Generation Z has opened the can

Sammanfattning: This study has examined the relationship between the increase in consumption of white snus among Generation Z in Sweden and the branding strategies used by the nicotine brand LYFT. The purpose of this research has been to gain an understanding of how a brand can market a regulated product to a young consumer segment by conducting strategic communication prefered by these young individuals. The background of this study is based upon the recent increase in consumption of snus/white snus among the younger population in Sweden. The lack of tobacco in white snus facilitates the branding of the product, since the country's highly regulated tobacco law does not apply to the product. The study is written within the field of strategic communication and digital media studies and has a critical approach. Furthermore, the methods used are visual semiotic analysis of empirical material collected from Instagram. The Instagram accounts from which material has been collected, belongs to LYFT or Influencers who are publishing the content in collaboration with LYFT. The theoretical framework consists of theories within the field of strategic communication that are proven to be efficient when marketing towards a younger population, these includes: customer involvement and co-creation, symbolic consumption, word-of-mouth, inclusive marketing and influencer marketing. The result showed that LYFT’s is branding their product primarily towards a young segment by incorporating all of these branding strategies in their communication. The results of the analysis showed indications of a great focus on symbolic consumption in order to give the target group a sense of belonging to a crowd or lifestyle by buying and consuming their product. A possible conclusion is therefore that the images posted on Instagram focus on selling a lifestyle rather than the product itself. This is problematic as it normalizes the use of and creates a need for nicotine within the youth culture. Furthermore, the ethical dilemmas identified in the discussion can potentially affect the role of the communication professionals negatively.