitative case study research design including a private Swedish healthcare company.

The study has shown that retailers in the mid-price segment differentiate their brand through developing a strong company identity around the brand. The personality involves store atmosphere, merchandise and advertising. Larger companies have chosen to lay the responsibility on management level, which facilitates on store level. By controlling the strategies on a central level the company can make sure that the stores are steered in the direction that the company wants them to be steered in, and also that they follow the positioning-concept. The company can also devote its efforts to working with its core value, which is service.

Denna uppsats behandlar fenomenet och begreppet Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Begreppet används synonymt med företags samhällsansvar och innebär att företag frivilligt vill medverka till ett bättre samhälle. Utgångspunkten är Carroll och Buchholtz mångciterade modell The Pyramid of Corporate Social Responsibility, som förklarar CSR utifrån fyra ansvar: ekonomiskt-, legalt-, etiskt- och filantropiskt. Fokus ligger på CSR som en del i ett företags marknadsföringsstrategi, med betoning på det ekonomiska-, etiska- och filantropiska ansvaret. Problemformuleringen lyder: Hur ser chefers uppfattningar om Corporate Social Responsibility, som en del i marknadsföringsstrategin, i ett brittiskt respektive svenskt fastighetsbolag ut? Syftet är att ta reda på svaret på problemformuleringen samt att se om det finns likheter och skillnader i de båda studerade företagens chefers uppfattningar om CSR.