Undercover Marketing : The method which lies beneath

Sammanfattning: Background: A coming of age of a generation named Generation Y, which holds negative views on commercial messages, has resulted in the need of special marketing methods which are known to be more alternative. Guerrilla Marketing, being such a method holds beneath it Undercover Marketing which is another method and has the potential of reaching this generation. Purpose: Our purpose is firstly to define a theoretical placement of Undercover Marketing, secondly to define the theoretical views on ethics regarding the mentioned term and thirdly to see if there is a future, a will, and knowledge for its usage within the Swedish community of marketing practitioners. Method: The research for this thesis is done in a qualitative method through a series of interviews with four advertising firms and one freelance artdirector. The interviews were compared to each other and to the frame of reference during the analysis in order to create a more complete picture. Results: In this thesis we have seen that there is a future in the use of Undercover Marketing as it can prove to be the only method able to reach Gen Y. However it must follow certain rules to succeed and companies must take certain factors into consideration prior to attempting a marketing campaign including this particular method.