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..

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.

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.

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.

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..

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..

Surveys show that consumers tend to avoid traditional marketing channels, leading the practitioners to use earned media channels through public relations (PR). This has also led to the use of covert PR. To understand the use of this communications method, the purpose of this thesis is to study campaigns, which have gained transmission in social media, by investigating how practitioners of three different campaigns motivate the choice to use covert PR.The study is based on a hermeneutic methodology and has an abductive approach. It is carried out by semi-structured elite interviews with six contributors of three different campaigns, using covert PR. The primary data consists of the empery of the interviews, while the secondary data consists of a theoretical framework of excellence in public relations, the PR practice and Viral messages.The result of the study indicates the point of view that covert PR has given the campaigns a wider reach.

Denna uppsats tar upp om hjälporganisationer skulle kunna använda sig utav Viral video sommarknadsföringsmetod i sitt arbete att samla in pengar samt sprida sitt budskap. En fallstudiegjordes även på videoklippet ?Kony 2012? från organisationen Invisible Children som är ettaktuellt exempel på en hjälporganisations användning av Viral video. Klippet ?Kony 2012? hardessutom blivit det snabbast sprida klippet någonsin (Wasserman 2012).

Viral marknadsföring har på senare tid blivit allt mer uppmärksammat då många har insett fördelar med att kommunicera sitt varumärke via sociala medier. Idag kan ett budskap spridas oerhört snabbt via olika kommunikationskanaler och därmed skapa en "snackis", vilket naturligtvis är ett önskvärt läge för företagen. Det innebär dock inte att denna spridning är lätt att uppnå. För att ett innehåll ska bli Viralt måste det helt enkelt förtjänas. Termen "Viral marknadsföring" och därmed dess användning kan upplevas som tvetydig då några anser att det är möjligt att i förväg utforma en Viral kampanj medan andra menar att det aldrig i förväg går att veta om någonting kommer att bli Viralt eller ej.Idag flyter även vår fysiska yta samman med den digitala vilket skapar en dynamisk miljö som företag är verksamma inom och som vidare leder till att det krävs ett nytt förhållningssätt för att kunna möta denna dynamik.

Syftet med denna uppsats är att utforska hur svenska företag går tillväga vid implementeringen av Viral marknadsföring och hur detta är kopplat till företagets varumärkesutveckling. Vi ämnar finna hur den processen ser ut samt hur varumärket kopplas till kampanjen. Uppsatsen har utgått från en deduktiv ansats och studien genomfördes med en kvalitativ undersökning. Intervjuer genomfördes via telefon med fyra svenska företag inom olika branscher. De olika respondenterna hade alla erfarenhet från Viral marknadsföring.

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.