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.

In this paper, we examine the attitudes of 16- to 19-year olds towards stealth Viral marketing in the form of videos posted on websites such as Youtube. Apart from their general attitudes towards the phenomenon, we were also concerned with their views on the ethics involved in this marketing method and how this affects their view on the companies behind the advertising. To accomplish this, we administered a survey to a sample chosen by convenience. Using the Persuasion Knowledge Model and prior research on the subject, we then analyzed the gathered data and reached the conclusion that the respondents in our sample were mainly positive towards stealth Viral marketing in this particular form, that they generally did not consider it unethical and that even though most considered the companies to be responsible for such videos, teenagers were not likely to take negative actions against them if they found out that a video that they had seen was in fact a stealth viral video..

Viral marketing is a marketing tool that is becoming more common in the marketing industry. As people spend more time on the internet via their smartphones, tablets and computers marketers try to find new ways to reach out and connect with consumers. Succeeding with a viral spread is not easy; it's several factors that are important. Viral marketing encourages consumers to recommend and talk about product-related information with each other. So, what should a viral campaign or message contain in order to create this interest among us consumers? There are few empirical studies done in this subject which makes this kind of uncharted territory.

The purpose of this thesis is to clarify the connection between word-of-mouth and viral marketing, to identify properties of and strategic ways to implement Viral marketing and to examine how a company can influence the customers? perception of the brand in social media.This purpose served to answer our research question: How can companies deliberately create Viral marketing?To answer this question we based our study on a qualitative method where we conducted eight interviews with different people, all with experience in our research field. We focused on our respondents? own opinions and were more interested in their personal experiences rather than the market in general.In our last chapter our analysis clearly demonstrates that companies can deliberately create viral marketing. This is possible if companies create material that appeal to and that triggers the costumer to share.

The increased use of social media in recent years has attracted the attention of different kinds of nonprofit organisations. The purpose of this study is to identify a foundation for viral strategies for nonprofit organisations as well as to understand the current interactivity between the organisation and its followers in social media. Following that we have chosen the research question: In what ways can nonprofit organisations develop Viral marketing in social media? The study has a qualitative research methodology with empirical findings as base. We have throughout the research process strived for an inductive nature in the study though there are deductive elements.

AbstractPurposeThe purpose of this thesis is to examine the Swedish students? habits regarding videos on Youtube and create an understanding towards what makes them viral. The purpose is also to state how companies should make use of visble and hidden Viral marketing to get their message out to the customers.MethodThe thesis uses both a qualitative and a quantitative method. At first there was a qualitative focus group with 6 Swedish students. The focus group generated valuable information which later was used to create surveys.

Bakgrund: I massmedia har det på senare tid börjat uppmärksammas ett nytt fenomen inom internetbaserad marknadsföring som kallas för viral marknadsföring. Det har dock inte gjorts några studier om vad begreppet egentligen innebär. Syfte: Att ge en innebörd åt begreppet viral marknadsföring och att undersöka de faktorer som kan påverka möjligheten att kunna utnyttja viral marknadsföring. Avgränsningar: I denna studie har vi avgränsat oss genom att säga att teorierna kring viral marknadsföring endast går att applicera på Internet. I studien behandlas endast konsumentrelaterade produkter.

Social media provides, as many points out, new possibilities for marketing. Marketing in social media requires a two way communication, rather than the traditional marketing where the communication model is typically sender ? receiver.To create a marketing campaign that is suitable for a two way communication model has its difficulties and risks as well as its opportunities. Opportunities in the sense that the campaign can become a viral, a Word of mouth and create a Buzz, which will reach potential customers, to a bigger quantity for lower costs, with a message that will make a different impact from the types of commercial messages we are used to. Risks in the sense that the message, if not properly aimed and phrased, can be turned overnight into something that humiliates the company and possibly harm its brand.The difficulties in creating such a campaign is to create something that will catch people?s attention, discuss and forward it, while at the same time avoid getting hurt.We aim to describe the internet from a cultural context, and from that point of view explore the types of misunderstandings which often seem to happen when a corporate message is created and sent out in social media, how to avoid putting the image of a company in danger when doing this, and examine if there is ways to know how the message will be received.

Vårt uppsats undersöker hur en betalning kopplad till viral marknadsföring skulle påverka ungdomars attityd gentemot en sådan kampanj. Vi har utgått ifrån en kvalitativ metod iform av fokusgrupper och semistrukturerade intervjuer. Den största fokusen ligger på fokusgrupperna..

Purpose/Aim: The purpose of this study was to investigate future marketing channels from the perspective of professional marketers.Material/Method: The study is based upon interviews with six professional marketers.Main results: Traditional marketing is not being put aside but needs to be combined with new methods. There are several new and exciting ways to gain attention from the audience, all depending on the purpose of the campaign. Mobile technology is considered upcoming and target group defining is a key issue..

Vårt uppsats undersöker hur en betalning kopplad till viral marknadsföring skulle påverka ungdomars attityd gentemot en sådan kampanj. Vi har utgått ifrån en kvalitativ metod iform av fokusgrupper och semistrukturerade intervjuer. Den största fokusen ligger på fokusgrupperna..

This essay has a purpose of looking at Swedish independent labels in the music industry and how they communicate with their market through social networks on the internet. There have not been much research about this in the past and we hope to contribute with knowledge to the area. In mind we had the changing music industry, an evolution of the internet and Viral marketing communication.To answer our research question we decided to conduct three interviews with people who worked at independent labels and had market communication as their area ofresponsibility. The three independent labels in our study were based in Sweden, except for one that is based in London, England as well as Stockholm, Sweden. We selected the independent labels based on their tendency to work with marketing communication in the social networks on the internet.

Title: Social Media ? And customer interaction in smaller firmsSeminar date: 2011-06-10Course: Information Logistics, D-level.Authors: Marie Stenhammar and Ulrika CarlssonAdvisor: Jaime CamposKey words: Social Media, Web 2.0, Co-creation, Viral marketing, Word of Mouth, smaller firmsPurpose: This paper aims to describe the relevance of social media to smaller firms, the challenges and opportunities they face and what strategies they use, in the interaction with their customers.Methodology: The study is qualitative in nature and has an abductive approach. The empirical material consists of in-depth interviews with chosen companies and Internet observations.Theoretical perspectives: Social Media, Web 2.0, Co-creation, Viral marketing, Word of MouthEmpirical foundation: The study takes its empirical base from in-depth interviews with representatives from the small companies and internet observations connected to these.Conclusions: Smaller companies have great interest in social media. They preferably use Facebook, blogs, YouTube and Twitter. Their strategy is mainly to be very active and update their social media regularly.

The purpose of this study has been to examine a few Swedish advertisment producers opinions on the subject of viral advertising and especially the ethical aspects of hidden viral advertising. The specified purpose of this paper is to:To clarify the underlying reasons for the use of viral advertising.To clarify the advertising producers ethical views on hidden viral advertising.The essay is based on a qualitive research metod of an abductive nature where the empirical data is derived from interviews with three advertisment producers. Through a stratified selection method we contacted agencies that in one way or another uses digital solutions as an advertisment method. All interviews were conducted via the digital chat room Skype, one of the interviews were conducted with both picture and sound and the other two with audio-only.The following points are the essential conclusions of our study:Hidden viral advertising is seen as a rare promotional method in Sweden today, however, the viral-spread effect is more commonly used.The economic factors together with the spreading capacity of the viral advertising is contributing to one of the biggest reasons behind the use of viral advertising. In addition to these, viral advertising is seen as an effective way to stand out from traditional advertising.Viral advertising where the sender is hidden or unclear is always seen as unethical.

I dagens samhälle syns reklambudskap överallt men allt färre tar emot dessa budskap. För att försöka komma under den så kallade reklamgarden har fokus inom marknadsföring på senare tid skiftats mot innehållet i budskapen. Denna typ av marknadsföring kallas content marketing och det finns idag begränsad forskning inom området. Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur och varför reklambranschen påverkas och eventuellt förändras i och med content marketing som marknadsföringsmetod. Detta undersöks genom intervjuer med fyra personer som jobbar på contentbyråer.