Denna studie fokuserar på att se till hur företagen resonerar i samband med val av produkter och brand extensions specifikt och hur konsumenterna ser på företagets agerande i det här sammanhanget, med avseende på produkterna. Vi utgår här ifrån problemformuleringen; hur väl överensstämmer företagets avsikt med en brand extension med kundernas syn på denna? Studien bygger på insamling av kvalitativa data genom intervjuer med företags beslutsfattare samt med fokusgrupper av konsumenter. Vi tillämpar här ett hermeneutiskt perspektiv och har inslag av både induktion och deduktion i vår ansats. Den teoretiska referensramen utgörs av teorier inom dels aspekter såsom vad ett varumärke och en vision innebär men framför allt vilka fördelar och nackdelar respektive möjligheter och begränsningar som kan påverka varför företaget vill göra en brand extension.

Inspired by the current debate over the effectiveness of Public Relations (PR), the authors of the following thesis have sought to analyze how PR and advertising differ in terms of how they affect consumers. The subject of the thesis was chosen due to the lacking knowledge of how PR shapes consumer attitudes and intentions. The authors wish to upset the institutionalized myths which dominate in the PR-business. One example of such a myth is that the effectiveness of PR can be measured by the number of press releases an activity produces and that PR?s superiority over advertising is due to its higher trustworthiness.

»Does it have to be so green?« is a visual communication project focused on packaging design. I attempted to challenge the clichés of graphic design for organic products and designed a packaging concept for a fictional food brand. The project had a special objec¬tive which was to explore ways to use the package as carrier for in¬formation about the enviromental impact of the packaging itself.The process included research about packaging design and its ef¬fect on the consumer, an investigation of the Swedish market for organic foods, creating and defining a brand, and designing a cohe¬rent packaging concept for a product line which communicates the brand?s values and appeals to the intended target group.The project resulted in prototypes for a muesli package, tea car¬ton and honey jar, as well as a manual that explains the application of the graphic program..

The aim of the study was to describe lone mothers? experience of the contact with the Child Health Centre (CHC). The definition of CHC in the study was the Child Health Centre?s daily activities, the child health nurse and the parent groups. The study had a descriptive design and eleven lone mothers from parent forums on the internet participated.

AbstractBackground: Becoming a parent to a child in need of Neonatal Intensive Care can be a traumatic experience. During a time when the parents may need support, guidance and a sense of control ? the family might need to relocate to a hospital away from home if the child needs highly specialized medical care at a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Aim: The aim of this study is to investigate the parents? experience of having to change neonatal care unit.

AbstractBackground: Becoming a parent to a child in need of Neonatal Intensive Care can be a traumatic experience. During a time when the parents may need support, guidance and a sense of control ? the family might need to relocate to a hospital away from home if the child needs highly specialized medical care at a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Aim: The aim of this study is to investigate the parents? experience of having to change neonatal care unit.

Products and services have for a long time competed with their brands. For some time now, cities have begun to compete with each other to attract visitors and other stakeholders to come to their town. It is important that the citizens feel as they are a part of the message that the city sends out in its communication.Cities are today working actively with their brands, much like regular companies, in order to create the profile and image in order to be competitive against other cities and places. Cities and places are part of a dynamic process which includes both positive and negative events. These events might have an impact on the brands, and therefore it is a necessity to be able to react on these events to make the most of positive things and deal with the negative in a way that minimizes the effects on the brand.Citybranding as a research field is quite new.

Through semi-structured interviews with 8 school photographers and 10 parents,this study attempted to clarify what photographers and parents of children(aged 1?5) in preschool think of photography business in the current situationprovides retouching children?s school photographs and what they considers tobe acceptable. The result shows that companies do not offer photo retouchingfrequent, but performs this service at the direct request of the customer. Themajority of parents agreed that dirt and food was accepted to be removed fromthe photograph, and that this does not affect the child's self image. The photographersbelieve that one should be very careful when it comes to children andretouching, and that the debate is important..

Syftet med uppsatsen är att jämföra, undersöka, identifiera och urskilja de eventuella korrelationsmönster som uppkommer när brand value för ett antal globala företag står som beroende variabel i förhållande till en uppsättning utvalda nyckeltal. Arbetet kommer att utgå från en kvantitativ metod med en deduktiv ansats. Genom multipla och enkla linjära regressionsanalyser kommer korrelationen för de undersökta företagens X-variabler EBIDTA, EBIT, marknadsföringskostnad, nettoresultat, aktievärde och EPS att mätas gentemot den valda Y-variabeln brand value.Resultatet visar på att de variabler som överlag haft högst korrelation gentemot brand value är de som på olika sätt visar på företagens intjäningskapacitet. Verksamheter inom data- och internetbranschen har haft högst korrelationsvärden i studien. Främst visade dock regressionsanalyserna skillnader på individuell nivå.

AbstractTitle: Strategic Communication within franchising, a case study of GallerixNumber of pages: 60 (65 with enclosures)Author: Charlotta Babington ThorszeliusCourse: Media and Communication DPeriod: Spring 2008University: Division of Media and Communication, Department of Information Science, Uppsala University, SwedenPurpose/Aim: To find out, by doing a case study, how communication between the two parties in a franchising relationship works, and how communication can strengthen the concept and brand. By analysing the communication, identify strengths and weaknesses and make suggestions for improvement.Material/Method: Qualitative method by using interviewsMain results: The understanding of the concept and the relationship between franchiser and franchisees are vital for the success of the franchising chain. The main internal communication channel today is the Intranet, and more personal contacts and meetings are requested. The yearly meetings are appreciated by the franchisees, but the content of the meetings are of varied quality. The chains value words, which are important for how the brand is perceived by the customer, are slightly different from how the franchiser and the franchisees sees them.

This paper discusses the issue of trade dress imitation in the grocery sector. Our study has its starting point in the conflict that may arise between a brand owner and an imitator following an imitator?s marketing actions. In this study we look at the Market Court?s precedents in which this question has been addressed.

Earlier studies and research on the subject of perception and social media during the working process resulted in a change of the problem. At first the focus of the study was to examine how social media affects the perception of a brand although later on the problem had to be developed to instead examine if social media reflects the perception of a brand. The purpose of this study is to figure out if social media reflects consumer?s perception of a brand. This will contribute to company?s knowledge on how important social media is in their branding and will give pointers on how many resources that is necessary to spend on branding in social media.

Syfte: Syftet med uppsatsen är att genom empirisk undersökning besvara frågan vilken mätbar effekt sponsring har på varumärkets värde, Brand Equity. Genom att besvara den frågan är också syftet att utveckla en modell som visar vilka faktorer samt vilka delar i varumärket som påverkas av sponsring.Metod: Vi har valt att genomföra detta arbete genom att använda fallstudier. Dessa har vi genomfört med hjälp av kvalitativa intervjuer med representanter för Gevalia, Läkerol och Länsförsäkringar Gävleborg, vilka samtliga sponsrar Brynäs. Vi har bearbetat intervjuerna för att sedan analysera dem mot vår teoretiska referensram. Vi har valt att dela upp analyserna efter huvudområden som rör sponsring och varumärke.Resultat & slutsats: Vi har utvecklat en modell som visar sponsringens effekter på Brand Equity, men dessa är dock inga tydliga mätbara effekter då vi inte kunnat uttyda några genom studien.

AbstractEvidence based research has shown that organized parent support programmes have a goodeffect in strengthening the role of the parent and preventing problems during growth. Thisin turn has a great significance for Public Health.Komet is one of the evidence based programmes used in Sweden, based on Americanprogrammes and adapted to Swedish conditions.This qualitative study consists of interviews with six children between six and nine yearswith behaviour problems, whose parents have taken part in the Komet programme.With Grounded Theory as research approach the children?s experiences of the programmeand relations within the family have been looked into and analysed.The result of this study suggests that a space for growth of their own is a common need ofthe children, and that this can be achieved by giving them the opportunity to function in afamily environment where they are seen and understood.The Komet programme contributed to this by giving the family tools to strengthen relationswithin the family, create calm and make the children more visible.The self image of the children in this study had improved which gave them more room togrow in a strengthened family situation. This in turn improved conditions for good feelings,and sense of well being, of importance for child development and health..

The thesis strives to answer the question whether there are any differences between how young customers, in comparison with older, are affected by brands when buying different products. The purpose is to get a clearer idea about the brands' importance in the future and in that way also to give guidance to companies about how to best market themselves and there products.To answer the question, an experiment was conducted with 480 respondents taking a survey where they had to rate a product after reading a short text about it. Some of the texts stated that a specific brand was behind the product while some said the product was produced by an unknown brand.The result of the study was that young people showed a greater propensity of rating products with a brand higher than products without brands, in comparison with the older respondents. This gives reason to believe that brands progressively will become an even more important tool for marketers and an unmatched asset for companies in the future..