Advertisers of today are facing a great challenge in a landscape where it becomes even more difficult to break through the clutter and convince consumers to buy their products. In order to succeed, they need to come up with new ways of communicating with their customers. The purpose of this paper is to investigate if micro-blogging could be considered an effective media choice in order to enhance the perception of brand associations and traditional communication effects. The subject is of interest as brands are putting increasingly more resources into this communication channel. However, at the current date the marketing effects of micro-blogging is unexplored in academic research.

Purpose/aim: The purpose of this thesis is to examine if, and in that case how, the municipality of Umeå worked strategically with its communication during 2014 when Umeå was chosen as ?European Capital of Culture?. The research is mainly focused on the outlines of their communication plan, main goals, what  communication strategies the municipality has chosen to and their choice of media channels.Material/method: Two methods are used for this research; qualitative interviews with four employees within the communication team during Umeå2014 and a text analysis of three formal documents which provide the framework of communication policies and media strategies during Umeå2014.Results: The results clearly indicate a well structured, strategic planning outlined in the formal documents. The four people intreviewed all had a good knowledge of the policies and strategies in the documents, they also described their work in accordance with these..

Customer service has traditionally consisted of telephone, mail, and later on chat.But the entry of social media has changed the way companies exercise customerservice. Companies should ask themselves whether the same type of traditionalcommunication may or may not function in a new channel and thus whether itcan be applied to social media.The purpose of this study is to describe the companies? use of customer servicein social media and how the communication differentiates from thecommunication in traditional customer service, and also to define the effect onthe customers? relationship to the company. To reach our conclusions we havecombined theoretical references with qualitative interviews.By our analysis, we found that the communication in social media expandsthe possibilities. By entering an unfamiliar channel, customer service has hadto adapt themselves and their language.

AbstractTitle: Manipulation or relation ? the language as an instrument for influence (relation eller manipulation ? om språket som medel för påverkan)Number of pages: 42Author: Matilde JohanssonTutor: Peder Hård af SegerstadCourse: Media and communication studies CPeriod: Autumn term 2007University: Division of Media and communication, Department of information science, Uppsala universityPurpose/Aim: The aim of this essay is to gain a deeper understanding of how communication consultants work with communication. The purpose is to sort out whether or not the consultants have the same view in their strategic work with influence as they have when they build relations to customers. In the end the essay will answer if the perspective is the same between their strategic work, their relations and the research definition of how to obtain a genuine dialogue and a good relationship.Material/Method: This is a qualitative research. I have interviewed five communication consultants from three different corporations.

The purpose of this study was to investigate if preferences for high- and low context communication differed significantly between individuals from individualistic and collectivistic cultures, living in a multicultural environment. A quantitative survey was used as method and the survey was answered by 150 students at Jönköping University and Uppsala University. Two self-assessment scales, obtained from previous studies were used to measure the degree of the two cultural dimensions and communication styles. Two multiple regression analyzes were performed to investigate the connection between collectivist cultures preference for high context communication and individualistic cultures preference for low context communication, that has been found in previous studies. Two ANOVAs were also performed to investigate differences in communication style depending on sex and length of stay in Sweden.

The purpose with this study is to enlighten and discuss the information and communication which is spreading through social media, about the tourist operators and also to examine the operators view on social media. Social media can be described as a tool to use word of mouth on the Internet. To make this possible, five actors involved in tourism were picked on Gotland and interviewed for a content analysis. The results showed that the use of social media as an information channel before the consumer buys a trip, has increased. The study also shows that the selected actors have a lot of work to do, before they understand how to use the social media in their best interest for further developing their companies.

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..

AbstractTitle: A changing climate? A study on the changes of the communicativeclimate. Klimat i förändring? En studie om det kommunikativaklimatets förändring.Author: Anne BjörckAim: The aim of this essay is to study changes in the area of the communicative climate and link that to Karl Weicks thoughts on communication and change. Karl Weick is famous for his contribution to organizational theories and he is still very well used around the world and that is the main reason to why his theory is served as a base in this essay.Method: The essay has a theoretical base with elements of qualitative explorative research method.

Social media today is a current topic, it has developed fast and continues to spread in a fast moving pace. Recent trends states that social media becomes more integrated into peoples personal lives. This essay deals with the subject area social media, focusing on the channel Instagram. The topic is chosen because of it´s popularity in today's digital communications landscape, and also keeping in mind that there is a great lack of previous studies on the subject. The purpose of this paper is to provide insights into how companies should handle images on the social media channel Instagram by testing two different strategies against each other.

AbstractTitle: Företag X? the hidden power? a study of internal communication, culture and internal branding. Företaget X has in real life a different name.Number of pages: 42 (49 with enclosures)Author: Charlotta Babington ThorszeliusCourse: Media and communication studies CPeriod: Autumn 2007University: Uppsala University, SwedenPurpose/Aim: To analyze the internal communication, culture and internal branding of an insurance company and how they can improve these company tools can be improved.Material/Method: qualitative method using interviews, analysis of internal communication policies and observations.Main results: The policy documents do not match how the internal communication works in every day life. There is a structure that is working and the information flows through the different levels. The vision and goals are difficult to understand as they are written in a complicated way.

Accounting firms operate in environments with high competition for graduates and students today expect employers to be present on Facebook and the like. We aim to describe whether two major accounting firms use social media in their graduate recruitment. We chose to do case studies of Grant Thornton and Ernst & Young and how they use social media channels aimed towards graduates. Through a through study of how the two companies communicated through various social media, we concluded that Grant Thornton was significantly better than their larger competitor at social media use. Both companies use Facebook as their main communication channel.

Facebook´s importance has grown significantly regarding crisis communication. A deficiency concerning what types of companies has been investigated earlier and how their crisis communication should be carried out on Facebook, has been identified. The aim of this study is to examine the crisis communication of a smaller company on Facebook and explore how this communication has been received by the company?s recipients. We apply an explorative approach on to a case study in order to answer the aim.

Title: Nätdejting för olika åldrar (Netdating for different ages)Author: Henri NekmouchePurpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate what influence the medium Internethas had on building up relationships between people who have dated online, and tocompare two different age groups.Method/Material: In this study the author has conducted personal interviews with sixpeople who all have experienced Internet dating, and had their first contact with agirlfriend/boyfriend online. The questions asked were designed to help answering thepurpose of the study.Main results: This study shows that in general there is a positive view of Internet datingamong both groups. They appreciate the opportunities it provides, as they get to knowthe other persons personality first. Even so, it should be noted that they still tend to be abit ashamed to talk about Internet dating, and some don?t want to be associated with it.The communication pattern tend to be pretty much the same among both groups.

Title: Digital christmas greetings - the viral communicators, public sphere and democracy(Digitala julhälsningar - de virala kommuniktörerna, offentligheten och demokratin)Number of pages: 41Author : Anna-Sara TorgnysdotterTutor: Ylva EkströmCourse : Media and communication studies DPeriod: Spring, semester 2010University: Devision of Media and Communications, Department of Information Science,Uppsala UniversityPurpose: The purpose of this study is to see if social media could be an arena for the usersto increase democracy and the public sphere. Studying the role and possibilitys of the individual.Is there a space for any one to act and debate?Method: A qualitative analysis based on interviews with ten users of social media - viralcommunicators. They were discussing public and private sphere, democracy, norms andbehavior in social media.Theoretical platform: The theoretical basis has its roots in sociology: Ervin Goffman´sidea on self-presentation and social interaction, Manuel Castels´ theories of the networksociety and Jürgen Habermas idea of the public spehere.Main result: The viral communicators are ambivalent in their use of socialmedia. They are users because they want to be but also because they feel forced to - professionalor private.

This is a study about how realtors or estate agents market their services in social media. Social media is an upcoming channel in marketing and is becoming more important every day. The user generated content on internet is a new way of communication where companies don?t have to be considered as soulless, if companies use it correctly. This study investigates estate agents efforts to market their services in these channels and how they do it.