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old discourses – wrong food for thought
Even if most of us aspire reflection (for instance relating recent experiences to earlier ones in order to produce more complex thoughts), we sometimes get stuck in old discourses giving us the wrong food for thoughts. Strategies, questions, are being formulated and framed on the basis of this misleading (maybe obsolete) knowledge. I have recently…
”entertainment” is dead
No young informant uses the word entertainment when speaking of or describing media. For example, while Omar, 16, likes being entertained by sitcoms, advertising, and music, he never counts media as entertainment. Media is either information or advertising, not “entertainment”. Is it the new definition of “media”? Should all media be informative, either as advertising…
cockroaches in your face every day – not possible in sweden
Anyone else who had tears in their eyes when Uppdrag granskning showed a family of nine living in a two bedroom apartment in Malmö full of cockroaches? A lot of people have difficult lives but in most countries there is an awareness of this. But in Sweden, people just won’t believe it’s true unless it…
in the dressing gown
We went to Yasuragi to walk around in the Japanese kimono, or dressing gown as we Swedes say, and plan the new concept Konsumentnära Varumärkesutveckling. Viktoria and Jonas look quite happy!
tip of the day – how to deal with stress when driving
Spending time with informants is such a privilege. Not only do they welcome me into their private lives, they allow me to explore their personal world – an amazing source of information on human behavior. That’s way the ethnographic method is so central for in-depth understanding of people. The other day I was doing fieldwork…
anthropologist visiting an exotic tribe?
When I am presenting our ethnographic findings about media habits amongst the younger generation, it sometimes feels like I am talking about a different tribe. Almost like the old anthropologists, that travelled to Africa or Asia, coming back to describe totally unknown habits and customs from their exotic fieldwork far, far away from home. Media…
trustworthy commercials – how to make a message get a cross
Youths are very skilled in selecting what’s real and what’s phony in the commercialized world. Sometimes a simple message – just telling like it is by a person they trust – is all it takes for a commercial to get across as honest and trustworthy. ”I really like Dogge Doggelitos commercial for Elgiganten”, Omar (17…
media habits
Rashid 17 years Sometimes reads the local newspapers and enjoys Nacka/Värmdöposten (local newspaper). Likes punkt SE (free newspaper) for the small format but also because it is the newest newspaper he knows of. New things are exciting. Reads aftonbladet.se regularly and believes it has everything: updated news, large text, and competitions. Rashid is an active…
new generation, new ideals
Difficult times have fostered a new type of mentality in Sweden and I am not referring to the crises of today. Kids, youths, that was borne in the 90-ties have always been raised in a state of crises, stress and insecurity. The rest of us, borne in the 40ties, 50ties, 60ties, 70ties and 80ties, we…
cultural branding needs ethnographic research
Identity brands are positioned in the consumer’s daily life rather than in their minds. That’s why knowledge about cognitions and the buying decision process won’t help you if that’s what you are trying to accomplish. You need to understand the consumer’s identity projects, their desires and anxieties in their everyday life, collectively constructing and maintaining their identities.…
what about the cows?
Echology and cows. A tricky combination that is not going that well together. [youtube eEqUKPhHIWA&eurl nolink]
the multicultural computer world
Since I came back to Sweden from spending almost five years in the US, I quickly realized that I had to make a significant change in my life. It concerned a major alteration of my core habits and values. I had to put my identity to test. You see, I was a Mac-user – but…
