När målet helgar mediet
En kvalitativ fallstudie av dold viral PR
Public RelationsAsymmetrical communicationsSymmetrical communicationsSocial mediaViral PRCovert PRPublic RelationsViral spridningSociala medierAsymmetrisk kommunikationSymmetrisk kommunikationDold PR
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. Furthermore the campaigns are described as having gained an extensive viral transmission, which exceeded the expectations of the interviewees. Nevertheless none of the practitioners think they will do a similar campaign again, it seems that they are aware of the risk of covert PR reducing the organisation?s reputation. The analysis also show a contradiction between the interviewees? position and the presented theory, which might be caused by a perspective on PR as a way of spreading information rather than creating relationships.