The thesis work focuses on marketing and its point of departure centers on mapping the utilization of social media as a form of marketing. The choice of this thesis subject has been deemed by the authors as one of particular interest due to the current popularity of social media in the Internet connected society and their use as marketing tools. Specifically, this thesis sets out to explore how companies exploit social media tools in marketing and how their use affects retail operations and customer relations in an effective and creative way.The report concentrates on qualitative data collection, the interview answers of four respondents, of which, two are considered experts within the field of social media. The choice of suitable respondents was strategic with the goal of covering as large a portion of the social media field as possible; one social media educator that works with companies and one who assists companies with social media applications. The remaining two respondents work in marketing and communications and employ, as part of their job, social media tools such as Facebook and Twitter.

Many perceive a boom in nostalgia and what is retro, especially within the marketing discipline. This thesis studies how nostalgia functions in the advertising context and aims to shed light on which effects there are from nostalgia evoking communication, what connections there are with other important factors as well as aspires to develop the understanding of the underlying psychological aspects and the emotional bonds to events (as nostalgia evoking stimuli in the thesis), which pave the ground for nostalgic emotions. Point of origin has been classical measures of communication effects and models of connections and causality and to these important factors have been added. Results show clear connections and correlations between nostalgia and positive communication effects, even with control for other factors that may interfere. However, the results show that some factors have moderating effects that should be important to take into consideration, namely how well the brand and the event in the ad are perceived to fit the advertising context.

The purpose of my study is to question the model service marketing triangle and propose an alternative ways of looking at service marketing. The study is based on a deep, qualitative research. In the research of the material an abductive approach has been used. The primary information sources are interviews with project workers, which are being analyzed together with the theoretical background in part argumentations in the course of the thesis. In the last chapter they are unified.

The purpose of this thesis is to shine some light on how B2C companies in Sweden carry out a viral marketing campaign. Through case studies of two comparably sized companies, Arla and If Skadeförsäkringar, this was examined. This study shows that viral marketing is still a new subject for both marketers and researchers. It is hard to find conclusive methods for how to carry out such a marketing campaign successfully leaving companies feeling that they first have to go through a trial and error process. This is evident in this case study, where viral marketing is degraded to a tool for generating awareness rather than producing actual results as part of a holistic marketing plan and where those results are too uncertain to rely on.

This qualitative research is a contribution to the ongoing debate among marketing researchers regarding if there is a dominant paradigm and viewpoint of marketing and which one is the most appropriate. In this study current views of marketing are identified and then compared against the older Goods-Dominant Logic of Marketing and Vargos? and Luschs? alternative Service-Dominant Logic of Marketing. The trends that have been observed are situated in the framework of Thomas S. Kuhn?s philosophy of science.

This paper is about our collective fascination for the social medium Instagram, and our lively discussions about why certain images may be more so-called "Liked" than others and why some individuals becomes more successfull on Instagram than others. Thanks to our own daily use of Instagram, the idea was born to study and look at how some individuals build their brand through this social medium. With social media new ways to construct and communicate images have appeared. Artists, celebrities and companies use media as a channel for communication and marketing. In our study, we focus on the use of Instagram for marketing purposes by Rachel Brathen, one of the worlds most well-known yogainstructors.

The aim of this thesis is to investigate how libraries market themselves in social media and why they do it. I have studied a certain public library?s process of introducing social media into its marketing mix, the preparations for this process and the effects of these marketing methods.The theoretical framework for this thesis is based on relationship marketing, a theory which focuses on relationships, networks and interaction. My main method has been semi-structured interviews with a librarian at the relevant library, with the manager of the library and with the head of the municipality?s department of communication.The results of my studies show that marketing on social media is a positive and important thing for libraries.

Sensory marketingAn effective instrument for libraries? We are living in a world of constant communication and information and because of that, marketing in general seem to have no distinctive effect. Consumers become overwhelmed by all the advertising messages. Due to this, it is clear that organizations like libraries must create a deeper and more personal connection to increase user satisfaction and foster the use of services, among both users and potential users. One way to achieve this is to make use of all the emotional elements of a product or a service.

In this study, we have examined how Swedish tour operators are using social media as part of their marketing plan. Our purpose was to find out which strategies they use in the area of social marketing. The companies that were examined were Ving, Fritidsresor and Jambo tours, and the social network site that the research focused on was Facebook. The examination was conducted with a content analysis of the companies' Facebook pages and qualitative, structured interviews with the companies. The aim was to compare the various tour operators Facebook pages in order to get a broader overview of the companies marketing strategies.

The purpose of this essay is to examine how the two Swedish municipalities, Sigtuna and Nyköping, work with marketing. The study has primarily focused on how these two municipalities worked, consciously or non-consciously, with lifestyle marketing and place marketing. The research-questions that this essay wants to answer are;What is lifestyle marketing and place marketing?Do municipalities use these types of marketing, and who is this marketing directed to?How and why does municipalities use lifestyle marketing and place marketing?To answer these questions, phone interviews were conducted with several important employees within the two municipalities. The results of this study show that the different municipalities have both been using lifestyle marketing, but on different levels, in Sigtuna, it was a strategic choice, whereas in Nyköping, it evolved by itself and was not a conscious choice.

AbstractTitle: Change of communication strategy when the compulsory nation membership falls (Byte av kommunikationsstrategi när nationsobligatoriet faller)Number of pages: 51 (58 including enclosures)Author: Elin RantakokkoTutor: Peder Hård af SegerstadCourse: Media and Communication Studies 30 hpPeriod: Spring of 2008University: Division of Media and Communication, Department of Information Science, Uppsala UniversityPurpose/Aim: This essay will result in some guidelines how the nations in Uppsala can act if the law according the compulsory membership in the student union and the student nations change. This essay focuses on how the nations can communicate to keep their members.Material/method: I have done seven interviews with persons that work in three different nations and the head of the Curators convent (the collaboration center between the nations), I have read articles from the largest newspapers and web pages. I have also read the Commission of Inquiry's recommendation according abolishing the law regarding the compulsory nation and student union membership. I have created two scenarios based on the material, according to Peter Schwartz advises.Main results: These scenarios show that the student nations have to become better at communicating with their new members and their already existing members.Keywords: Scenario planning, marketing, communication, student union, student nation, market segmentation, strategic communication, profile, organizations change..

Social media has become an important marketing and communication tool worldwide, mostly through the largest social platforms Facebook and Twitter. With two-way communication via Internet companies has gotten the opportunity to interact and communicate directly with their customers. Facebook has been the focus point through the study because it has shown to be the most efficient and frequently used platform for communication. Our study aimed to confirm how communication via social media actually looks like. To be able to reach the best results, we have conducted the study from a phenomenological approach, which means; usage of qualitative semi-structured interviews to reflect the respondents experience on the phenomenon social media as a communication tool. Social media has shown to be a great way of communicating externally for companies who are willing to spend time engaging in the platform.

The purpose of this thesis is to examine Skogsstyrelsens event Skogens Dag as an information channel by looking at information use and information behaviour during the communication process of the event. This is done by examining the aims of Skogsstyrelsens information distribution during the event in relation to its outcomes. The evaluation is focused on long term effects on the target group and it is restricted to Skogens Dag in Borås 2005. The question this thesis intends to answer is: How does the event Skogens Dag function as a tool for information distribution? The theoretical background gives an account of the communication process as well as the relevant aspects of marketing, social marketing, campaigns and public relations, as these are communication attempts that can use an event as a medium.

The purpose with this research is to examine how the green marketing in retail trade can be developed in order to promote the eco-labeled products closer to the consumer.The method for the survey includes interviews with managers of a few retailers and their customers in the industrial sector. The purpose with the interviews was to produce the retailer and the customer?s perspective of products with eco-label on.The research is limited to the region of Västra Götaland.The results from this research indicate that there is a lack of communication between the retailer and the consumer. The consumers don?t think that the product is available.

Today's consumers are demanding more and more from companies and are no longer as easy to im-press as they used to be. It is now the consumers that hold an increasing amount of power over com-panies and not the other way around. This change in consumer behaviour has caused an identity crisis for traditional advertising, and companies are now searching for new ways of reaching their target audience. The purpose of this combined qualitative and quantitative case study is to examine possible risks and possibilities that a retailing company face when communicating through Facebook. Data has been collected through in-depth interviews with company representatives combined with a quantitative study of the company's Facebook followers in order to answer the questions of (1) which possibilities and risks a retailing company face through the use of a Facebook fanpage and (2) if there is a differ-ence in the attitude and behaviour of active respectively passive followers that may have been caused by a retailing company's Marketing communication on Facebook.