Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Storytelling in business'

The formal requirements of experts are diminishing, thus opening up for the expansion of new experts, who are gaining more influence in society. In contemporary society, all organizations are pressured to consider Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and are therefore dependent on the new experts within the field. However, the research remains underexplored. Building on research on new experts and storytelling, this thesis addresses how CSR-experts within organizations engage in storytelling to legitimize their expertise. A framework of four storytelling themes was made, and a qualitative case study conducted. Six interviews were carried out and documents made by the interviewees studied. The findings demonstrate that the CSR-experts engage in storytelling in line with the storytelling themes, but new findings could also be added to the themes. They engage in future-oriented storytelling, as well as storytelling concerning current problems and solutions, to legitimize the role of expertise today and to sustain it for the future, demonstrating how storytelling is a dynamic process taking place in everyday organizational life. However, to attain legitimacy, the study indicates that storytelling needs to be adjusted to the receiver in a successful manner, otherwise it may instead inhibit the legitimacy that the CSR-experts are trying to create.

Dagens samhälle brukar betecknas som en upplevelseindustri där kundens drömmar, fantasier och upplevelser står i fokus. I flertalet turism- och resetidningar syns reportage där unika koncept ökat för att uppfylla den efterfrågan som råder på upplevelser. Idag krävs något utöver det vanliga för att utmärka sig på marknaden och de senaste tio åren har begreppet storytelling intagit folks medvetande och beskrivs som ett effektivt marknadsföringsverktyg, vilket handlar om att berätta en historia kring sin verksamhet. Då konkurrensen ständigt hårdnar är det viktigt att hitta en speciell inriktning som får folk att komma tillbaka samt prata om verksamheten. Storytelling är en differentieringsstrategi inom marknadsföring som fler och fler verksamheter anammar då de inser hur berättandets kraft kan skapa starka varumärken.

Syftet med denna studie är att beskriva och undersöka begreppet storytelling genom att se hur tre gotländska hotell väljer att arbeta med detta, samt undersöka vilka eventuella effekter storytelling har gett verksamheterna. En kvalitativ utgångspunkt har använts där undersökningen har skett genom semi-strukturerade intervjuer med tre hotell, en verksam storyteller samt marknadschefen på Gotlands turistförening. En omvärldsspaning har genomförts för att urskilja dagens användning av storytelling inom hotellbranschen samt övriga samhället.

Studien kopplar ihop storytellingbegreppet med teorier inom marknadsföring såsom differentiering, varumärkesuppbyggnad, word-of-mouth samt profil-, image- och identitetsskapande. Teorier valdes då storytelling är en differentieringsstrategi, där förhoppningen är att uppnå ett starkt varumärke genom att profil, image och identitet harmoniserar, och en vanlig effekt är word-of-mouth. I analysen ställs sedan teorier mot intervjuunderlag för att få svar på ställd problemfråga där bland annat förtroende och trygghet, storytellingens sanningsgrad och uppkomna effekter diskuteras.

Slutsatsen i denna uppsats visar att storytelling är en effektiv strategi som hotell kan använda när de vill stärka sitt varumärke. När profil, image och identitet harmoniserar i en verksamhet blir varumärket starkt. Positiva effekter som nämns av de responderande hotellen är den nyfikenhet som väcks i kundens medvetande, word-of-mouth samt kundtillströmning. Det är viktigt att berättelsen är trovärdig och sann, och att all hotellpersonal har samma kunskap om berättelserna samt delar samma värderingar. Dock kan sanningen till viss del modifieras för att få historien eller berättelsen mer intressant samt vinkla berättelsen så den blir målgruppsanpassad.

Today’s society is called the experience society where customers’ experiences and dreams are in focus. Companies are finding ways to differentiate themselves in the market and customers are demanding more than just good service. A new marketing strategy has emerged called storytelling. Storytelling is about telling a story about the organization to create an interest in, for example, the history of a hotel. It is important to find a way to get the guests to talk about your hotel and an effect of storytelling could be word-of-mouth.

The purpose of this study is to describe and analyze the word storytelling, how it is used in the hospitality industry as well as how it affects the hotels. The method used is qualitative and semi-structured interviews were conducted. The respondents chosen are three gotlandic hotels, a storyteller and the marketing manager at Gotland’s Tourist association.

The conclusion of the study, through the interviews combined with used theories, shows that storytelling is an effective strategy to use when hotels want to strengthen their brand. When profile, image and identity of a business are harmonized, the brand will be strong if the story is true. Positive aspects mentioned by the respondent hotels when using storytelling as a marketing tool was the curiosity it creates in the brand, word-of-mouth and customer flow. It is also important that the story is true and credible and that everyone working for the hotel has the knowledge of the story and shares the same values.

Summary

This thesis discusses the possibility for PERSONEC to use storytelling as a strategic communicative concept in its marketing to mediate the brand identity of its organisation. In the search for this, we have chosen to describe the concept of brand identity and storytelling as a draft for the construction of the brand.

We have then analysed how storytelling can be applied, and already is, at PERSONEC and also presented some recommendations about how storytelling could be developed by PERSONEC.

In this thesis we investigate how PERSONEC communicates and manages its brand identity through the implementation of storytelling. Our main problem is: How can PERSONEC use storytelling as a concept to communicate its brand identity both internally and externally? This in turn involves two sub questions, namely: What is the brand identity of PERSONEC? And: What is storytelling as a concept and how can it be employed at PERSONEC?

Data collection has been performed using a qualitative method. In order to find out about brand identity and storytelling, primary data has been gathered through interviews with key personnel at PERSONEC. Secondary data consists of results of surveys on public awareness of the PERSONEC image as well as results from customer satisfaction survey on PERSONEC. The findings have been analysed based on diverse theories on brand and storytelling. Our thesis has in the beginning an explorative approach which at the end results in a conclusive description.

Theories, mainly from Aaker (1996) and Kapferer (2003) have been used to investigate the brand identity of PERSONEC. In accordance with their theories, the identity can describe the reality of the organisation and can be a tool to create a unitary illustration of the organisation, to be communicated internally and externally. In our results we have found that PERSONEC is symbolised by knowledge in personnel-, payroll- and financial management in the Nordic region with an experienced and diversified staff.

Based on theoretical and empirical material about storytelling we have found key issues of the notion of storytelling. These involve discussions about the concept of storytelling, its area of application and how stories should be structured and also which aspects are important for this process. We consider storytelling as a concept to structure the communication of an organisation both internally and externally. The stories can act as a bridge between the organisation and the outside world and can also simplify description and communication of complex processes and concepts. In order to differentiate itself PERSONEC should continue to use storytelling to communicate its core values in a more emotional and engaging way.

Stories reveal. Stories motivate. Stories bind individuals into teams. Stories create solutions.

This thesis explores how storytelling, and in particular story fragments, are involved in our everyday practice of solving ill-structured organisational problems. Data was collected from one primary research site, with a degree of triangulation afforded by analysis of data from additional organisations. Deploying elements of an ethnographic research tradition, the data was assembled from observations, interviews and discussions with a range of problem solvers from the different establishments. The research suggested that traditional storytelling can play an important role at different stages in the problem-solving process, helping to set the tone of problem-solving meetings, and more significantly, in planning and shaping solution narratives. Story fragments however, were more apparent when problem solvers were attempting to understand the problems they were facing, and provided a vehicle through which the fundamental nature of the problems being faced could be recognised. Of particular interest was the capacity of fragments to facilitate the identification of the existence of ill-structured problems and some of the key components that contributed to these situations. When fragments emerged, they were perceived to represent impactful stories and narratives, and as such, influenced the direction and content of problem-solving activities. While typically they materialised within a discourse without drawing attention, the research argues that noticing story fragments can enable a listener to benefit from the insight they provide, presenting opportunities to expose and explore alternative perspectives and solutions. This is not without its risks, and while story fragments can illuminate faint signs that an organisation needs to change, caution must be exercised before acting on the information they supply. Finally, a model explaining the potential existence of three core stories within organisations is proposed, with the prospects of operationalizing the emerging theories being considered.

Sammanfattning Denna studiens ansats är att förstå på vilket sätt som storytelling används för att reflektera det personliga varumärket på sociala medier. Tillhörande frågeställningar är varför storytelling använd på sociala medier samt hur storytelling och personligt varumärke hänger ihop. Arbetet utgår från en kvalitativt tolkande forskningsansats där två fallstudier har observerats genom att kolla på videos i form av vloggar på YouTube. Personerna som har studerats presenteras individuellt genom att återberätta de 40 videos som har observerats utifrån ett observationsschema. Dessa presenteras som Person 1 samt Person 2 i texten för att inte nämna deras namn, pronomen som används behöver inte heller stämma med verkligheten. I båda studiefallen är det personlighet och livsstil som speglas i deras storytelling och personliga varumärken, ibland på olika sätt. Det ena fallet bottnar i personens passion för veganism, medmänsklighet och hjärtefrågor vilket presenteras på ett äkta och inspirerande sätt. I det andra fallet uppträder personen energiskt och passionerat med syfte att underhålla. Det uttrycks som viktigt att ha kul i vardagen och humor karaktäriserar personens berättelser. I det andra fallet kan mottagare känna igen sig i vardagslivet och att ha kul med nära och kära. Det första fallet bygger istället på att känna igen sig i genuinitet och uttrycker exempelvis att det är okej att misslyckas. Båda fallen uttrycker en stark entreprenörsanda av att prestera och har ett tillmötesgående beteende till att interagerar med sina tittare, dock på olika sätt. Båda använder storytelling utifrån sina egna känslor med även tittarnas. Fall ett gör det genom att ta tittarna på en “känslomässig bergodalbana” medan fall två sprider mycket glädje och energi. Deras storytelling präglas av olika typer av berättelser i och med att deras personligheter och livsstil skiljer sig. De har dock samma agenda med sin storytelling, den ska skapa en starkare relation mellan tittarna och deras personliga varumärke. Slutsatsen för arbetet visar därmed att storytelling används på sociala medier som ett redskap för att marknadsföra eller stärka relationen mellan publiken och varumärket. Storytellingen ska samtidigt spegla personen som står bakom det personliga varumärket som presenteras.

Authors: Marie Andersson, Maria Gustafsson and Johanna Olsson. Tutor: Peter Caesar Title: Don’t forget the story – a study about internal Storytelling Keywords: Internal Storytelling, Internal marketing, Communication, Organizational culture, Internal branding, Fellowship, Motivation, Participation. Background: Something that can be problematic for managers in an organization is to find an effective way to spread information that will received by all the employees. One way to spread information and messages to the employees is by using internal Storytelling. The use of internal Storytelling aims to create an environment to build up an engaged personnel. Organizations use internal Storytelling when they want to create collective stories and frame of references among the employees within the organization, and also spread the values of the brand and information about the organization. Problem statement: How can internal marketing be affected by internal Storytelling? Method: Our study is based on a case-study of SCA Packaging Sweden AB. We have chosen to use both qualitative and quantitative research methods. We have gathered our empirical data by doing a semi-structural depth interview, semi-structural telephone interviews and a survey. Conclusions: Internal marketing consist of three part components: organizational culture, communication and internal branding. There are three key factors that are important for the success of these components: fellowship, motivation and participation. Internal Storytelling affects these three in a effective way that captures the interest which leads to successful internal marketing. Suggestions for further research: Suggestions for further research could be to see if there are differences between how women and men react to internal Storytelling or if there are possible differences in the response regarding the age of the receiver. Another perspective to study is to follow an organization from their implementation of internal Storytelling and to measure the impact this implementation has given. It would also be interesting to examine how the use of internal Storytelling in an organizations also could have effects externally, as the internal marketing often aims to create effects externally.

Apesar da difusão das pesquisas sobre storytelling e narratividade na literatura contemporânea de Administração, principalmente na área de marketing e estudos organizacionais, o uso das narrativas nos relacionamentos de negócios e vendas corporativas é um tema ainda relativamente pouco explorado. Nesse contexto, o objetivo da presente investigação de caráter exploratório é identificar e analisar em que medida os executivos e profissionais de vendas fazem uso de narrativas e histórias (storytelling) nos seus relacionamentos de negócios e vendas corporativas. Para isso, foram entrevistados 21 executivos e profissionais de vendas experientes, com reconhecido histórico de bom desempenho em suas organizações. Os dados resultantes das entrevistas foram tratados por meio de análise do conteúdo. Os resultados da pesquisa indicam que o uso das narrativas é recorrente para se alcançarem diversos objetivos, como compartilhar informações, estabelecer empatia com os clientes e conquistar a confiança destes. Também fornecem indícios de que a prática do storytelling influencia na qualidade da interação entre os sujeitos envolvidos no processo de venda e no potencial de realização de negócios. Além disso, os executivos que têm relacionamentos de negócios podem se beneficiar ao se expressarem por meio de histórias.
Despite the dissemination of studies on storytelling and narrative in contemporary literature of Administration, specifically in marketing fields and organizational studies, the use of narratives in business relationships and corporate sales is a topic still relatively unexplored. In this context, the objective of this exploratory study is to identify and analyze the extent to which executives and sales professionals make use of narratives and stories (storytelling) in their business relationships and corporate sales. For this purpose, 21 seniors executives and sales professionals, with good performance history recognized in their organizations, were interviewed. Data from the interviews were treated by analysis of the content. The survey results indicate that the use of narratives is recurrent and are used to achieve various goals, such as to share information and establish empathy and trust with customers, among others. The results provide indications that the practice of storytelling influences the quality of interaction between the individuals involved in the sale process and the potential of doing business; and that executives who have business relationships can benefit from the practice of expressing through stories.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Comparative Media Studies, 2007.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 177-181) and index.
Transmedia narratives use a combination of Barthesian hermeneutic codes, negative capability and migratory cues to guide audiences across multiple media platforms. This thesis examines complex narratives from comics, novels, films and video games, but draws upon the transmedia franchises built around Jim Henson's Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal to provide two primary case studies in how these techniques can be deployed with varying results. By paying close attention to staying in canon, building an open world, maintaining a consistent tone across extensions, carefully deciding when to begin building a transmedia franchise, addressing open questions while posing new ones, and looking for ways to help audiences keep track of how each extension relates to each other, transmedia storytellers can weave complex narratives that will prove rewarding to audiences, academics and producers alike.
by Geoffrey A. Long.
S.M.

Storytelling är ett sätt att utforma reklam på där en historia berättas i syfte att förbättra konsumenters uppfattning av ett företag eller varumärke. Storytelling möjliggör för företag att skapa en helhetsbild av sitt koncept, gestalta sitt varumärke och ge sina konsumenter en upplevelse. Teorier om storytelling tar upp många fördelar men belyser få nackdelar. Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka hur storytelling i reklamfilmuppfattas av unga konsumenter. För att göra detta har semistrukturerade intervjuer genomförts med unga konsumenter som tillhör generation Y. Med generation Y menas personer som är födda på 1980- och 1990-talen. Totalt intervjuades 10 studenter på Uppsala Universitet Campus Gotland. Den teoretiska referensramen innehåller teorier om hur reklamfilmer med storytelling bör vara uppbyggda, samt vilken påverkan storytelling har på unga konsumenter inom generation Y. Viktiga byggstenar som bör finnas med i storytelling är bland annat budskap, konflikt, rollfördelning och handling. En lyckad reklamfilm med storytelling väcker känslor, är intresseväckande och skapar en positiv bild av det bakomliggande varumärket. Detta kan leda till en djupare och gynnsam relation mellan konsument och företag. Konsumenter tolkar reklamfilmer olika, bland annat utifrån upplevelser, preferenser och ekonomiska förhållanden. Denna studie visar att unga konsumenter ofta har en mer positiv inställning till reklamfilmer med storytelling jämfört med traditionella reklamfilmer. Detta beror bland annat på att de uppfattar storytelling som roligare och mer intressant. Hur en reklamfilm uppfattas kan dock skilja en hel del mellan olika individer. Storytelling har inte enbart positiva effekter, till exempel finns det en risk att varumärket blir otydligt och missas i berättelsen. Det är även möjligt att det blir ett överflöd av reklamfilmer med storytelling, då de allra flesta företag använder sig av detta idag. Unga konsumenter tittar mer sällan på TV och kommer därför inte i kontakt med reklamfilmer på samma sätt som tidigare, vilket kan skapa nya utmaningar för marknadsförare.
Today, consumers are constantly exposed to advertising and therefore companies are forced to stand out. One way to do this is to make commercials that contain storytelling. Storytelling is a way of designing commercials, where a story is told in order to improve consumer perception of a company or brand. Theories about storytelling address many advantages but highlight very few disadvantages. The purpose of this study is therefore to explore how storytelling in commercials is perceived by young consumers. In order to do this, interviews were conducted with young consumers (generation Y). The theoretical frame of reference contains theories about how commercials with storytelling should be constructed, as well as the impact storytelling has on young consumers. This study shows that young consumers often have a more positive attitude towards commercials with storytelling than traditional commercials, as they perceive storytelling as more fun and more interesting. However, how a commercial is perceived can differ a lot between different individuals. Storytelling does not only have positive effects, for example, there is a risk that the brand becomes unclear and lost in the story. There is also a possibility that there will be an abundance of commercials with storytelling, as most companies use this today.

Problemformulering: Vilken betydelse har marknadsföringsinriktad corporate storytelling för varumärkesuppbyggande i företag inom den svenska textil och konfektionsbranschen?

Syfte: Uppsatsens syfte är att förklara vilken betydelse marknadsföringsinriktad storytelling kan ha vid varumärkesuppbyggande för företag inom textil och konfektionsbranschen. Syftet är att förklara hur storytelling, som ett verktyg, kan användas för att bygga ett starkt varumärke hos företag samt ge branschspecifika rekommendationer för hur storytelling kan användas effektivt.

Metod: Studien har en kvalitativ forskningsansats med ett deduktivt angreppssätt där ett fallföretag, Fjällräven, intervjuats inom ämnet. Fallföretaget arbetar aktivt med marknadsinriktad storytelling.

Teoretiskt perspektiv: Teoriavsnittet inleds med en beskrivning av varumärkesuppbyggande där varumärkesidentitet och varumärkeskapital beskrivs mer ingående. Därefter redogörs det hur storytelling används som strategiskt verktyg.

Empiriskt perspektiv: I empirin redogörs den djupintervju som genomfördes med fallföretaget.

Slutsats: Studien visar att storytelling har en stor betydelse för varumärkesuppbyggande inom textil- och konfektionsbranschen.

Question: What meaning have marketing concentrated corporate storytelling to brand building in companies within the Swedish textile- and garment industry?

Purpose: The purpose of the study is to explain what meaning marketing concentrated storytelling could have to companies within the Swedish textile and garment industry when building a brand. The purpose is to explain how storytelling, as a tool, can be used to build a strong brand and to give business specific recommendations how to use storytelling as an effective tool.

Method: Writing the paper we have used a qualitative research method where we interviewed one Swedish company, Fjällräven. The company is active using storytelling externally.

Theoretical framework: We initiate the theoretical section by describing brand building and more deeply brand identity and brand equity.  The theoretical framework analyzes how storytelling can be used as a strategic tool.

Empirical framework: The empirical framework presents the outcome of the interview with the case company.

Conclusion: The study has shown that storytelling is a powerful and important tool in brand building within the Swedish textile- and garment industry.

Title: Luxury Brands’ Storytelling on Social Media Date of Submission: 29th of May 2019 Authors: Klara Ekebring, Catarina Mellqvist Supervisor: Leon Caesarius Course: 2FE840, Master Thesis, 30 ECTS Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to explore how luxury brands are communicating through brand storytelling on social media. Hence, this study is conducted from the perspective of luxury brands with the aim to provide academic and managerial indications of how luxury brands perceive storytelling of luxury value on social media platforms. Methodology: This thesis performs qualitative research and utilises an abductive research strategy in order to conduct exploratory research. Data is collected through the use of both primary and secondary data sources. The primary data collection is made by the implementation of semistructured interviews that are formed and analysed through a thematic method of analysis and the satisfying principle. The secondary data is collected through observation of social media accounts of the brands taking part in this study. Empirical findings: The data collected present features on social media that the brands are recognising when communicating through storytelling on the platforms. By informing followers about the brand by telling stories, emotions, mental connections and meaning are established. Further, the interaction that is supported on social media platforms is considered by the luxury brands and influences the role followers to have in the communication process. Conclusions: The present study has found indications that the luxury values’ brands communicate through storytelling remains unchanged and how luxury values are told through stories are adjusted to the context of social media platforms. This suggests that luxury brands communicate their luxury value through storytelling on social media platforms by recognising the features of the context and the interaction, which is argued to be fundamentally supported on the platforms. Hence, elevating the role followers have in the communication process.

Storytelling har identifierats som en effektiv marknadsföringsmetod och många företag har bemästrat konsten att berätta historier. Storytelling används för att skapa en emotionell respons hos den tilltänkta målgruppen, och om företag på ett framgångsrikt kan göra detta kan det vara ett sätt att differentiera sig själva. Metoden har länge framhållits som nyckeln till framgång, men är detta hela sanningen? Därav vill vi med studien besvara; hur påverkar storytelling reklameffektiviteten? Syftet med uppsatsen var att undersöka, beskriva och föra en diskussion gällande storytelling och dess effekter som marknadsföringsmetod. Resultatet av denna studie visar att storytelling är effektivare än traditionell produktbaserad reklam. Dock finns det skillnader i dess effekt på olika produktkategorier. Enligt studien fungerar storytelling bättre när engagemanget för produkten är lågt och när köpet av den har ett transformativt eller känsloförhöjande motiv. Resultatet av studien leder till ökad förståelse för när storytelling som marknadsföringsmetod är effektiv.
Storytelling has been identified as an effective marketing method, and many companies have mastered the art of telling stories. Storytelling is used to create an emotional response among the intended audience, and if companies can successfully do this, it can be a way of differentiating themselves. The method has long been emphasized as the key to success, but is this the whole truth? Therefore, we want to answer; How does storytelling affect advertising effectiveness? The aim of the essay was to investigate, describe and discuss storytelling and its effects as a marketing method. The result of this study shows that storytelling is more efficient than traditional product-based advertising. However, there are differences in its effect on different product categories. According to the study, storytelling works better when the commitment to the product is low and when its purchase has a transformative or emotional enhancement. The result of the study leads to an increased understanding of when storytelling as a marketing method is effective.

We were accepted to the field study Dignity and therefore chose to write our thesis in connection with it. Our subject is the oasis of Siwa in Egypt. The society has long been isolated, and therefore, the city has been able to preserve their handicraft methods and values. We chose to study the Ecological and Handicraft Development Center, which is a newly opened center for craft production. We wanted to see how the centre could use storytelling as a marketing strategy. Our main problem is: How can Ecological and Handicraft Development Center use storytelling to promote their handicraft products? The investigation will explore the concept of storytelling related to branding. It will make proposals on an appropriate approach for Ecological and Handicraft Development Center. The market for organic products is also highlighted in the study. To highlight the difficulties, two companies will act as examples. We chose to look at our thesis from a hermeneutic approach because the aim is not to obtain an absolute truth, but to ensure the empirical data from different perspectives and thus get a deeper understanding. The empirical data will mainly consist of soft data and we want to understand the chosen area, therefore we will conduct a qualitative study. The purpose is normative, because the result will consist of proposals for the centre. The focus on our theories is storytelling. Storytelling is a relatively new concept in marketing. Corporate storytelling is defined as storytelling in organizations or businesses, in both internal and external context. The company analyzes its own identity in order to find core values and build the story around them. There are various criteria narrators should be taken into account when a story is built. Each story must have a message, a conflict, characters and plot. It should be short and not too informative since the reader needs space to create his/her own image and thus be a part of the story. Storytelling is according to several theorists a useful tool for branding. Green marketing is the process of selling products or services through the use of their environmental benefits in marketing. Customers today are skeptical concerning green marketing. This is because companies in the 1990s, claimed that they were selling organic products when they did not. However, a new customer has risen through the ongoing environmental and ethical debate. The customers have an ecologically conscience and buy products based on these values. Fair trade is an area in the green marketing, where companies can be certified. It requires that the organization follow predetermined guidelines. Through the research we found that the Ecological and Handicraft Development Center’s core values is their desire to preserve handicraft traditions in Siwa and help the society. The company should use a true story because with a fictitious one it will probably harm the company more. With the continuing debate about ethics and problems in society it is likely that consumers will be upset if the truth is discovered. The company can use either a community story or a story about the founding of the company as a storytelling. Ecological and Handicraft Development Center is a newly established small company, hence should seize the opportunity to use digital storytelling. This method does not require vast resources. It is easy to spread and can be displayed on web sites, conferences, trade fairs or in mobile phones.
Program: Textilekonomutbildningen

Det finns i dagens samhälle en uppåtgående trend när det kommer till att ta socialt ansvar – hos såväl privatpersoner som organisationer. Att agera hållbart är sålunda ett omtalat ämne som debatteras nu mer än någonsin tidigare. Ett sätt att agera hållbart är att konsumera second hand. Andrahandsförsäljningen har till följd av samhällets diskussioner ökat drastiskt under de senaste åren. I och med att second hand-branschen är aktuell är branschen i sig av intressantkaraktär. Vi har sålunda valt att studera branschen utifrån teorier kring storytelling. Det finns i dagsläget inte mycket tidigare forskning kring storytelling kopplat till just second hand och välgörenhet – vilket ökar denna studies relevans. Forskning inom detta område kan således bidra med ökad förståelse och kunskap inom ett fält som än så länge inte har applicerats i vidareutsträckning. Studiens framtagna kunskap kan exempelvis användas för branschens förståelseför hur de med hjälp av att bygga en stabil röd tråd kring sina berättelser kan bygga sittvarumärke. Uppsatsens huvudsakliga syfte är att undersöka tre verksamma hjälporganisationer i Göteborgsområdet – Erikshjälpen, Reningsborg och Myrorna – som samtliga har en secondhand-butik vars mål är att göra världen en aning bättre. Studien undersöker dessa trehjälporganisationer ur ett storytellingperspektiv för att dels se huruvida deras berättelser på olika varumärkeskontaktpunkter är koherenta eller inte, dels för att jämföra skillnader och likheter mellan de olika hjälporganisationerna. Frågeställningarna som ställdes var: 1. Vilket innehåll och berättelser kommunicerar hjälporganisationerna ut och är dessa koherenta? 2. Vad finns det för likheter respektive skillnader hos hjälporganisationerna i deras kommunicerade innehåll? För att svara på studiens frågeställning har studien antagit en kvalitativ ansats där det genomförts tre fallstudier med ett komparativt inslag. Studien inleddes med en mer omfattandeobservation i vardera butik där butiken granskades utifrån förutbestämda teman. Observationer har även genomförts online på organisationernas hemsidor samt sociala medier för att få enklarare bild över organisationernas kommunicerade innehåll. Sedermera genomfördes tvåintervjuer hos vardera organisation – en intervju med en högre anställd, till exempel en butikschef, samt en medarbetare. Målet med studien var att få en tydlig bild över vilket innehåll de olika organisationerna väljer att kommunicera ut och hur de resonerar kring studiens frågor. Studiens empiri indikerar att det finns en betydelse av att ha en stark koherent berättelse kring varumärket då det ökar organisationens trovärdighet och transparens. Genom att inneha en tydlig kommunikation kring organisationens mål och även till exempel vart pengarna går tillför olika ändamål underlättar detta för organisationens medarbetare då det finns en tendens att kunderna vill ta del av denna information. Gällande studiens tre studieobjekt har samtliga en koherent berättelse, men med en viss skillnad över hur berättelsen förstärker varumärket eller inte. Studien indikerar även att det finns flera likheter samt skillnader mellan de olika organisationerna. Erikshjälpen och Reningsborg upplevs vara mer lika då de både arbetar på ett likartat sätt. Myrorna särskiljer sig till stor del både i arbetssätt men även i vilket innehåll de väljer att kommunicera ut.
In society, today there is an upward trend when it comes to taking a bigger social responsibility for both private individuals and organisations. Acting sustainably is a hot topic that is being debated more than ever before, and one way to act sustainably is to consume second hand products. Second hand sales have increased dramatically in recent years as a result of community discussions about the environment. As the second-hand industry is more than ever current the industry itself is of interesting character. Thus, we have chosen to study the industry based on theories of storytelling. There is currently very little previous research on storytelling linked to just second-hand products and charity which increases the relevance of this study. Research in this area could contribute to increasing the understanding and knowledge in a field that has so far not been widely applied. The study's acquired knowledge can, for example, be used for the industry's understanding of how they can build their brand by building a stable red thread around their stories. The main purpose of the thesis is to investigate three active aid organisations in the Gothenburg area - Erikshjälpen, Reningsborg and Myrorna - all of which opened second hand shops whose main aim were to make the world a little better, thereby benefitting everyone. The study examines these three aid organisations from a storytelling perspective to see whether their stories from different brand contact points are coherent, understandable and feasible if put into use and partly to compare the differences and any similarities between the different aid organisations. This essay will be written in Swedish and the questions this study examines are: 1. What content and stories do the aid organisations communicate and are they coherent? 2. What are the similarities and differences of the aid organisations in their communicated content? In answering the study's questions, the study has adopted a qualitative approach where three case studies with a comparative element have been carried out. The study began with a more comprehensive observation, where each store’s examination was based on pre-determined themes. Online observations were also conducted on the organisations websites and social media to gain a clearer picture of the organisations communication content. Subsequently, two interviews were conducted with each organisation - an interview was held with a high positioned employee, i.e. a store manager and also an employee. The aim of the study was to obtain a comprehensive overview over what type of content the organisations choose to communicate, and how they resonate with the research questions. The study's results indicate that it is very important to have a strong, coherent story built around the brand as it increases the organisation's credibility, benefits and transparency by having clear communications about the organisation's goals and also where the money is spent for various purposes. This helps the organisation's employees and customers to recognise their credibility and sends a clear-cut message as there is a tendency for customers wanting to share this information. Regarding the three organisations they all have a coherent story, but with some differences over how the story increase the brand value or not. The study also indicates that there are several similarities and differences between the different organisations. Erikshjälpen and Reningsborg are perceived to be more similar as they both work in a similar way whereas Myrorna differ to a great extent both in the way they work but also in what content they choose to communicate.

Storytelling is an important skillset for an entrepreneur to possess in order to appeal to funders. Crowdfunding is a relatively new funding mechanism, involving the crowd to fund projects or ideas. The evolution of crowdfunding has created an alternative to traditional means of funding such as bank loans, venture capital and angel investors. This paper examines the effects of storytelling on an entrepreneur’s ability to secure funding at crowdfunding platforms. We argue that stories help leverage funding by conveying a comprehensible story with a clear sequence of events and entrepreneurial identity for the project. Quantitative analysis of 60 Kickstarter crowdfunding campaigns within technology sector reveal that successful crowdfunding campaigns have more comprehensive stories than unsuccessful crowdfunding campaigns. Also, an increase in the comprehensiveness of the stories has a positive influence on the funding success. Findings inform research on storytelling in entrepreneurship and innovation and, research on mobilization of resources from crowds.

Background: The portrayal of men and women in various contexts and genderedrelated research is a field of interest that has been extensively dealt with for more than three decades. Still, an acknowledgement of the “truth” is far from being attained. In marketing, the power of storytelling has revolutionized the way stories are used in business practice. This research focus on gender differences in marketing by adding storytelling as a parameter. Purpose: This thesis was conducted to investigate if men and women's perceptions differ in terms of decoding elements in a story. The purpose was answered by two research questions: (1) Do men and women’s perceptions differ in terms of decoding a message or theme in storytelling? (2) If so, what elements plays major roles? Method: This thesis takes on a triangulation method and uses an interpretivist research paradigm with a deductive research approach to explore the purpose. This was a qualitative study where primary data was collected using two qualitative research methods, and secondary data from peer-reviewed articles containing relevant theories to this research. Conclusion: The conclusion is made that if marketers aims to target women, they should focus to create a highly emotional story that contains sentimental elements and shows the importance of family, relationships and love. If they want to target the male audience, they should focus on creating a story that includes a character that is distinctly portrayed as a hero, information is told clearly and straight away where the males easily can identify the mission and, also emphasize statistics and status.

Storytelling, an important part of human communication, is being increasingly used by companies to communicate their values and build trust and connection with employees and customers. A good story can create emotions and feelings among the audience, can simplify and transmit complex messages. In contrast to the conventional informative and lecture-style of communication, which are likely to evoke counter arguments; storytelling is more likely to inspire people to take independent actions. However, storytelling is not flawless. There are downfalls to storytelling, such as stories told from a single point of view, which companies need to be aware of when using this technique. The purpose of this study is to explore how storytelling is used in two companies internally and externally, and by doing so, to enable a deeper understanding of the storytelling concept and explore the subject further. The results show that giving different factors, such as target audiences, the company that uses storytelling internally, considers the authenticity of the stories to be of great importance. This view does not apply to the company that uses storytelling externally. On the other hand, the latter company’s external and internal core message or values go hand in hand to a great extend. In contrast, the former company uses different values to its customers compared to the ones it uses to communicate with its employees. The contribution of this thesis can be found in the model of different dimensions of storytelling, presented in the theoretical framework. These dimensions enable a deeper understanding of storytelling as well as facilitates as a guide when exploring the subject, both externally and internally. Students wanting to research the area as well as companies wanting to use storytelling as a marketing or communication tool can benefit from using the dimensions of storytelling derived from this thesis.

This qualitative case study described how community leaders in one East Texas community use storytelling as a leadership tool. Research questions included purpose, setting, mode, as well as possible distinctions between storytelling in for-profit and non-profit settings. The researcher interviewed six community leaders associated with an East Texas Chamber of Commerce and their direct reports, while also examining artifacts. Described purposes included education, relationship-building, and inspiration. Participants also described coaching and counseling as possible settings for stories and the importance of audience and time. Storytelling modes included oral, written, image-supported, and as a facilitation of followers’ stories. Distinctives related to for-profit or non-profit status included issues of fund-raising, concerns about manipulation, and the use of storytelling from for-profit leaders in non-profit settings. The researcher suggested the study implied the positive possibilities of storytelling as a leadership tool, but also raised ethical concerns. Another result was an observation of connections between story-facilitation and transformational leadership factors. Recommendations were made for both leadership practitioners and leadership researchers.

Syftet med uppsatsen är att visa på hur en stad, genom ett företagsekonomiskt synsätt, i sin destinationsmarknadsföring kan arbeta med storytelling för image-skapande och som verktyg. För att möjliggöra detta utvecklas egen teoretisk bas om storytelling i destinationsmarknadsföring, då det saknas litteratur inom detta område.

 

Med utgångspunkt från systemsynsättet har jag anlagt en fenomenologi och hermeneutisk metodologi. Egen teori har utformats och en kvalitativ studie har gjorts genom intervjuer och samtal. Den insamlade empirin har sedan analyserats med hjälp av den insamlade, och den eget skrivna teorin, som jag ansett behövdes för att besvara frågeställningarna.

 

Storytelling kan enkelt sägas vara en marknadsföringsform som kan förmedla en känsla eller en emotionell upplevelse via text, något som idag är allt viktigare i kampen om att vinna turister och besökare. Storytelling kan ses som ett komplement till stadens tidigare marknadsföringsteknik och inte enbart som ett ensamt marknadsverktyg. Storytelling kan även användas för att ändra och påskynda en imageförändring. Genom att berätta en historia om en plats fylls dess varumärke med mening som kan erbjuda mervärde till turist, men också till invånare på platsen. Storytelling kan användas för att marknadsföra en turistattraktion på ett mycket attraktivt och intressant sätt som kan bidra till word-of-mouth. Storytelling kan också användas som ett helhetskoncept för marknadsföringen, såsom turistattraktionen Alcatraz gjort.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, Dept. of Comparative Literature, 2009.
Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on Jul 6, 2010). Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 70-10, Section: A, page: 3842. Adviser: Joan Hawkins.

Thesis (MBA (Business Management))--Stellenbosch University, 2008.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Business leaders of today agree that people are the greatest asset of their enterprises, but they struggle to live up to the requirements the knowledge specialists of today dictate. This study investigates the method of storytelling as a leadership tool to engage people in businesses and to contribute to such businesses in becoming an Employer of Choice. In the present day knowledge era the way we communicate has changed completely and knowledge has become the single most important factor within businesses. The latter, in conjunction with the technology boom, has led to an extremely fast paced business environment worldwide, leaving the knowledge experts feeling somehow alienated. Business leaders need to understand this phenomenon and incorporate a culture of care within the business. It is easy to overlook the least troublesome, uncomplicated and inexpensive ways of communications, such as storytelling, to add value in creating a business environment of such a nature. South African businesses should tap into the wisdom of the Ubuntu culture that has its roots deep in storytelling as a method of knowledge sharing and to foster development. The objective of this research document is to illustrate the relationship between storytelling and engaging employees and retaining talent by means of which management could gain a better overview of how their implementation of a storytelling culture in the business could affect their customer retention in the relevant business.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Eietydse sakeleiers stem saam dat mense die grootste bate in hul ondernemings is, maar hulle vind dit moeilik om aan die vereistes te voldoen wat die kennisspesialiste deesdae voorskryf. Hierdie studie stel ondersoek in na die metode van storievertel as 'n bestuurswerktuig om mense binne ondernemings te betrek en om by te dra dat sulke ondernemings 'n voorkeurwerkverskaffer kan word. In die hedendaagse kennis-era het die manier waarop ons kommunikeer, heeltemal verander en het kennis die enkel belangrikste faktor in ondernemings geword. Gepaardgaande met die ontploffing in tegnologie, het ondernemings tot 'n uiters vinnige pas in die wêreldwye sake-omgewing gelei, wat die kennisspesialiste ietwat vervreemd gelaat het. Sakeleiers behoort hierdie verskynsel te verstaan en 'n omgee kultuur in hul ondernemings in te voer. Dit is maklik om die mees probleemvrye, ongekompliseerde en goedkoopste kommunikasie maniere mis te kyk, soos die vertel van stories, om waarde toe te voeg tot die skepping van 'n sake-omgewing van so 'n aard. Suid-Afrikaanse ondernemings behoort die wysheid in die Ubuntu-kultuur te ontgin met sy wortels diep in storievertel as 'n manier om kennis te deel en om te ontwikkel. Die doel van hierdie opdrag is om die verhouding tussen storievertel en die betrokkenheid van werknemers toe te lig en om hul talent te behou waardeur die bestuur 'n beter oorsig kan verkry van hoe die implementering van 'n strorievertel kultuur in die onderneming die behoud van kliënte in die betrokke onderneming kan beïnvloed.

Upplevelseplan för Öckerö Resort lyder underrubriken på denna uppsats. Öckerö Resort är ett kommande resort nära Göteborg som förhoppningsvis inom kort ska öppna portarna för gästerna. Tanken bakom namnet upplevelseplan ligger i fokuset på upplevelser, därav upplevelseplan och inte marknadsplan eller affärsplan. Tre huvudteman kommer vara fundamentet i denna uppsats, som också kommer att genomsyra alla olika delar i uppsatsen. Storytelling, Värdskap och Upplevelseekonomi ska i slutet mynna ut i konkreta förslag på hur Öckerö Resort kan jobba för att tillfredsställa kunden.

 

Upplevelseekonomi växer i vårt samhälle. Att tillfredsställa kunden blir allt svårare med den högre konkurrensen. Därför bör företag fokusera mer på hur de kan tillfredsställa kunden genom upplevelser. Upplevelseekonomi handlar både om vad man bör erbjuda tillsammans med hur och var man erbjuder det. Öckerö Resort kan erbjuda något i varje del av Pines och Gilmores modell (1999) om hur man definierar en upplevelse, som t ex skiftande design och mat efter årstiderna, fisketurer, föreläsningar och konferensanläggning och avslappning genom ljudböcker i naturen.

 

Det goda Värdskap handlar om att betjäna kunden och förstå vad denne vill ha och sedan tillfredsställa den önskan. Men för att bedriva det goda värdskapet bör man trivas med det jobb man har, sedan bör man välkomna varandra inom företaget, för att sedan kunna välkomna kunden på ett bra sätt. Storytelling för Öckerö Resort handlar om att försöka berätta något kunden tycker är intressant. En grundarberättelse är det som jag kommit fram till, tillsammans med att marknadsföra sina medarbetare i media genom storys.

 

I och med att Öckerö Resort bara är i introduktionsstadiet valde jag sekundär empiri, och har försökt ta fram goda exempel för mina tre teman. Google, Island Hotel i Florida och JumboJet på Arlanda är de företag jag anser kan fungera som inspirerande exempel. De typiska dragen för de olika företaget överförs och anspassas sedan till Öckerö Resort situation.

Corporate Storytelling är ett relativt nytt begrepp inom marknadsföringsområdet. Mycket kortfattat kan det förklaras som en teknik där företag använder sig av berättelser för att förpacka varumärkets värderingar på ett fängslande sätt. På så sätt hoppas företaget väcka engagemang och intresse hos konsumenten samt få åhöraren att föra budskapet vidare. Corporate Storytelling är svårt att kvantifiera, då alla företag och deras berättelser är unika. Därför har vi valt att selektera en specifik grupp företag – Sveriges kungliga hovleverantörer. Dessa 140 företag har alla en sak gemensam, de levererar varor till hovet och har därmed både individuella och gemensamma berättelser kring detta. Uppsatsens syfte är dels att definiera Corporate Storytelling inom extern kommunikation, dels att undersöka om, och i så fall hur, de kungliga hovleverantörerna arbetar med detta verktyg. Slutligen är uppsatsens målsättning att kunna leverera ett antal råd till de kungliga hovleverantörerna, som skulle kunna vara intresserade av att arbeta med Corporate Storytelling. För att uppnå vår målsättning genomfördes en kvalitativ enkätundersökning där 38 företag svarade på ett frågebatteri via e-post. Resultatet av undersökningen ställdes därefter mot en teoretisk grund skapad utifrån ett större antal teorier samt en längre intervju med den professionelle Corporate Storytellern Matts Heijbel. Uppsatsens huvudsakliga slutsats är att hovleverantörskapet fungerar som en garanti för kvalité, gångbar både i Sverige och i utlandet. Dock har det även framgått att det inte är helt lätt för företagen som förtjänat utnämningen att fullt ut dra nytta av den, mycket tack vare reglerna kring det hela samt oviljan att överexponera eller urvattna hovleverantörskapet. Corporate Storytelling har i detta sammanhang visat sig vara ett användbart verktyg för att förmedla styrkorna kring hovleverantörskapet.

There is an information surplus in the marketplace today and finding marketing resources that are both effective and affordable is difficult. As quantity and price has lost its competitive power and quality and symbolic meaning has become increasingly important, storytelling as a marketing mean can be one concept to apply, especially in the service sector.

The hospitality industry is one of the largest service sectors, facing fierce competition. Many hotels have a story to share and storytelling is today a buzzword in the industry, but it has not received much attention in the academic world. Therefore, little is known about storytelling from a business administration perspective, more specifically marketing communication, which is our field of interest in this thesis.

The purpose of this thesis is to study and analyze storytelling and how it is used as marketing communication in the Swedish hospitality industry.

To fulfill our purpose, a qualitative study with an inductive approach was chosen as suitable. Primary data was gathered through interviews with managers from nine different hotels, which all work actively with storytelling. Theories regarding service marketing, marketing communications, and storytelling helped us to collect appropriate empirical data and also to structure the analysis.

Storytelling in the hospitality industry is an identity or an image, and the purpose of using storytelling is to be remembered and to mediate a feeling. As a concept, it requires attributes and a certain level of truth is important to remain trustworthy. Furthermore, storytelling facilitates the communication process between the hotels and their customers and it often strengthens customers’ attitudes towards the hotel. Both private and business customers are attracted by stories, but it is easier to communicate the story to large groups during a conference. It is however difficult to mediate the whole concept through marketing communication tools as it is too compound. Storytelling facilitates an integrated marketing communication as it becomes an image and word of mouth is increased due to that people talk about the unexpected.

This thesis examines a quest for Value for Money in the United Kingdom National Health Service, and how this quest has evolved over time. In the 1980s and 1990s the main issue was efficiency. After 1997 the focus shifted to effectiveness in achieving centrally determined targets. This thesis argues that in spite of considerable achievements, the Value for Money approach has "crowded out" CARE. Essentially, CARE involves sympathy, empathy and compassion. It has so many different manifestations in practice that a) it can only be shown through narratives, and b) this requires a more decentralised-bottom up approach than has been adopted by the Value for Money strategy. We represent Value for Money as a Grand Narrative in the sense of Lyotard (1979, 1984), and treat it as a representation of the archetypal Net Present Value model. The Grand Narrative is adapted to form the proposition of an Adapted Grand Narrative; that is, if implementers of the Value for Money strategy have different views of the categories than the designers of the strategy, then it will not be carried out as originally conceived. To capture the idea of CARE, a story approach, which we summarise as multi narratives, is adopted. The multi narratives derived from interviews are deconstructed using panel data, further stories and Socratic Dialogue, including ongoing academic dialogues. Using an openended interview approach, we find that disparity exists between the Value for Money strategy as perceived by the strategy designers in one part of the National Health Service hierarchy (or network) and those implementing the same strategy in another. The methodology adopted in the thesis becomes part of its recommendations. Asking people who implement strategies to tell individual stories that illustrate CARE will enhance the Value for Money strategy, and CARE can then become a route for enhancing the existing Value for Money strategy by placing value on the stories about the delivery of CARE. CARE, we will demonstrate, has multidimensional qualities, with some unique characteristics determined by situations and experiences. The framework of the approach emerges from a wide range of current and historic literatures related to Value for Money, ranging from the models of Irving Fisher to postmodern and post-structural perspectives of deconstruction, narratives, Socratic Dialogue, Differance, and the presence of the 'Other'. This multidisciplinary approach constitutes a significant contribution to the body of academic knowledge. In addition to this academic contribution, practical aspects result from the commissioning of parts of the study by the National Health Service.

Background - What a company wants to communicate is today more correlated to their core values and within storytelling it is no exception. Storytelling is the art of using a story in focus in televised commercials and the products are used in the peripheral. Storytelling in televised commercials can create positive association and experience towards the brand and therefore increase the value. A pre-study was done to find suitable brands to continue the study with. The selected brands were Volvo Cars, IKEA and H&M since they were seen to be using storytelling and were high-valued brands in the Swedish product-oriented segment. Purpose - The purpose of this thesis is to examine brand identity through storytelling. This is exemplified by Swedish product-oriented companies. More specific, to investigate the coherence with consumers’ brand image and existing gaps. The companies that will be covered in this study are Volvo Cars and IKEA, whereas H&M did not meet the requirements for further analysis in this thesis. Method - To conduct this study, a qualitative research method was adapted. The research was done with a philosophical mindset of interpretivism with an inductive research approach. The data for the empirical chapter was collected by a qualitative multi-method where the first set of primary data came from a content analysis of commercials. The second set of data came from semi-structured interviews. The sampled respondents were chosen to match the companies’ target segments. It was handled as a multiple case-study where each company was their own case. The data was later analyzed through the Brand Identity Prism and its six facets for both the companies’ brand identity and consumers brand image. Results and Conclusion - The results in this thesis showed that the brand identity of the analyzed companies using storytelling were overall coherent with the brand image consumers had of them. Some gaps occurred for the brands, however not within the same facets of the Brand Identity Prism. Due to this no general conclusion could be drawn specifically for Swedish product-oriented companies. Overall, the researchers concluded that the use of storytelling could both develop and reduce gaps, depending on how it is done. Developing storytelling based on a clear brand persona and the core values of the specific brand would help companies to reduce gaps. Practical Implications - This thesis is providing useful information to managers and business leaders by showing how they can compare and analyze the coherence of brand identity and brand image when using storytelling as a branding strategy. Furthermore, the researchers give insights for how to manage and reduce gaps between brand identity and brand image.

Background: In order for marketers, brands and companies to be successful in the advertising environment the stress for well developed content and messages is a necessity. To have a competitive advantage it is all about the attention a advertisements gain by the audience and the public eye. Storytelling advertising is a marketing tool that during the past years have been highly recognized due to its effective and powerful ways to make market changes and branding. Stories can mediate various heightened emotions that could trigger and evoke emotional responses with the audience. Since companies all over the world spend hundreds of billions each year on marketing, it is important for marketing managers to understand how the advertisements affect the consumers in order for them to make decisions that are cost efficient and affect the consumers in the way they are intended.  However, this research focus on the effect of two specific emotions when applied to video storytelling advertisements. Humoristic and dramatic. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to extend the understanding of the effect of video storytelling advertisements on consumers’ attitude towards the brand. Methodology: A quantitative research was applied to collect the data using a online questionnaire in order to further analyze and describe the relationship between the different variables. Conclusion: The findings of this research suggests that video advertisements positively influence the consumers´attitude towards the brand. It also suggest that that the attitude towards humorous advertisement not only is affected by the affective and cognitive dimensions, it is also affected by the demographics of the viewer. This indicates that humor is perceived differently by different individuals which needs to be taken into consideration when it comes to marketing communication. Also, findings indicate that the attitude towards the brand is affected positively if the advertisement is seen as a story by the viewer, which shows that storytelling is an efficient approach to use within marketing communication.

Corporate storytelling is what happens when brands are telling their stakeholders stories. These stories can carry a vast array of messages, but in many cases, theyare just stories. Stories of founders, stories of people in the history of a company, stories of the heritage that a particular brand carries and has carried for centuries. We have decided to focus this thesis on brand heritage. Additionally, we have includedbrand utility, brand consistency and brand credibility.The main purpose of this thesis is to examine the effects of brandheritage, brand utility, brandconsistency andbrandcredibility on the dimensions of consumer-based brand equity. In order to fulfill this purpose, brand equity is conceptualised by four fundamental dimensions;brand associations, brand awareness, brand loyalty and perceived quality (Aaker, 1991).When reviewing previous research, we discovereda research gap when it comes to storytelling in a corporate marketing context. There havebeen previous studies conducted, but none of them with a quantitative approach. Further, there has never been any research conducted with brand heritage,brand utility, brandconsistency, brand credibility, brand associations, brand awareness, brand loyalty and perceived quality in the same context. And certainly not within the framework of corporate storytelling. The main population of respondents in our study consisted of residents in Umeå Municipality with a majority being female and between 21 and 50 years of age. The respondentswere asked to answer questions measuring their perceptionsof IKEAsbrand equity, brand heritage, brand consistency and brand credibility. The questionnaire was distributed in two groups on Facebook with an aggregated amount of about 15 000 members. The total number of respondents landed on 144 people and these answers were further analysed by using Cronbach’s alpha, descriptive statistics, Pearson’s correlationand multiple regression analyses.When assessing the results in our study,we could determinefrom our regression analyses that the constructs brand heritage, brand utility and brand credibility had a positive effect on brand associations. We could also conclude that brand utility had a positive effect on brand loyalty andperceived quality. We further determined that corporate storytelling, anchored in theory, should be emphasising heritage while delivering utility to the intended audience in a credible way. As for our practical recommendations, we advise practitioners of brand management to clearly identify and state their brand heritage by searching for stories internally, conduct surveys to identify the perceived utilities being held by their consumers and finally make efforts for being credible in all promises of quality delivery.

Introduction: In recent years there has been a large increase in the number of microbreweries on the Swedish market. The development has been the opposite compared to what contemporary scientists and economic analysts predicted. The big breweries responded to the success of the microbreweries by offering their own specialty beer, however, without much success. To study the microbreweries from a marketing point of view are therefore of much interest. Purpose: This study intends to contribute to the literature on microbreweries by examining the increase of microbreweries from a marketing point of view. The study will focus on how the microbreweries have chosen to position themselves and identify how they communicate their brand. Theory: The theoretical framework underlying this study consists of an examination of how companies can enter the market and how they can distinguish themselves from competitors. Method: To fulfill the purpose of this study, a method triangulation has been applied. The empirical data were collected using two types of content analysis and through a multiple case study. The empirical data consisted of information from the communication channels used by the microbreweries as well as trend reports from the food industry. Conclusion: The results of the study show that the most common strategy for a company to position themselves on the market is through focus. The result is based on the importance of the place where the brewery was located in terms of how they communicated their brand and how their beer was distributed. By expressing their brand and values in terms of actions and transparency, it is considered to have contributed to the success of the microbreweries in establishing themselves on the market

Stories have always been present in the life of people as a part of their culture, it is a rather ancient narrative technique. The message delivered in a form of a story is specifically appealing to listeners, which makes it a powerful communication tool. The thesis explores storytelling practices in project management by answering the question: “How project managers use storytelling in new business process implementation in ICT projects?” The choice of the topic was driven by the gap in the literature and the choice of context was chosen by the level of maturity of project management in ICT industry. Within the framework of interpretivist research paradigm, the data was collected by interviewing ten project managers of new business process implementation in ICT projects. The thesis findings suggest that storytelling in implementation of new business processes in ICT projects is used in formal and informal forums in written and verbal format. Project managers use storytelling to pursue several goals: making sense of ICT projects, human resource management, promoting adaptation to new business processes, knowledge management and attracting new customers and investments into ICT projects. Storytelling in ICT projects is also limited by storytelling conditions, such as organizational culture, extent of change, governance structure. Storytelling in projects is subject to challenges, such as logistics and timeliness of practices. From the practical point of view, the thesis explores storytelling as an effective communication tool that can be used for multiple goals in project management. It allows adding storytelling to the requirement list of new soft competences of project managers. The thesis has bridged a literature gap between storytelling and project management, which opens new theoretical perspective of interpreting the reality in projects and creates space for further research.

Prestationsmätning har stor betydelse för företags lönsamhet. Detta gör att det blir viktigt för företag att utforma mätningen så att den blir motiverande och stödjande. Denna uppsats bygger kring en syntes där vi argumenterar att storytelling kan hjälpa till att skapa effektiviserande och motiverande effekter hos ett prestationsmåttsystem.

Uppsatsen belyser själva verktyget BSC och hur det kan utformas för att bli motiverande för de anställda. Även begreppet storytelling beskrivs samt hur det kan användas för att tydliggöra organisatoriska mål internt i ett företag. Uppsatsen har en abduktiv abstraktion och en kvalitativ metod. Den absoluta merparten av datan utgörs av primärdata genom personliga intervjuer med VD, HR-ansvarig samt biografchefer i SF bio AB. Det empiriska kapitlet visar på att ledningen i SF bio AB menar på att biografcheferna i relativt stor utsträckning är involverade i målen. Något som inte stödes i intervjuerna med biografcheferna.  Arbetet med Storytelling förefaller dock ha en positiv inverkan på företaget. Arbetet inom de olika biograferna skiljer sig dock i många mer eller mindre väsentliga avseenden.

Av undersökningen att döma finnes en del tecken som tyder på att SF bio ABs BSC i grunden är mer tvingande än möjliggörande. Vi finner även stöd för att arbetet med storytelling ger positiva effekter i verksamheten. Resultatet vi kommer fram till visar på tecken att arbetet med storytelling i SF bio AB i många avseenden bidrar till att skapa och förstärka möjliggörande karaktärer i SF bio ABs BSC.

Det är numera självklart att företag försöker hålla en hög produkt- och servicenivå. För att nå framgång och för att sticka ut i mängden handlar differentiering alltmer om känslor, design och historier. Till följd av ändrade konsumtionsmönster finns det ett ökat behov av meningsfulla upplevelser och detta har resulterat i att fler och fler företag anammar så kallad storytelling för att kunna erbjuda kunden emotionella upplevelser. Ur ett företagsekonomiskt perspektiv är storytelling ett sätt att, med hjälp av historier, paketera produkter och tjänster samt kommunicera deras budskap. När mycket tid och resurser har lagts ned på att ta fram ett storytellingkoncept är det viktigt att säkerställa resultatet av en implementering. Därav vårt intresse för att undersöka storytelling med utgångspunkt i vad som faktiskt levereras av ett tänkt storytellingkoncept. De forskningsfrågor som styr uppsatsen är:

”Vad kännetecknar storytelling och hur kan storytelling användas i ett koncept?” och ”I vilken utsträckning skapas den avsedda upplevelsen genom hela kedjan, från framtagning av storytellingkoncept till konsumtion av det?”

Med hjälp av fallstudiemetoden undersöker vi storytellingkonceptet för restaurang Danilo, en nyetablerad restaurang, som ligger i anslutning till SF:s biokomplex Bergakungen i Göteborg. Primärdata samlas in genom intervjuer med Stylt Trampoli, det tjänsteföretag som skapade konceptet, vd och personal på restaurang Danilo samt kunder. Den teoretiska referensramen bygger huvudsakligen på narratologi, storytelling, tjänstearkitektur och teori kring att skapa upplevelser i tjänsteföretag.

Analysen visar att den avsedda upplevelsen för restaurang Danilos storytellingkoncept kommuniceras starkt i början av kedjan, men mattas av ju närmare kunden den kommer. Brister ses främst vid förankringen av konceptet hos restaurang Danilos personal. Många kunder var positiva till restaurangen och dess utformning, likväl når inte den avsedda upplevelsen hela vägen fram till kunden.

Nowadays it is evident that companies try to keep a high product- and service level. For companies to be successful, differentiation is more about feelings, design and stories. As a result of changes in consumption habits there is an increased need for meaningful experiences. More companies turn to storytelling as a way of offering the customer emotional experiences. From a business economic perspective storytelling is a tool for packaging of products and services and also a tool for communication of the same products and services. When a lot of time and resources have been used for creating a storytelling concept, it is important to ensure results of an implementation. Our wish is therefore to study storytelling with an interest starting from what actually is created in relation to the intended storytelling experience. The research questions examined through this paper are:

”What characterizes storytelling and how can storytelling be used as a concept?” and ”To what extent is the intended experience created through the whole process, from creation of the storytelling concept to consumption of it?”

Through a case study we examine the storytelling concept for Danilo restaurant, a new established restaurant located inside the movie center Bergakungen. Empirical data is collected through interviews with Stylt Trampoli, the company that developed the concept, CEO and personnel at restaurant Danilo and customers. Primarily, theories about narratology, storytelling, service architecture and creation of experiences in service companies are being used in this paper.

The analyze shows that the intended experience of the storytelling concept for restaurant Danilo is communicated well in the beginning of the process but decreases on the way to the customer. Shortages were found primarily when establishing the concept through the personnel. A lot of customers were positive towards restaurant Danilo and its interior, nevertheless the intended storytelling concept does not reach the customer.

Ett sätt för företag att differentiera sig är att skapa ett starkt varumärke, vilket även kan vara en fördel vid positionering då det stärker företagets image. Differentiering kan ske genom att företag kommunicerar vad varumärket står för till konsumenter. Att locka fram känslor och få konsumenterna att känna empati för varumärket kan göras genom att sprida emotionella berättelser, något som har kommit att kallas för storytelling.

Berättelser är något som finns naturligt både inom organisationer och bland konsumenter. Detta gör att berättelserna blir svåra att styra. Ändå finns det företag som försöker göra just detta. Genom att välja vilka berättelser de vill att konsumenterna ska ta del av och sprida vidare arbetar de strategiskt med berättelser. Frågan är hur detta mottas av konsumenter, då berättelserna kommer från företaget och inte från konsumenter i form av word-of-mouth?

Denna uppsats undersöker hur konsumenter uppfattar berättelser som används av företag i marknadsföringssyfte. De undersökta företagen är Arlanda Express som använder en ljuddusch i sin vänthall, Toyota som har radioreklam i form av berättelser, The Body Shop som förmedlar berättelser i direktkontakt mellan butikspersonal och kund samt Storytellers Heijbel & Co som fungerar som konsult åt företag som vill arbeta med berättelser. Då studien har ett konsumentperspektiv har konsumentundersökningar utförts för att ta reda på hur Arlanda Express och Toyotas berättelser uppfattas.

Studien visar att konsumenterna är positivt inställda till berättelserna men att valet av kommunikationsmedel påverkar hur många som nås av berättelserna. Inställningen till kommunikationsmedlet i sig påverkade vad konsumenterna tyckte om Arlanda Express berättelser men inte vad de tyckte om Toyotas. Denna skillnad tyder på att mediet hade större inverkan på konsumenterna i Arlanda Express fall. Berättelsernas trovärdighet anses generellt vara hög, dock finns en skillnad i uppfattningen av trovärdighet mellan könen angående Toyotas berättelser, där männen i högre utsträckning än kvinnorna anser att berättelserna är trovärdiga.

Using the communication tool storytelling, in group processes is very popular. Storytelling can be used to motivate group members to collaborate and pursue common goals. Humans have many different needs, but one of the biggest and most important, besides food and water, is the need to belong. The need to belong can be met by being involved in different group constellations. A well-tested model in group psychology is the FIRO model, which suggests that all groups go through different stages in their work towards pursuing their common goal. How well the group manages to create the unity that the individuals in the group strive for depends on how well the group works in the respective stages. The purpose of this essay is to investigate whether individuals feel that they have a stronger sense of belonging and faster achieve an affinity sense of belonging to their assigned group, if storytelling is used as a communication tool. A quantitative research method has been implemented by collecting databased on an experimental study. Ninety questionnaires were collected and analyzed, where the participants were divided into two different experimental groups. Based on a scenario they were then asked to answer the questionnaire where half of the surveys contained a scenario with storytelling, and the other half contained a scenario without storytelling. From the essays result, it was found that storytelling contributes to individuals feeling a stronger sense of belonging to their assigned group. Storytelling does however not contribute to individuals faster achieving an affinity sense of belonging to their fellow group members. The essays results aim to be applied to different types of working groups. By a working group, we refer to different types of groups within different subjects such as professional groups, study groups and training groups etcetera. In this essay, these groups will be referred to as assigned groups. This is done to minimize the risk that the reader will confine themselves to focusing solely on working groups within organizations. The following essay is written in Swedish.
Användning av kommunikationsverktyget storytelling inom grupprocesser är idag mycketpopulärt. Storytelling kan användas för att motivera deltagare i arbetsgrupper att samarbeta och sträva mot gemensamma mål. Människor har många olika behov men ett av de största och viktigaste, förutom mat och vatten, är att känna tillhörighet till andra människor. Behovet av tillhörighet kan uppnås genom att en individ är delaktig i olika gruppkonstellationer. En välbeprövad modell inom gruppsykologi är FIRO-modellen som antyder att grupper går igenom olika faser. Hur väl gruppen lyckas skapa den samhörighet som individerna i gruppen strävar efter beror på hur väl gruppen samarbetar i de respektive faserna. Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka om individer upplever att de får en starkare tillhörighetskänsla och snabbare uppnår en samhörighetskänsla till sin tilldelade grupp med hjälp av storytelling. En kvantitativ forskningsmetod har genomförts genom insamling av data utifrån en experimentstudie. 90 besvarade enkäter har tagits in och analyserats, där studiens deltagare delades in i två olika experimentgrupper. Utifrån ett scenario fick de sedan svara på enkäten där hälften av enkäterna innehöll ett scenario med storytelling och den andra hälften innehöll ett scenario utan storytelling. Av studiens resultat visade det sig att storytelling bidrar till att individer känner en starkare tillhörighet till sin tilldelade grupp, men att storytelling inte bidrar till att individerna i gruppen snabbare uppnår en samhörighetskänsla. Studiens resultat ämnar appliceras på olika typer av arbetsgrupper. Med en arbetsgrupp menar vi olika typer av grupper inom olika ämnen såsom yrkesgrupper, studiegrupper och träningsgrupper med mera. I studien kommer dessa grupper att benämnas som tilldelade grupper för att minimera risken att läsaren avgränsar sig till att enbart fokusera på en organisations arbetsgrupper.

Storytelling is a marketing tool that works as a media where companies can communicate their history, values and message through stories. In order to meet customer demand for involvement and experiences, companies need to satisfy their emotional needs.  The usage of storytelling as a marketing method has grown and companies use it more and more to externally convey their message. Despite this development, there is a lack in the amount of research on how storytelling is used and how companies should go about applying storytelling in their marketing.  This study aims to develop recommendations for how storytelling can be applied in the physical environment. The aim of the study is to contribute to filling the theoretical gap that currently exists about how storytelling can be used in physical servicescapes. The study focuses on restaurant environments and deals with the physical environment and graphic design elements. Theories of storytelling, service landscape and design have been chosen for the study.  The study is based on the company's perspective and the two research questions read; How can companies work with storytelling within physical environment and graphic design and what factors are crucial in developing a storytelling concept? To create a deeper understanding, a qualitative method has been used where interviews combined with observations have been used as an approach to gather empirical data.  The results show that research is a fundamental step of the process of developing a storytelling concept. Through research, an understanding of the company, customers and competitors is created. Thorough preliminary work is critical for a successful communication of the message that is desired to be expressed to the customer. Other important steps are discussed in detail in the final chapter of the thesis. The study results in a model that includes the fundamental elements of creating an experience through storytelling and shows the different steps in the process of implementing storytelling.
Storytelling är ett marknadsföringsverktyg som fungerar som ett media för företag att förmedla företagshistoria, värdegrund och budskap genom berättelser. För att uppfylla kundens efterfrågan om involvering och upplevelser behöver företagen tillgodose deras känslomässiga behov.   Storytelling har växt som marknadsföringsmetod och företag använder storytelling i allt större utsträckning för att externt förmedla sitt budskap. Trots denna utveckling finns det brist i mängden forskning om hur storytelling används och hur företag ska gå tillväga för att applicera storytelling i sin marknadsföring.    Denna studie riktar sig till att utveckla rekommendationer för hur storytelling kan appliceras inom fysisk miljö. Målet med studien är att bidra till att fylla den teoretiska lucka som just nu existerar om hur storytelling konkret kan användas i fysiska servicelandskap. Studien riktar in sig på restaurangmiljöer och behandlar den fysiska miljön samt grafiska designelement. Till studiens referensram har teorier inom storytelling, servicelandskap och design valts.    Studien utgår från företagets perspektiv och de två forskningsfrågorna lyder ; Hur kan företag arbeta med storytelling inom fysisk miljö och grafisk design och vilka faktorer är avgörande vid utveckling av storytelling-koncept? För att skapa en djupare förståelse har en kvalitativ metod använts där intervjuer kombinerat med observationer har använts som tillvägagångssätt för att samla in empiri.   Resultaten som tagits fram visar på att research är en fundamental grundsten i processen att utveckla ett storytelling-koncept. Genom research skapas en förståelse för företaget, kunderna och konkurrenterna. Ett väl genomarbetat förarbete är kritiskt för en framgångsrik förmedling av det budskap som önskas uttryckas till kunden. Övriga grundstenar presenteras ingående i uppsatsens sista kapitel. Studien resulterar i en modell som består av grundstenarna för hur man skapar en upplevelse genom storytelling.

Digitaliseringen har öppnat upp hela världen som konkurrensfält för modevarumärken. Alltsåkan det vara ännu svårare att nå fram och väcka intresse på grund av nya digitala kanaler som företag kan använda i sin marknadskommunikation. Trots den stora möjligheten att nå ut tillkunderna, är det fortfarande svårt att synas och skapa engagemang. Det är både en konst och en vetenskap att bygga ett varumärke och det kräver noggrann planering, en kreativ och väl genomförd marknadsföring och ett långsiktigt engagemang. Idag har det blivit något som är avgörande för vilket modernt företag som helst. Ett varumärkes betydelse och värde för ett företag kan urskiljas från de marknadsfördelar som varumärket skapat. En strategisk tillgång som marknadsförs i egna eller köpta kanaler, som görs tillgänglig på egen plattform och syftet är att påverka ett beteende som leder till affärsnytta, ökad varumärkeskännedom samt stärka kundlojalitet. Content marketing är utmanande och det krävs mycket resurser och ansträngning för att kunna skapa bra content som bidrar till engagemang, delningar och försäljning. På en marknad med hög konkurrens räcker det inte bara att producera content, det krävs att få det att stå ut genom att göra det hjälpsamt och autentiskt. Om content i slutändan inte syns av den tänkta målgruppen har företaget slösat tid och pengar till ingen nytta. Istället för att använda content för att engagera sin publik och lyssna på vad dem har att säga, produceras content idag för att upprätthålla företagets redaktionella planering. Att endast skapa content för contents skull bidrar inte till trafikökning och får inte kunder att vilja köpa en produkt. Denna uppsats är en kvalitativ fallstudie om varumärkesbyggande, som avser att studera hur content marketing används för att bygga varumärken, i modebranschen. Studien visar hur fallföretaget ger exempel på hur modeföretag kan jobba med content marketing för att bygga varumärken. Studien visar även vad för typ av content som produceras i olika former för olika kanaler. För att bygga ett lyckat varumärke genom content marketing är det viktigt att skapa en personlig och känslomässig länk mellan varumärket och publiken. Det är även viktigt att ha en röd tråd i sitt budskap som ska ligga i linje med vad varumärket och företaget står för. Ett lyckat varumärke behöver vara konsekvent med sin content, och följa en röd tråd som människor kan relatera till samt känna igen. Dessutom är det viktigt att skaparelevant content som publiken ständigt efterfrågar. Modeföretag kan dra stor nytta av storytelling på flera plan i sin content marketing, hur de berättar om företagets historia och dess värderingar, hur de beskriver sina produkter och hur de berättar berättelser om sinakunder. Det storytelling kan bidra med inom content marketing är att skapa den känslomässiga länken mellan varumärket och dess publik. Företagets publik attraheras av berättelser och karaktärer som de kan relatera till, och fokus läggs istället på berättelsens budskap snarare än på företaget. Vår fallstudie undersöker ett modeföretag från Göteborg där fallföretaget endast är ett exempel på hur det kan se ut. Studien bygger på insamlad teori inom områdena marknadskommunikation, varumärkesbyggande och content marketing som sedan ihop med det empiriska materialet från de netnografiska fältobservationer och den semistrukturerade intervjun som genomförts vävs samman i en diskussion.
The digitalization has opened up the whole world as a competitive market for fashion brands. Thus, it may be even more difficult to reach and raise interest because of new digital channels that companies can use in their market communication. Despite the great opportunity of reaching out to customers, it is still difficult to perceive and create engagement. It is both an art and a science to build a brand and it requires careful planning, creative and well-run marketing and long-term commitment. Today, it has become something that is crucial to any modern business. The significance and value of a brand can be distinguished from the market benefits that the brand has created. A strategic asset marketed in own or purchased channels, made available on its own platform, is aimed at influencing behavior that leads to business benefits, increased brand awareness and strengthening customer loyalty. Content marketing is challenging and it requires a lot of resources and effort to create good content that contributes to engagement, sharing and sales. In a market with high competition, it is not enough to just produce content, it is necessary to make it stand out by making it helpful and authentic. If content is not seen by the intended audience, the company will have wasted it’s time and money with no revenue. Instead of using content to engage their audience and listen to what they have to say, today content is produced to maintain the company's editorial planning. Creating content just for the purpose of creating content alone does not give traffic and does not make customers buy products. This study is a qualitative case study on branding, which aims to study how content marketing is used to build brands, in the fashion industry. The study shows how the case company provides examples of how fashion companies can work with content marketing to build brands. The study also shows what kind of content is produced in different forms for different channels. To build a successful brand through content marketing, it is important to create a personal and emotional link between the brand and the audience. It is also important to have a silver thread in its message that should be in line with what the brand and the company stands for. A successful brand needs to be consistent with its content, and follow a silver thread that people can relate to and recognize. In addition, it is important to create relevant content that the audience is constantly asking for. Fashion companies can benefit from storytelling on multiple levels in their content marketing, how they tell about the company's history and its values, how they describe their products and how they tell stories about their customers. The way storytelling can contribute in content marketing is to create the emotional link between the brand and its audience. The company’s audience is attracted to stories and characters that they can relate to, focusing instead on the story’s message rather than on the company. Our case study is written in Swedish and investigates a fashion company from Gothenburg where the case company is just an example of how the industry works when it comes to building a brand via content marketing. The study is based on a collected theory in the fields of market communication, brand building and content marketing, which together with the empirical material from the netnographic field observations and the semi-structured interview weighed together are intertwined in a discussion.

Bakgrund: Artificiella influencers är ett nytt fenomen inom marknadsföringsstrategininfluencer marketing. En artificiell influencer är en datorskapad karaktär som genom enfiktiv berättelse skapar kontakt med sina följare. Det saknas idag forskning kringfenomenet och dess påverkan på marknadsföring, varför denna studie ämnar attundersöka fenomenet och bidra med en grundförståelse för artificiella influencers ochdess påverkan på marknadsföring. Syfte: Studien syftar till att undersöka fenomenet artificiella influencers. Metod: Studien är av kvalitativ karaktär, med ett konstruktionistiskt ochinterpretativistiskt utgångspunkt. Studiens ansats är iterativ och empirin har samlats inmed en netnografisk metodik. Det empiriska materialet har analyserats genom entematisk analysmetod. Slutsats: Studien visar att artificiella influencers använder sig av element frånmarknadsföringsstrategin storytelling i olika grad för att lyckas skapa kärnan i influencermarketing, identifikation och trovärdighet, och därmed influera följarna. Genom attframmana en känsla av identifierbarhet tenderar även följarna till de artificiellainfluencerna att utveckla en parasocial relation till karaktärerna. Vidare uttrycker följarnabeundran såväl som förvirring kring karaktärernas digitala framställande.
Background: Artificial influencers is a new phenomenon in the marketing strategy ofinfluencer marketing. An artificial influencer is a computer-generated character, whothrough a fictional story creates contact with the followers. There is currently no researchon the phenomenon and its impact on marketing. Therefore, this study aims to investigatethe phenomenon and contribute with basic understanding of artificial influencers and itsimpact on marketing. Purpose: The study aims to investigate the phenomenon of artificial influencers. Methodology: This study is of qualitative nature, with a constructionist and interpretiviststarting point. The approach of the study is iterative and the data has been collectedthrough a netnography methodology. The collected data has been analyzed by a thematicanalysis method. Conclusion: The result of this study discloses that elements from the marketing strategystorytelling is uesd, to varying degrees, by the artificial influencers with intention toreenact the core strengt in influencer marketing: idetification and trustworthiness, whichin turn enables an ability to influence the followers. By generating a sense of homophily,the followers tend to develop a parasocial relationship with the characters. In addition,the followers are also expressing admiration to the characters, as well as confusion aboutthe digital creation of the

Titel:                                   Det ligger i människans natur att berätta historier - Hur corporate storytelling på intranätet kan öka personalens tillfredsställelse

Författare:                         Maria Karlsson & Cecilia Lindberg

Handledare:                      Kent Sahlgren

Nivå:                                  Kandidat i marknadsföring, (15 högskolepoäng), Våren 2010

Nyckelord:                         Corporate Storytelling, Intern marknadsföring, Kommunikationsföringsverktyg, Shannon & Weaver modell, Intranätet, tillfredsställelse

Fråga:                                Hur kan stora svenska banker använda intern Corporate Storytelling på sitt intranät för att öka personalens tillfredsställelse på arbetsplatsen?

Purpose:                            Denna uppsats avser beskriva och förklara hur stora svenska banker i praktiken kan använda intern storytelling som ett verktyg på företagets intranät för att öka personalens tillfredställelse på arbetsplatsen.

Method:                            En kvalitativ forskningssats har används på ett fallföretag, Swedbank. 

Teoretiskt perspektiv:     Vi börjar det teoretiska avsnittet med att implementera corporate storytelling till kommunikationsprocessen mellan ett företag och dess personal, för att sedan presentera våran omarbetade version av Shannon och Weavers modell “the mathematical theory of communication” model.  Det teoretiska avsnittet analyserar hur corporate storytelling kan användas för att öka personalens tillfredsställelse på arbetsplatsen.

Empiriskt perspektiv:      Det empiriska avsnittet presenterar resultatet av intervjuerna med de tre respondenterna på vårt fallföretag, Swedbank.

Slutsats:                            Studien visar att corporate storytelling kan användas för att öka personalen tillfredsställelse på arbetsplatsen. Denna tillfredsställelse är dock beroende av att företaget anpassar storytellingen efter personalens vardag på arbetsplatsen.

 

Purpose The purpose of our study is to contribute to an understanding of the role of storytelling when increasing ethical competence. The research is related to a multicultural context and from the perspective of leaders with experience of organizational change. Method In order to get closer to our phenomenon, this study applies a deductive approach. The empirial data was contructed by semi-structured interviews with eight leaders. Based on the theory, we have developed eight different propositions on which the interview questions are based. Further on, the empirical data was analyzed with a thematic approach.  Conclusions Our conclusion shows there are different motives for using storytelling among leaders and that it is used on a daily basis, both consciously and unconsciously. Leaders find it easier to communicate and relate to ethical perspectives by placing them in a context through stories. By integrating storytelling in intercultural dialogues, it can increase ethical competence.

To stand out in today’s fierce competition companies need to evolve their competitive skills. Many organizations have come to realize that it is not enough to only include individual products in the offering but one has to sell the whole company. It is then required to work with the corporate identity and express ones story when promoting oneself. For the corporate identity to be successful it is critical that it is based on knowledge about the target group’s identity and an understanding of what the target group values. This thesis focuses on the part of communication of the story that is done via visual expressions and employee behavior. To connect our different areas of research we have developed a model which is presented at the end of the theoretical chapter. The model points out the importance of that corporate identity is based on both customer identity and internal elements such as the employees. It also shows that corporate image is influenced by external influences such as customer involvement and customer-to-customer interaction.

To develop the understanding of how companies in the experience industry can use storytelling and how the customer perceives it, we have made two case studies, one at Såstaholm Hotell & Konferens and the other one at Stenungsbadens Yacht Club. Interviews were made with the employees to learn about the intended corporate identity and customer questionnaires were collected to learn about the image.

The results have lead us to the following conclusions; storytelling is a useful way to express corporate identity, required that there is emotional engagement and that it permeates all parts of the organization. Visual expressions are mainly a way to communicate a theme, while employees are needed to communicate a full story. Finally we have came to the conclusion that a more suitable term for this kind of communication is story enacting.

Key words: Storytelling, corporate identity, image and experience industry.

Background: Due to the rapid growth of social media usage, marketing has significantly moved from traditional ways towards digital marketing. In today’s society, people are exposed to an overload of information through various media channels. Due to the overexposing of marketing, traditional marketing has become less effective since the majority of the information through traditional media channels pass people by. Considering this, companies are seeking new ways to market their brand and products. A new attractive marketing tool is blogs and with the help of bloggers as influencers, companies see the potential of effectively reaching out to their desired target group.   Purpose: The purpose of the thesis is to examine how advertising of brands, products and services are presented in the blog of Michaela Forni as well as the readers’ interpretation of the sponsored content.   Method: This thesis adopted an abductive philosophy, with an interpretive, qualitative methodological approach. The main techniques include content analysis, narrative analysis and semi-structured interviews.   Conclusion: A major finding and conclusion obtained from this study is the importance of what product or service that is promoted in the sponsored blog posts. This factor plays a crucial role whether the readers are susceptible to the sponsored message or not. Thus, sponsored posts are more appreciated than native advertising and ad-banners appearing on the blog as the latter two forms feature content not written by the blogger herself. Michaela Forni is using several presentations styles of her sponsored posts which leads to a bigger interest of the readers due to the variety. One of the most significant conclusion from this study is that branded storytelling is the most effective presentational style of sponsored content. The loyal relationship between the blogger and reader results in less ad skepticism and the reader having a positive association towards the sponsored content on the blog. The authors also identified correlations between the presentation styles of the sponsored content and readers’ interpretations.

Denna studie visar hur både sensemaking och berättelser tjänar som verktyg för att ge fördjupad förståelse för de implikationer som digitalisering innebär för moderna organisationer och därigenom samspelet mellan organisering och digitalisering. Berättelser bidrar med en djupare förståelse för hur sensemaking konstrueras och struktureras i en organisation under digital transformation. Sensemaking och berättande visar hur organisationen konstruerar olika förändringsbilder av digitalisering, hur dessa fluktuerar, samt vad detta kan innebära för organisationens arbete med detta.
This study shows how both sensmaking and storytelling serve as a tool for providing in-depth understanding of the implications that digitalization entails for modern organizations and thereby the interaction between organizing and digitization. Stories contribute with a deeper insight of the way in which sensmaking is constructed and structured within an organization undertaking digital transformation. Sensemaking and storytelling show how the organization portrays various change images of digitization, the way these fluctuate, and what implications they may pose for organizations.