UPPSALA UNIVERSITY Department of Information Science Division of Media and CommunicationD - Essay Presented spring 2007

Loyalty Club An Online Brand Relation Management Project

Author: Michaela Ristiniemi

Tutor: Peder Hård af Segerstad

ABSTRACT

Title: Loyalty Club. An Online Brand Relations Management Project

Amount of pages: 46 (61 including abstract, references and annexes)

Author: Michaela Ristiniemi

Tutor: Peder Hård af Segerstad

Course: Media- and communication D

Period: Spring 2007

University: Division of Media and Communication, Department of Information Science, Uppsala University

Object: To research how an interactive relation online could be created between a brand such as Matrix and their customers, on the Swedish market.

Method: Qualitative interview

Material: Interviews with Matrix product manager and hairdressers

Main results: A relation online works the same way that a relation does offline; that even if the Internet as medium works fast and effectively, the relation is built over time. It is a communication process which requires much attention, where it is the consumer that to a large extent runs the relations company. This sort of relation can be very valuable for the hairdressers since it can save time and trouble where it is needed and develop them as professionals, and for the brand it can give loyal customers when they themselves become loyal to the customer. The online space, or “loyalty club”, should be simple and contain only information that the hairdressers are interested in, and what that is, is found through the dialogue with them. This is a new development and it meets skepticism as does most of the new occurrences, but much points to that it is the future of communication and more so for the generation that was brought up with the Internet and thus interacts with it naturally. The core question of Internet is that it is used to organize time-space, with the freedom to act independently.

Key notions: Communication, time-space, interactivity, dialogue, relationships and loyalty.

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Table of contents

1 INTERACTIVE COMMUNICATION .…………………………………………….....… 51.1 Introduction and background .………………………………………………..... 51.2 Problem formulation ………………………………………………………….... 6

1.2.1 Purpose of the project …………………………………………………...…. 61.2.2 Questions ………………………………………………………………..…. 6

1.3 Notions and definitions ……………………………………………………..….. 6 1.3.1 Communication and time-space ………………………………………...…. 6 1.3.2 Interactivity and dialogue ………………………………………………….. 71.3.3 Relationship and loyalty ………………………………………………...…. 8

1.4 Disposition ………………………………………………………………………. 8

2 PROJECT PLANNING: PRE-RESEARCH AND THEORY ………………….. …….. 92.1 Existing works in this field ………………………………………………….….. 9

2.1.1 The authors ...………………………………………………………….…… 92.1.2 The contributions ……………………………………………………...….. 10

2.1.2.1 Communication and time-space ……………………………………… 102.1.2.2 Interactivity and dialogue ……………………………………………… 112.1.2.3 Relationship and loyalty ……………………………………………… 14

2.2 Theory focus ……………………………………………………………...……. 172.2.1 Marshall McLuhan’s theories about the information age ……………..….. 172.2.2 Manuel Castells theories about the information age …………………...…. 20

3 DESIGNING THE PROJECT ……………………………………………………….…. 223.1 Research discussion ...…………………………………………………………. 22

3.1.1 Organized facts ………………………………………………………...…. 223.1.2 Research method ……………………………………………………….…. 22

3.2 Preparations before the collection of material …………………………...….. 233.3 During the collection of material ....………………………………………..…. 24

3.3.1 Interview with brand …………………………………………………..….. 243.3.2 Pilot interviews ………………………………………………………...…. 253.3.3 Interviews with hairdressers …………………………………………..….. 25

3.4 After the collection of material ……………………………………………….. 253.5 Quality in scientific investigation ………………………………………..…… 26

4 THE PROJECT: EMPIRICS …………………………………………………...……… 274.1 Interview with the Matrix product manager ....…………………………..….. 274.2 Pilot interviews per telephone with hairdressers ……………………………. 304.3 Semi-structured interviews with hairdressers ...………………………….…. 30

4.3.1 About the internet as medium …………………………………………….. 304.3.2 About doing business with suppliers ………………………………….….. 304.3.3 About an online space …………………………………………………….. 314.3.4.About if anything in their business already changed with the technology,

and if there is something to add ………………………………...………… 31

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5 ANALYZING THE PROJECT ……………………………………………………..….. 325.1 Analysing the empirics with earlier research …………………………….….. 32

5.1.1 Communication and time-space; About the Internet as medium ……...….. 325.1.2 Interactivity and dialogue; About doing business with suppliers ……...…. 345.1.3 Relationship and loyalty; About an online space ....………………………. 37

5.2 McLuhan and Castells integrated ……………………………………...…….. 40

6 RESULTS ………………………………………………………………………..………. 436.1 A Loyalty Club concept …………………………………………………..…… 43

7 CONCLUDING DISCUSSION ………………………………………………...………. 467.1 Further research ……………………………………………………….……… 47

References ……………………………………………………………………………...…………… 48

Figure: Schramm’s Model of Communication, 1954 ..…………………………………………… 7

Annex 1: Empirical material from the interviews with hairdressersAnnex 2: Questionnaire MatrixAnnex 3: Questionnaire hairdressers

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1 INTERACTIVE COMMUNICATIONThe theme of this project is interactive communication. This is a vast activity, which covers all information reception on the Internet, where the information is accessible at any time at any place, and where dialogues can be carried out. In politics this is seen as a development for the democracy. In culture it is seen as a tool for expressing creativity. In society it is seen as a “new society”. And in economics, it offers great opportunities for making business.

The discipline that this study aims to follow is one within the school of Media and communication. This is a very rich tradition that include just about everything that concerns communication and the medium. Therefore, the delimitation is on the Internet as medium and on the communicative opportunities it offers on the Swedish market for a brand such as Matrix, through an online space.1 The approach falls more on social science, than it does on economics, as it treats notions such as communication, dialogue and relationship.

1.1 Introduction and backgroundThe field of Interactive commercial is about a new way to communicate to the customer. The central idea is that the customer participates actively in the marketing process and to a large extent even "makes" the commercial. The control that conventional, yet modern, media such as the press, the radio, and the television pose over the customer, the Internet has now transferred to the customer himself. It is not enough to see the Internet as a new communication media; it changes our way of doing things through offering close to all the products and services we have offline, online. It has frequently been debated about the risk of people becoming asocial; that we loose our human contacts. But instead of looking at it that way, we could consider the possibilities that it offers. The physical human contact can be complemented by valuable relations online - both private and business. Online interactivity is unique in the way that it gives the freedom to act unconditionally of time and geographical space. There are fewer limits for how far we can go and it has been said that “socially, there are happening things that marketing doesn’t see.” 2 With this, Internet has changed the ways to conduct business. One should think globally, but know the local market very well. And it is inevitable to have conclusive knowledge of the customer. Accordingly to Initiative, a media strategy company, this is the only way to answer to the customer’s necessities and wishes. In the world of commercials, accordingly to Publicis, another media strategy company, we should forget about mass communication and instead direct us on a micro communication. I see this point as very interesting.

A mass marketer is a hunter – a relationship marketer is a farmerDon Peppers – CMR Focus Conference, Boston 20013

Internet makes possible the dialogue, which gives valuable feedback from the customer to the brand and from the brand to the customer. And it is this dialogue which characterizes the interactive communication that I aim to study in this project. New guidelines and ways are created for the commercials, and it is here that the interactive communication is said to have no limits. - The adversity? It is not the technology, but the customer. And this customer is not the same as it was yesterday.

1 The reason why Matrix is used as reference is because it will serve with important information as to understanding the conditions under which the hair care companies operate. This will also give this project a reasonable delimitation, possible to study under the short time available2 Daniel Solana, the founder of the interactive advertising agency DoubleYou3 Varey, 2002: 1

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1.2 Problem formulationThe problem formulation came up from an interest for the direction in which the Internet is developing. In my studies of Media and communication I have treated this medium in many ways, and would now like to further look into another branch; the marketing relations it enables. As delimitation I chose to look at a hair care brand, Matrix, and especially their customers, hairdressers, to learn how business is currently being carried out between them, and what role the Internet would have for developing a better relationship. I see it as a very interesting branch, as both the brand and the hairdressers are interdependent, in order to survive, but where the hairdressers are not only customers; they themselves have customers, and compete against other hair salons. There is thus a mutual dependence that develops between the brand and the hairdressers, which I find interesting to see how Internet can be a part of, as it each time moves into more fields of social life and since its force and effect is enormous due to its potentials and characteristics. The hypothesis of this study is that problems such as inefficiency and information loss can be avoided in a virtual space online, a “loyalty club”, where efficient business can be handled and where a sustainable and loyal customer-brand relation can be created and maintained. But the purpose is to see how this would be possible. What I propose here is a communication project to research how this can be achieved, with point of reference to the brand Matrix.

1.2.1 Purpose of this projectTo research how an interactive relation online could be created between a brand such as Matrix and their customers, on the Swedish market.

1.2.2 Questions

1) Why is a loyalty club valuable for the hairdressers?2) Why is a loyalty club valuable for the brands?3) How can an interactive relation online between customer-brand be created

and what can it give?

1.3 Notions and definitionsSince notions may create confusion, or behold different meanings in different contexts, these definitions are meant to give clarity to what they stand for in this particular project.

1.3.1 Communication and time-spaceTo define the meaning of communication, it is its technical aspect that is in focus and discussed and its fundamental sense is shared with the definition of the notion done by Peder Hård af Segerstad; that it is “the human communication that generates information, and it is the communication that refines information into knowledge. And knowledge is the mother of all.” 4 The idea is that, through the Internet, there has been a development of possibilities to communicate, which imbues close to all the aspects of social life, especially in the resolution of the physical space and spheres. It is in the sense of constructing knowledge, the receiver about the sender and the sender about the receiver, that a relationship created online is valuable. Mainly because it is a sphere where time-space looses the significance they have in physical space, which is thus why the notion is discussed in relation to communication. Communication is the humankind’s most important behavior, because it is thanks to our

4 Hård af Segerstad, 2002: 14 f.

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ability to exchange information with our environment that we have been able to create and develop the incredibly complex and extensive systems of cooperation that we call “social organizations” and which marks all aspects of human life; in the cultural life, work life, political life and family life. Communication functions as transmitter of information, knowledge development and relation creation.5 Communication is “you tell me what you want”.6

1.3.2 Interactivity and dialogueInteractivity is an essential part of communication. Human communication is constituted by an interaction between people, where the exchange of information is the key element.7

Interaction is not a question of a sender “injecting” a message in a more or less passive receiver; instead the central point of this notion is the emphasis on the role as an active establisher and interpreter of information. To demonstrate this, Wilbur Schramm developed a model which shows this process very well:

FIGURE 1.0

Schramm means that, in order to attain a meaningful communication, three functions must be fulfilled; 1) a communicator must be able to receive the signals from the surrounding world, understand and register these signals and “translate” them into messages, 2) he must be able to interpret the meaning of the message, and 3) he must be able to formulate own messages and send them to the other party. Schramm argues that, in this way, we learn as a form of taking over other people’s knowledge and perspectives of the concrete and abstract reality. And in order to be able to be both a sender and a receiver, feedback is very important. Feedback is the reaction on what is received in a conversation; in a communication relation, it is very important that each party acts as both receiver and sender in order for there to be an information exchange, because both activities - of sending and receiving – are each others prerequisites. Even though this can be seen as simple, it is very important for the

5 Hård af Segerstad, 2002: 28 f. 6 Peppers, 2001: 297 Hård af Segerstad, 2002: 28

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understanding of man as processor of information.8 In an interactive dialogue, the consumer can talk to the company.9 Interactivity and dialogue are thus intertwined, as dialogue is the activity between a sender and a receiver and vice versa.

1.3.3 Relationship and loyaltyEstablishing, developing and maintaining relationships are the foremost important tasks of human communication. It is about negotiating about a sense, of feelings and interest. A relation is often established when something in common is found between two individuals.10

And it is when this relationship grows over time, and proves that it can be trusted, that loyalty is created. This is why these notions are discussed together.

1.4 DispositionThe following chapter two will present the outcome of the planning of this project, namely, this concerns relevant works that has been done by various researchers around the central notions presented here above. This will all be given a perspective out of which to regard the online world, through theories from Marshall McLuhan and Manual Castells. Chapter three will then describe how this project has been proceeding. Here it is the question of scientific writing that is in focus as showing proof of transparency and quality in designing the project, and more specifically as concerns the method used to gain the empirical material. The empirics are then presented in chapter four (but also in the Annex 1). In chapter five the empirical material is analyzed and discussed accordingly to the theoretical frame given in chapter three, in order to approach and finally answer the purpose of this project.

The results can serve with valuable information for many different fields that are affected by interactive communication. But since it specifically discusses the relation between brand and consumer, a presentation of the results will be given in chapter six in from of a concept presentation to a brand such as Matrix, to suggest how they could proceed in order to reach a valuable relation with their customers through an online Loyalty Club. Finally, interactive communication will be discussed in its wider sense in chapter seven, and suggestions are also given for further research.

8 Hård af Segerstad, 2002: 254 ff.9 Peppers, 2001: 2910 Hård af Segerstad, 2002: 31 ff.

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2 PROJECT PLANNING: PRE-RESEARCH AND THEORYPlanning the project comprised much reading of earlier research and interesting theories. In this chapter, the field of study is framed and further specified as I aim to set out a ground to later analyze the empirics. Relevant previous studies are first of all presented, and thereafter the theories are to contribute with a perspective out of which to see this field from.

2.1 Existing work in this fieldDespite that interactive communication on the internet is quite new; much work has been done during the turn of the millennium. Here, communication on the Internet is discussed around the central notions of this study: communication and time-space, interactivity and dialogue, and relationship and loyalty; through existing research done by the European Communication Council, Don Peppers and Martha Rogers, Seth Godin, Tony Apéria, and Richard J. Varey. But first, a short presentation of whom these contributors are.

2.1.1 The authorsECC - The European Communication Council report; is an independent research project at the Free University of Berlin and the Ludwig-Maximilian University of Munich, which consists of independent scholars and scientists from both European countries and the US. The objective of this organization is to discuss the trends and issues in European communication; in media, telecommunications and information technologies; which have an affect on the future development of communication industries. The article Virtual Communities, Space and Mobility was written by the scientist Ilkka Tuomi, who is noted for several writings on the subject of the Internet. He has been a staff member of the Institute For Prospective Technological Studies, and Principal Scientist at the Nokia Research Centre.

Don Peppers and Martha Rogers are both authors and speakers, but they are also the founding partners of Peppers & Rogers Group, which is a leading customer-focused management consulting firm. Peppers and Rogers are recognized as experts on customer-based business strategy. Enterprise One to One talks about how the interactive age of Internet will force all enterprises to learn how to treat different customers differently; in order to create successful competition through consumer loyalty and sustainable customer relations, where the important is to focus on the consumer and communicate about the individual needs, because this can strengthen the company consumer relation.

Seth Godin is the vice-MD for Yahoo! and a pioneer what concerns direct-marketing on-line. In his work Permission Marketing: Turning Strangers into Friends, and Friends into Customers Godin questions traditional marketing and marketing theories through showing how it could be designed to fit our new network-world. He means that, with the contemporary technique of Websites, marketing can engage the consumer into a mutual relationship. Godin, who himself works on keeping customers interested in Yahoo! can bring good insights for this study.

Tony Apéria is responsible for courses in brand management at the Stockholm University School of Business; he is also the brand consultant and principal of Nordic Brand Academy (NBA). Apéria emphasizes how his three years of work as a Direct Marketing Consultant has characterized his view of the necessity of caring for the existing consumer base, which is demonstrated in his two works; Brand relationship management: den varumärkesbyggande processen and Brand relations management: bridging the gap between brand promise and brand delivery.

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Richard J. Varey, Reader in Communication and Management in the faculty of Business Informatics at the University of Salford, has written numerous works in the fields of management, marketing management, marketing communication, service marketing, corporate communication, and internal marketing. Thus, he is a professional who can contribute with valuable information for this study. Here, Varey’s work Relationship Marketing: Dialogue and Networks in the E-Commerce Era will be presented; which puts the concept of relationship rather than marketing at the centre of concern, and questions why managed communication is so important for business. Varey presents a perspective of communication as the mode of interaction, and relationship as the shared context of meaning making. He also develops a management framework for responsive and responsible communicative interaction, which questions information and communication technologies as enabler and facilitator of the relation between sellers and buyers.

2.1.2 The contributions Here, the notions presented in chapter one are discussed through the existing work done by these authors. Due to the character of Internet, it is inevitable that all of these contributions discusses the central notions of this project, and therefore the divide has been made on the emphasis that each have on a notion in particular.

2.1.2.1 Communication and time-spaceOne of the main tendencies for the future communication in Europe was discussed by Ilkka Tuomi in the European Communication Council (ECC) report E-Merging Media. Communication and the Media Economy of the Future, under the title Virtual Communities, Space and Mobility. It talks about the placing of online interaction in the context of real life; in the means that spatial concentration promotes innovation. Here, the fact was stated that social networks are changing; Internet is increasingly influencing the social life of the users allowing new relationships to build up. And as people are moving towards each other through the new technologies, concentration is generated, which can lead to an “economy of opportunities” that aims to be an active manager of life options.11

Tuomi writes about the significance of spaces for social relationships and communities, because these social networks become important social capital for the construction of identities. It is in this way that he means that the communication media bring together people. That instead of viewing the world, we interact with it.12 So the Internet is not, according to Tuomi, separated from the reality; it brings people with similar interests together online. And “space” continues in this way to have a crucial importance for economic activity online, as it previously has had offline.13 These centres of the aforementioned “economy of opportunities” are predicted to create positive feedback activities between the concentration of work and life opportunities on the one hand, and economic activity and people on the other. Here, individual freedom is “informationalized” and associated with active management of life options. And therefore, these spaces (or “hot spots”) can meet the needs and desires of people. Further, they can work as “insurance” systems to manage the risks of “uninformed” choices.14

To understand the ongoing transformations and therefore the development of social networks, Tuomi states it crucial to study the ways social interaction and time-space are related. The cognitive and social aspects of time-space are therefore key research areas when we try to

11 Tuomi in ECC, 2005: 21312 Ibid., 2005: 21513 Ibid., 2005: 21614 Ibid., 2005: 217 f.

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understand knowledge society and social transformations associated with new communication technologies. In the context of Internet, Tuomi means that the importance of time-space becomes obvious. He develops this idea further by quoting James Slevin15;

“…individuals and organisations do not just use media ‘in’ time-space; they use itto organize time-space. By examining the Internet in this light, we can begin to make an effort at gasping its impact on the volume of time-space available to individuals and organisations in the pursuance of their projects.16”

And to understand these ongoing transformations of social interaction further, Tuomi insists on understanding how contents of interaction and their constraints change. He suggests that we should study how the Internet is affecting individuals and organisations in their ability to mobilize space, by using the Internet to facilitate the routinized specification and allocation of tasks, to coordinate the time-space trajectories of their projects.17 Tuomi means that both physical space and cyber space can be described with the same analytical tools; that virtual communities could be studied as something that relates to the rest of the reality.18 That communities also exist beyond special neighbourhoods becomes obvious when community is defined by social interaction. To sense the belonging to those who do not live in the same physical space, people maintain community ties through phoning, writing, driving, flying and so on. Because of this, a reliance on place-to-place connectivity grew.19 Today, Internet has made communication personal and independent of time and space, and so changed the connectivity of social networks.20

Finally Tuomi talks about an interesting term of “experience economy” as he discusses interactivity. He means that we are moving toward a future where consumers are not passive, but actively construct their social and psychological position; people fight for “their life, trying to make a difference between ’being nothing‘ and ’being something’”. It is this existence that we are moving towards, where social network management, communication, and identity construction are key activities. And economical growth of today is happening through business that supports identity management and construction. It is the communication technology that enables an interpersonal existence, but position is not occupied, but constantly produced. And therefore, a continuous reproduction is crucial.21

2.1.2.2 Interactivity and dialogueAs concerns interactivity and dialogue, Don Peppers and Martha Rogers, and Seth Godin has a lot in common, as they mean that one of the most important things in order to manage a relation in an interactive environment is to have information on the customer and getting it from them personally. And this is why dialogues and feedback from the customers are essential elements is all customer relations as communication plays a crucial and integrating part. The individual information gained, will then lead the company in its behaviour to tailor their products and services according to the specific consumer.22 To this, Godin also adds that the idea is that the messages should be expected, personal and relevant; expected since people

15 James Slevin, a professor at the Amsterdam School of Communications Research, has written the work The Internet and Society (2000).16 Tuomi in ECC, 2005: 218 f.17 Ibid.18 Ibid., 2005: 22519 Ibid., 2005: 22620 Ibid., 2005: 2321 Ibid., 2005: 232 f.22 Pepper, 2001: 2005

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look forward to hearing from you; personal since the messages are specially created for the receptor and relevant because the commercials are about something that the receptor wants to hear about. It makes “strangers become friends and friends become customers”.23

Godin calls this type of communicative process “permission marketing”; because consent is an asset that will create profit, and has a greater effect than a random message of the traditional mass-market kind.24 Traditional marketing makes the mistake of not noticing the customers but until the moment that they become customers, or that they do not follow up and interact with them afterwards. There are also those who do not give attention to their customers until they have become disappointed ex-customers. Internet enables building a computer system of tailor-made information about each individual customer, and it makes it possible to have perfect memory about each one.25 Godin stresses that the modern marketer is open and honest about its purposes, and about its purposes towards the customer; they communicate about what they will do with the data they collected about the customer and about what advantages it gives.26 What Godin means it that, successful marketers have changed their strategy towards this interactive process where relations, repetition, and consent makes this process a long term commitment, and where it is constantly shaped and reshaped to suit the changing needs of the individual customer.27 Godin also states how numerous marketing researches’ have shown that customers like benefiting the companies that they trust. But he emphasizes that, before trust, there needs to be consent; to communication; to tailor-make products and services; and to receive information.28

Peppers and Rogers offer an explanation of this nature and this role of the consumer dialogue over Internet, where as each consumer can be divided according to their needs and value; Need specification and Insight in strategic value. Need specification is about the integration of the consumer into the company, where individual needs can be specified in detail. Here, the company can become aware of discontent, which can be repaired accordingly to the individual wishes. Insight in strategic value is about knowing what future plans the consumer has about remaining a customer. This also gives pre-knowledge about any future buy or project. It can also give valuable information about the competitors or help to get in contact with other possible, future consumers. This type of inside information can normally only be gained through a direct interaction with the consumer, and this information is essential in order to plan consumer investments in effective ways.29 Godin stresses the incredible difficulty of building up a base of suitable consumers, and means that it is a great loss not to use this strategy.30

Permission marketing is about finding a reason for the consumer to dedicate attention to the brand; it is necessary to reward this attention with e.g. information, education, entertainment or even cash. Because, the problem that Godin sees in today’s society, is that people are much more selfish than ever, and mostly so of their time. Without a very good reason, they will not give away their most valuable resource. Each individual contact must be valuable for the consumer, and the question that the brand needs to answer the consumer at each step of the way, is “what do I gain on this”, because, if the consumers are rewarded for their attention,

23 Godin, 2000: 40 f.24 Ibid., 2000: 4625 Ibid., 2000: 60 ff.26 Ibid., 2000: 7027 Ibid., 2000: 8628 Ibid., 2000: 9029 Peppers, 2001: 20530 Godin, 2000: 204 f.

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the brand can permit the message to develop over time; more slowly and effectively.31

Permission marketing is thus a process which starts with an interruption in the consumer life world, but quickly becomes a dialogue. And if the dialogue is managed right, a relation will develop. But for this relationship to be maintained, the consumer needs to give his consent, which cannot be done without an interactive dialogue and communication in the form of information and rewards.32 To gain and develop this consent, Godin stressed the creating of increased trust with the consumer. And this consent should be brought up to a level where the consumer starts to look forward to, and expect a communication. Just as in human relationships, this relationship should become even more personal and relevant over time.33

Due to the way that the world looks today; the worse the communication noise becomes, the more this consent becomes valuable and harder to get. A brand should also know that, on each market segment, there is a limited amount of companies that can get the consumer consent.34

Godin means that in this age of marketing; it is very important to have patience and advanced planning, because solutions are to be found along time and this requires discipline. It is not enough to “sow the seeds to consent”, because great demand is placed on “farming these seeds”.35 Peppers and Rogers mean that it is fundamental to first of all understand how interactivity and the information technique has changed the most basic rules of competition; computers are used to build up an important barrier against the competitors, with the starting point of each and every single consumer that the company has. Along time, through the interactive communication, the company and the consumer can make sure that there is an understanding around the product or service, of how to use them and how they can become better. The company becomes better in predicting what the consumer wants, which will make it harder for a competitor to take over the relation that is build of trust, because it takes time to learn how to establish it in the way that is comfortable for the customer.36

One of the most important ideas behind permission marketing is that, giving something attention, is in fact a conscious effort; that in order to sell, you need to ask for permission to do so, through a dialogue in an interactive relationship. A dialogue is something that the business owners used in the early days, before the birth of mass media, when this relation was much friendlier since it was based on consumer consent and participation.37 A learning relationship, according to Peppers and Rogers, is one where the consumer finds it in his own interest to remain with the company. Loyalty does not come out of force, but it is a state in which the consumer will be more comfortable. It is a relationship where the consumer tells the company what he wants and needs, and where the company further meets these wishes through tailor-making products and service according to the specifications, and remembers them. After various interactions and dialogues, the consumer has spent time and energy teaching the company about his needs, and to at this point get as high a level of service from another company, the process must be begun from the beginning.38 It is actually this dialogue and feedback from individual consumers that run the relations company.39 And through creating a “system” for different types of customers, based on their needs and value, the

31 Godin, 2000: 12832 Ibid., 2000: 13133 Ibid., 2000: 19934 Ibid., 2000: 21335 Ibid., 2000: 22036 Peppers, 2001: 25 ff.37 Godin, 2000: 10 f.38 Peppers, 2001: 31 f.39 Ibid., 2001: 38

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relational company can discover possibilities for further profits.40 An interactive relation is not only about the company being interested, but that the consumer also is interested in teaching. Peppers and Rogers clears therefore out the difference between traditional marketing and relational marketing; as the first mediates a message to the consumer, as convincing and effective as possible, but where the relational company in its turn, tries to get a feedback, as effective and valuable as possible from the consumer.41

2.1.2.3 Relationship and loyaltyAs concerns relationship marketing and the fostering of loyalty, Tony Apréia and Richard J. Varey share some interesting ideas. In his study of relationship marketing, Apéria has given a comprehensive analysis over how brands can build enduring relations with consumers through a deeper understanding of the consumer.42 More so, he has found that looking at the already loyal customer for brand insight, can represent the potential that the brand has in achieving relations. This existing relationship is worth understanding, in order to reinforce it and expand the loyal base.43 With emphasis on relationship, Varey means that the data capture and data technologies allow the seller to know customers as individuals. He further mentions the lack of the consumer voice in many “so-called relationship marketing” practices, and that this sheds doubt concerning the serving of mutual interests in a win-win outcome. Varey equally emphasizes that not all customers want personal attention.44

According to Apéria in his work Brand relationship management: den varumärkes byggande processen the starting point of relationship building should be at the existing brand image. And the governing idea here is similar to the ideas in the previous paragraph of the contributions made by Peppers, Rogers and Godin; that the brand can build enduring and profitable brands through consumer dialogues, where the consumer needs can be understood as well as knowledge can be gained on how the brand promise can meet these needs. Apéria, who has conducted many studies in this field, argues therefore that it is not enough to conduct merely explicit researches, to only know the top of the iceberg, when so much is hidden under the surface.45 Some of the results that Apéria presented stated that there is a need for a continuous consumer dialogue in building endurable and strong brands, and that focus must be moved from the traditional categorizing of today, towards the consumer governed category of tomorrow. A strong brand needs, not only a strong brand, but also an effective communication. Through studying how the brand differs in different dimensions, an understanding can be crated, which can help the company to differentiate their brand.46 He also means that the brand's communication and positioning must change over time, as positioning refers to that a dimension of the brand is related to the consumer’s expectations, needs and desires.47

Richard J. Varey does not see relationship marketing as a replacement for product management, instead he means that both should operate harmoniously as the most important is finding products for customers, than finding customers for products; both seller and buyer participates in a social action of communication that leads to a mutual creation of meaning.

40 Peppers, 2001: 9841 Ibid., 2001: 206 f.42 Apéria, 2001: 39943 Apéria, 2004: 8344 Varey, 2002: 15345 Apéria, 2001: 39446 Ibid., 2001: 396 ff.47 Ibid., 2001: 403

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This is why Varey prefers the notion of “communicative action” for the “fashionable ‘interactive communication’” where as he wants to talk about an action of “reasoning together”. As a problem he identifies the “how” of encouraging recognition for the need of dialogue, as he means that management of buyer-seller interaction in the context of relationship process with ICT, still remains to be understood and facilitated. And that ‘communication’ needs to be re-viewed, away from traditional emphasis of merely planned information, towards a more facilitated conversation which leads into dialogue, since the later is fundamentally productive of identity, meaning and of knowledge.48

“The very creation of a relationship, its maintenance and development, are all based on persuasion. No-one has to be in a relationship with anyone else and all voluntary relationships are therefore rooted in our ability to attract (i.e., persuade) the other person to stay in the relationship.49”

Varey talks about dimensions of trust when establishing relations; that a person presents attractive propositions, establishes some rapport and is liked by the other person; as feelings of attraction and liking are very significant in relationship development. He writes that attractiveness include feelings which comes from judgments as ease of interaction, frequency of interaction, closeness, familiarity, similarity, mutuality and interdependence. And likeability comes from judgments of sincerity, dependability, trustfulness and consideration.50

In his work Brand relations management : bridging the gap between brand promise and brand delivery Apéria declares amongst others the idea that the strong brands that will survive, are anchored in both the conscious and unconscious needs and desires of their customers. Loyalty is something that each company needs, and to increase it, Apéria means that customers need to be provided with resources and attention, e.g. to know why some customers stop buying the brand.51 Apéria discusses the notion of loyalty through "Loyalty Marketing", a concept introduced by Light, where the goal is to gain a sustainable and profitable growth, through strengthening and increasing brand loyalty. To compete in a market, a brand should also define “happy customers” which are potential for becoming a loyal customer. To maintain or create brand loyalty; the important elements of marketing should be followed up even after purchase, because post purchase marketing is said to strengthen the brand relation. A company should also convey measures, and control of the brand loyalty over time. Because, the goal of this type of marketing is not only to sell, but to create loyalty, since even just a small increase of customer loyalty can have a great impact on profitability.52 The strengths of Light’s model of "Loyalty Marketing" are that it clearly demonstrates the relation between brand building and profitability. And the most valuable aspect of creating brand loyalty is namely after purchase.53

“When the terrain you traverse differs from the map, change the map!54”

Varey argues that trust and repeated valuable consistent service quality are elements that forester loyalty.55 That to understand a problem or finding a solution, depends on two parties

48 Varey, 2002: Introduction49 Ibid., 2002: 5250 Ibid., 2002: 51 f.51 Apéria, 2004: 5152 Ibid., 2004: 142 f.53 Ibid. , 2004: 14354 Varey, 2002: 10955 Ibid., 2002: 78

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willing to listen to each other and have the ability to discuss and communicate. It is a mediated meaning-making (expressing) and interaction (discussing), since the creation of a dialogue requires much more effort than just prompting a response to an offer. This type of managing requires providing with a planned and planned-for interaction, as well as the taking into account of unplanned communication, and produce credibility and likeability through the saying of promise-making messages and the doing of “respondability”; receptiveness to customers messages and promise-keeping. Varey means that a ‘satisfied’ customer is not always a ‘loyal’ customer. Instead, it is the increased value defined by the customer that increases loyalty. (Loyalty is founded on trust and liking, and brings stability to peoples lives.) Managers need to realize that some actions are irritating and accept that those are not important for the customers, and further understand that they can be innovated into value instead.56 Varey wants us to know that the emerging “new” marketing thrive on insight, constant change, creativity and humanistic values; and asks us to pause for thought on “how are sellers loyal to buyers?”; that marketing managing is not only some “electronically mediated bundle of techniques”, but an integration way of thinking about how to operate business.57 And if interpersonal contact is desired by customers, the company should ensure its availability, because if employees are trained into recognizing and catering those customers who desire more personal relationships with the firm, then the business can develop a more communal type relationship with a customer.58

Varey sees relationship marketing as a promise of a reciprocally fair treatment, and that such a system therefore demands a fair deployment. It must avoid being manipulating, but operate in a real of harmony and conversation to produce mutual meaning and cooperation. In order to meet the needs of the consumers, marketing communication must be both talking and listening. Varey means that companies that continue to dominate over the buyer, who aim to win consumers as trophies from competing suppliers and teaching consumers about what is important and best, will find themselves without valuable customers. ICT facilitates relationship marketing, in attracting people to commit themselves to a trading relationship, but technology alone will not to the job. He means that real-time processes must be integrated to produce customer value; so that, when buyers are ready to buy, sellers are ready to sell. In a way where suppliers will learn not just about customers, but learn with them in a production system based on relationship.59

56 Varey, 2002: 109 ff.57 Ibid., 2002: 39 f.58 Ibid., 2002: 7659 Ibid., 2002: 203 f.

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2.2 Theory focusIn this section I aim to present theories from two of our times most important researchers, which has often been mentioned together, as they both theorize on the developing information age; Manuel Castells has been called the “next Marshall McLuhan”, but even if they speak about the same field, they differ in some fundamental points, which I think can contribute with an interesting understanding to this project.

2.2.1 Marshall McLuhan’s theories about the information age

Marshall McLuhan observed that most people live in the rearview mirror using the lenses of yesterday to assess what is experienced today

Richard J. Varey60

Marshall McLuhan is a pioneer in the field of Media and communication and has contributed with valuable notions such as “The Global Village”, “The medium is the message” and “Hot and cold media”, and it has been much debated if these notions still apply today. The outmost profound thought of McLuhan was; that “the extension of human consciousness were projecting themselves into the total world environment via electronics, forcing humankind into a robotic future. …, man’s nature was being very rapidly translated into information systems which would produce enormous global sensitivity and no secrets. As usual, man was unaware of the transformation”61.

Global Village: In his work of The Global Village, McLuhan speaks of the urge for humans to be able to anticipate the future, as changes occur very rapidly. He means that each should act as artists do; “to develop the habit of approaching the present as a task, as an environment to be discussed, analyzed, coped with, so that the future may be seen more clearly”. In this sense, he clarifies that the global village has no final answers, but brings the past into the present for the purpose of seeing an alternative future. In this future, McLuhan sees the whole of the economy to be moving rapidly towards tailor-made and individually committed services. Culturally, he argues that a totally new frame of reference is needed, since he sees the world culture as repositioning itself to accept a completely different perceptive mode, of the dynamically many-centred. For McLuhan, the meaning of meaning was relationships.62

Much criticism has been directed to this idea of a “global village” e.g. for being a utopian dream. But to put the idea simply, McLuhan meant that this village is about a result of the way electronic media is making every event, everywhere immediately accessible; and that our relationship to time and space is thus being altered. McLuhan has been called “spin doctor of the digital revolution, the ghostly booster for virtual communities and the prophet and patron saint of business on the Internet”. This is what still makes McLuhan interesting. And according to Michael A. Moss, the editor and commentator of McLuhans essays in Media Research: Technology, Art, Communication, McLuhan’s theories serves as a model for a “disciplined process of re-education and training along the interdisciplinary and discursive lines that our age of reproduction, interactivity and digitalization requires.63 To answer the criticism of utopia, McLuhan has stated that such an interpretation is a confusion of mind; that he does not in fact mean that a global village is a place of uniformity and tranquillity. Instead

60 Varey, 2002: 19161 McLuhan , 1989: Preface62 Ibid.63 Moss, 1997: Foreword

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he means that, people encounter each other in depth, in a world where time and space are taken away. He means that it is a world of much “diversity, less conformity under a single roof than there is with the thousands of families in the same city. The more you create village conditions, the more discontinuity and division and diversity”. This is how McLuhan sees “his” global village. And he thinks of technologies as highly identifiable objects made by our own bodies, that technologies are both extensions of man, as they are of man’s will, in the ordinary sense of subliminal wish and drive. And as concerns human management of the mass of information, McLuhan thinks that if there is an overwhelming amount of information, man will resort to myth, since it is inclusive, time-saving and fast. He means that, as environmental effects shift beyond a certain point, everyone will agree on a new strategy.64

“McLuhan; You may have seen a New Yorker joke. A couple are watching TV, and one says “When you think of the vast educational potential of TV, aren’t you glad it doesn’t?”This is based on the assumption, you see, that it is the content that does the educating,not the medium, Now, if it should be just the way around about that – then it would be understandable why these things happen involuntarily and unasked.

Goldman: Take “Peyton Place.” If you took “Peyton Place” or if you put on a news documentary, the contents are radically different in that case, but still from your point of view the medium is transcending the contents in significance so far as the person out there isconcerned?

McLuhan: It’s like changing the temperature in a room. It doesn’t matter what’s in the room at all, or what pictures are on the wall… If the temperature drops forty degrees suddenly, theeffect on our outlook, our attitude, is profound. Media are like that. They just alter the totalsocial temperature.”65

The medium is the message: To say that “any technology or extension of man creates a new environment” is, according to McLuhan himself, a much better way to say that “the medium is the message”, which is a statement he himself formulated.66 What McLuhan means with this statement, is that “the content” of any medium is always another medium. To clarify this McLuhan uses the example of the railway; when it was first introduced in society, did not create the need to ‘move’ or transport goods, but it increased the capacity and speed to do so. Which in turn would affect the economy and the industry, and so the building of infrastructure and the geographic structure of society. What McLuhan means, is that the railway mediated a ‘message’ to the people and society, which would lead to changes in the human environment and conditions. The same applies to the television and radio, which McLuhan means did not create the need or interest for information on what is going on, but that it has affected the conditions and forms for the news work, which has further affected the people’s image of the world. More specifically, to quote the words of McLuhan;

“The content of writing is speech, just as written words is the content of print and print is the content of the telegraph…What we are considering here, however, are the psychic and social consequences of the designs or patterns as they amplify or accelerate existing processes. For the ‘message’ of any medium or technology is the change of scale or pace or pattern that it introduces into human life.67”

64 Moss, 1997: 57 f.65 McLuhan in a discussiuon with Eric Goldman about if “value is irrelevant”, what about the content of media? in, Ibid., 1997: 6466 Ibid., 1997: 267 Hård af Segerstad, 2002: 161 f.

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Hot and cold media: McLuhan also talks of “hot media” and “cold media”, where the first are media filled with data and therefore very well defined. Cold media are those with less data than the hot media, and which are therefore more open and depending on the receiver’s interpretation. Both of these notions are relative, and can only be understood when related to the ‘message’ that the media communicates. An example of this can be in comparing a photo with a painting of the same motive; the photo is more defined and therefore “hot” in comparison with the painting that demands more of the observer in its interpretation. As a further example, a conversation in form of speech is cooler than a written version of the same conversation. The point is that a hot media demands less of the receiver than a cold media, for the sole reason that the hot medium is more defined; where everything is already in the message.68

McLuhan has said that, in order to discover what media is doing to him and his environment, he must know how they are structured. Hot and cold media are not classifications. They are namely structural forms, and as McLuhan studies the media, he is interested in a “systems development” which is concerned with the inner dynamics of the form. This is therefore the opposite of “systems” in its philosophical sense. Systems development deals with a structural analysis of pressures and strains. And if you understand the operational dynamics of various media, you can control media, and eliminate their effects from the environment, which is according to McLuhan mostly desirable.69 This following quotation of McLuhan is an interesting presentation of the idea behind hot and cold media;

“A tribal and feudal hierarchy of traditional kind collapses quickly when it meets any hot medium of the mechanical, uniform and repetitive kind. The medium of money or wheel, or any other form of specialist speed-up of exchange and information, will serve to fragment a tribal structure. Similarly, a very much greater speed-up, such as occurs with electricity, may serve to restore a tribal pattern of in tense involvement such as took place with the introduction of radio in Europe, and is now tending to happen as a result of TV in America. Specialist technology detribalizes. The unspecialist electric technology retribalizes.70”

Finally: Accordingly to McLuhan, the most important aspect of media is that they affect people’s habit of perception and thinking; that our senses are emphasized by technology. McLuhan means that the important effects of the medium come, not from its content, but from its form. Many researchers have tried to test McLuhan’s ideas, but it has been a difficult task since his notions are so far-reaching and pervasive. Another issue was that McLuhan was seen to talk about effects that would take a long time to show up.71 Severin and Tankard means that McLuhan’s notion of “the medium is the message” is applicable to the internet and particularly to online news sites. They mean that McLuhans idea of the new media, with old media as content, and the “global village” seems closer to the reality of the Internet. And that this notion brings about many interesting new questions about what form this global village will take.72

68 Hård af Segerstad, 2002: 162 ff.69 Moss, 1997: 74 ff.70 Hård af Segerstad, 2002: 16471 Severin, 2001: 280 f.72 Ibid., 2001: 379

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2.2.2 Manuel Castells theories about the information ageManual Castells is another great contributor to the field of Media and communication. He theorizes on the integration of different forms of communication into what he calls an “interactive network society”, which is highly interesting for this essay. It concerns a communication that, for the first time integrates all forms of human communication: written, spoken and audiovisual into one single system; an “Electric highway”. Castells means that this integration, within a global network which is simple and cheap to access, changes the character of communication fundamentally;

“The origin of a new electric communication system that is characterized by its global reach, integration of all media of communication and potential interactivity that changes our culture and this, eternally. 73”

“Global cottages”: Even though Castells identifies a clear tendency, he questions how we can estimate Internets potential effect without falling into “futurological excess”. He means that, without analysis of how cultures transforms in this new electronic communication system, a comprehensive analysis of the information society would fail. Castells is grateful for the work done by McLuhan, as he sees him as the great visionary that revolutionized thinking about communication. More specifically, he mentions McLuhan’s prediction of the media development toward a globalization and centralization.74 But, Castells does emphasize that he believes we are moving towards a new communication system, different from the one McLuhan predicted. McLuhan is still honoured for his visualizing of the mass media as a special form of cognitive expression.75 For example he agrees to a certain extent, with McLuhan on “the medium is the message”; that the characters of the message forms the characters of the medium; or put differently, the message of the media forms different media of different messages, which he means still works this way in many media systems.76 But, even if the media has become globally connected, and programs and messages circulate the global network, Castells accentuates that we are not living in a global village. Instead, he means that we live in “globally produced and locally distributed specialized cottages”. He stresses that the “McLuhan galaxy” was a world of “one-way communication”, and not interaction.77

As concerns the communication system of organized computer networks and the origins of Internet, Castells emphasizes the surprising and spontaneous spread of new kinds of virtual communities, around which he argues he has enough empirical observations from both France and the US, to be able to formulate reasonable hypothesis. Even if it is recognized as a relatively new phenomenon, Castells speculates around the social dimension of its future effects on communication processes and cultural expressions. What he means is that; due to its strong influence, mediated by social interests, government politics, and business strategies; a new culture will rise: the “real virtual culture”.78

“The message is the message”: Castells also criticizes that the control exercised by companies and institutions over media keeps the message on a one-way logic, and does not enable a real feedback from the public, except in the most primitive form of the market reaction. The criticism comes from the fact that Castells regards the treatment of information

73 Castells, 2000: 33474 Ibid., 2000: 33575 Ibid., 2000: note nr. 40 on p. 34276 Ibid., 2000: 34577 Ibid., 2000: 346 f.78 Ibid., 2000: 335

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as far more than a mere one-way communication.79 As for multimedia globally, it is identified as a supporter of a socio-cultural pattern characterized by certain qualities; primarily there is an extensive social and cultural differentiation that leads into a division of the users. The messages will be separated on different markets according to the strategies of senders, and differentiated also by the media users who makes use of the interactive possibilities for the own personal interest. This will lead to, that the multimedia world will be populated by two fundamentally differentiated groups; the integrating; those who have the ability to choose their multi-faceted communication circles; and the integrated; that are provided with a limited number of pre-packaged alternatives. Who is who, according to Castells, will depend on class, race, sex and country. And the uniform force of mass television will be substituted by a social differentiation which will lead to a co-existence of a specially designed mass media culture, and an interactive electronic communication net of independently chosen collectives. Further on, the communication of all types of messages into one and the same system, will lead to an integration of all messages into a common cognitive pattern, due to the sake of interactivity and selectivity. And since it will no longer be the medium that is the message; “the message is the message”; that all cultural impressions are gathered in this digital universe where the past of the communicative consciousness is combined with modern and future manifestations in a huge “historical super text”, which builds up a new symbolic environment. And this, according to Castells, is what will make the virtual become our new reality.80 And it is only in presence of this integrated system that communication and socialization of the message becomes possible. Out of the perspective of society, Castells argues that it is the electronically founded communication that is “communication”. The new communication system changes radically time and space; which are the fundamental dimensions of human life and physically connected to each other. So, as spaces are detached from their geographical meaning, they will be reintegrated into functional networks, where time is obliterated.81

Finally: Castells discusses the argumentations that the Internet age has been said to be the end of geography, with the statement that the Internet has in fact its own geography, where networks handles information flows that are created . Internet redefines the distances but does not erase geography.82 The internet galaxy is a new communication environment where as a new social form is developing, namely, the aforementioned network society. Castells notes that, as structural changes have done before, also this change will create as many possibilities as it will create challenges, where both of the eternal opposites exists simultaneously; 1) of attempts to gain power and to exploit; and 2) peoples defence for their right to live and look for the meaning of life. What the result will be is recognized as unknown by Castells.83 But he does regard that the opposition and discontent against the internet steered network world can be reunited on a number of unanswered challenges. And the first is about freedom; the Internet provides a global, free communication which will become fundamental for everything.84

79 Castells, 2000: 346 f.80 Ibid., 2000: 375 f.81 Ibid., 2000: 378 ff.82 Castells, 2002: 21383 Ibid., 2002: 27784 Ibid., 2002: 279

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3 DESIGNING THE PROJECTIn this chapter the project will be described more closely; science and methods will be discussed and questioned. My purpose will be discussed and the reasons for the design of this work will be argued for. This chapter will aim to show the larger picture behind the research and explain how each part contributed in building the entirety, which is aimed at finally leading to a conclusion that answers my purpose.

3.1 Research discussionIn order to look upon the research process in a scientific way and be able to follow through a valuable research, Rudyard Kipling demands for a creative and systematic work which should also be documented; that work methods, results and considerations must be presented openly. It is equally important to remain critical when investigating the material and conclusions scientifically. A huge amount of demand for reliability is placed on the work, because “science” in the research work stands amongst other for a systematization of facts. It is then through organized facts, that certain occurrences can be described, explained, understood or predicted.85

3.1.1 Organized factsThe forming and planning of this study began with much reading and reflecting on previous research and works. This gave an important consciousness of what the world already knows, and what parts are relevant for me. Due to the length of a D-essay, delimitation had to be made, and it was in the organization of facts that the field of interest and delimitation was found. And it is around certain notions that this study is focused. All of the organized facts that I found as relevant are presented in the previous chapter called “Project planning”. There the project was given its guidelines and precision.

3.1.2 Research methodA method is a tool; a way to solve problems and gain new knowledge. In order for a method to function as a tool in scientific work, some basic requirements must be fulfilled; there has to be a conformity with the reality that is studied; a systematic choice of information must be done; it should be possible to use the information in the best way; the results must be presented in a way that others can control and review the durability; and the results should enable new knowledge and consciousness about the societal conditions that makes it possible for it to lead to continued work and augmented understanding.86 Qualitative methods have primarily the purpose to understand, and does not aim to test if information has a general validity. The central is to, through different ways of gathering information, gain a deeper understanding of the problem complex we are studying and that way, be able to describe the entirety of the context. The method is characterized by the closeness to the source from which we get our information.87 As Apéria states it, projective methods such as the qualitative, gives a deeper understanding of the brand; that the purpose of a qualitative study is not to describe how often a topic occurs, but explain why it occurs.88

As method, the qualitative discipline contains various ways to go; such as observations, participating observations, informant- and respondent interviews, and analysis of sources. For

85 Kipling in Eriksson, 1999: 1886 Holme, 1997, 1387 Ibid., 1997: 1488 Apéria, 2001: 404

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the purpose of my study; To research how an interactive relation online could be created between a brand such as Matrix and their customers, on the Swedish market; the qualitative interview method was chosen. The research situation that I aim to study favors the use of this method, since it will give me the best picture of the problem complex I aim study; to understand the situation that individuals find themselves in, and come close into their life world – this is namely the purpose of this method – to try and see the world through the perspective of the interviewed. These are aspects and perspectives that can go lost unless you try to put yourself into the situation and see it from the situation of the object of study. This can give us a deeper and more complete understanding of the phenomenon that is aimed to be studied.89

Interviews face-to-face are good because; they can be carried out quite fast; the situation is controlled; the interviewer has the ability to follow up on questions; confidence between interviewee and interviewer can be obtained; and body language can be used to nuance the answers. The problem with this sort of method is that some interview effects can come about as the interviewer and interviewee can affect each other and the answers, it can also be difficult to pose sensitive questions since there is no anonymity in the face-to-face situation, and it can also be hard to get interview time.90 The strength in the qualitative interview lies in that the research situation resembles an everyday situation and a regular conversation. This means, that there is a minimum control over the interviewed, which we let influence the development of the conversation. The researcher only sets out the thematic frames which assure receiving the information that is sought for.91 So, the choice of method is directed according to the perspective of the research project and its problem, as well as according to the resources available and object of research. With the right condition, the qualitative method can have many advantages; we can gain information that would otherwise be hard to get; we can map out processes and social relations; and we can test hypotheses, etc. As much as this method can be demanding in its preparations, conducting, and working up the material – it can also be profitable. The semi-structured interview is characterized by beforehand defined themes, such as the formulation of an interview guide. And it is flexible and permits following up questions.92

3.2 Preparations before the collection of materialThe important part in preparing for the interviews is to have the purpose of the study clear, since it decides the scope and planning of the research. It is also important to decide upon who to choose as interviewees and what the delimitation should be.93 Information about the difficulties that the brand has in the communication with their consumers is found through an interview with the product manager of Matrix. The choice of hairdressers was also based on the recommendations from Matrix, namely that it was not seen as important to have a geographical variety of hairdressers. They were described as similar all over the nation. Due to the availability, interviews were merely done with hairdressers in the city of Uppsala, and the final amount of appointments gained was with 11 saloons out of which three had the possibility to serve with several hairdressers time. All together I prepared 16 interviews, where information about the opinions, emotions, actions and thinking as concerns the Internet, the brand relation and an interactive space online, was gained. But, pilot interviews were first conducted to get an image of the hairdresser’s life world and the situation with their suppliers. 89 Holme, 1997: 9290 Eriksson, 1999: 8691 Holme, 1997: 9992 Larsen, 2003:101 ff.93 Eriksson, 1999: 85

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And this gave me a good preparation to start the research, especially when it comes to the understanding of how they work.

The hairdressers work in a very competitive and busy environment, more than so, they need also to have knowledge of new trends and products. For them, time is very limited. They have customers, as well as they themselves are customers to the product suppliers. But more importantly, they need customers to make money and therefore be able to buy the products they need. Time, is what is really at issue here. What made it all possible was that I started early on in my research to work with method and material, a long side that I was studying previous researches on the field.

The qualitative method is marked by the question of reliability and interpretation; how the interviewer interprets the answers given. Therefore the interviewer needs to have a clear consciousness of how she herself works, and take it into consideration in order to avoid predetermined expectations.94 This is why the question of objectivity that marks scientific research work becomes relevant to take into consideration when interviewing. Each individual has a history of experiences, knowledge gathered and expertise, but the point is that one should be aware of this and in the research work, take an objective standing point towards the source.95 It is therefore important to be conscious of the surrounding and of how scientific quality is measured, in order to assure reliability. And this is the consciousness I kept and aimed to show proof of throughout my research.

3.3 During the collection of materialWhile interviewing the product manager of Matrix, I remained structured and organized, because I knew it was my only source of getting to know the side of the brands life world. Therefore I also made sure to ask more, than less. Since much competition exists between all the brands, there is a prerequisite that they fundamentally function in the same way, later I am conscious that each have their specific way to positioning and to communicate. It is important to hold account for that the information for this study comes from the side of Matrix. The pilot interviews were carried out through the telephone. But, the answers that I got from these do not serve as empirics for my study, instead they where meant to work as guidelines for me and give me the understanding I needed when formulating my questions for the actual research. The actual research was the face-to-face interviews with 16 hairdressers. This was not always as easy in each salon, as they work in a very busy environment. I had to adapt myself to the environment, and I often found myself trying to “live” through their life world. This experience was very educative and I feel that the conversations I had during around 30 minutes – an hour with each person, gave much and valuable information.

3.3.1 Interview with brandThis interview was conducted with a personal contact that I have at one of the biggest hair care brands in the world, Matrix, which is a sub-brand of L’Oréal Paris. The interviewee is the product manager, and responsible for everything that happens around the brand and the business with their hair saloons. Even though my study is focused on the hairdressers, it was valuable to include information about how the brand looks on business today, and what their abilities for an interactive dialogue online seem to be in order to get a better picture of the phenomenon and to give the research more depth.

94 Holme, 1997: 9495 Ibid., 1997: 95

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The interview lasted about one and half hours; where I posed the questions and let the interviewee much space and time to answer and reflect. This is a new field for me, so if something was not understood, follow up questions where posed. I am conscious of the fact that it lies in the brands own interest to take part of this project, and this was especially kept in mind throughout the interview, in order to remain objective and uninfluenced but still informed. The Matrix product manager himself has expressed his wish to that this study precedes in my way, without any influence from the brand side. The reason for this is that they would like a strategy proposition from someone that is not affected by their brand strategy and can thus give interesting ideas for the how of creating a Loyalty Club.

3.3.2 Pilot interviewsThis method was merely a tool for me to gain some understanding of the situation I am dealing with. And to make some questions that would make for a supplementary guideline a long side with reading of the previous research done on the field. During two days, from 10 o’clock to approximately 17 o’clock, 200 calls where made out of which only 105 hairdressers had the time to answer my questions. This will be more closely presented in chapter four.

3.3.3 Interviews with hairdressersAll of my 16 interviews where conducted in each individual hairdressers salon, where above the 30 minutes – an hour spent interviewing, time was also spent in the salon observing their life world in order to gain a better understanding. I always maintained as open a dialogue as possible, to give both me and the interviewee time and space to react and speak about the different issues and questions. The interviews were semi-structured as I followed a carefully planned questionnaire, of more than fewer questions. I preferred to also keep the dialogue more creative, because any additional issues that I had not taken into account were hoped for. This gave me valuable answers that satisfied my purpose better, since I am researching a completely new field, as far as I am aware of and as far as the Matrix product manager knows, no one has done this type of study for them yet. The answers where written down on the questionnaire. No significant problems arouse during the interviews and the conversations where very stimulating and educative.

3.4 After the collection of materialDirectly after each interview the answers where read, revised, reflected and re-written. Then the project was reflected upon as a whole and it was only in the end when I had all my material that I started to formulate myself in order to present the answers in the best possible way, without loosing any important material. This gave me an idea in my mind, and knowledge of the entity of the information I had. The writing process of assembling all the answers in a shorter version took a long time. Many similar answers where given by various different hairdressers, and therefore I chose to speak in “general” terms, presenting that the opinion was shared by “many”, “some”, etc. I tried to be as clear and structured as possible in the presentation of empirics, in order to get an organized material, to be analyzed with the knowledge I had gained through reading about other researcher’s works and theories.

Due to the huge amount of empirical material gained from the hairdressers, I decided to make a summary of the important answers to be presented in chapter four. All answers would

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additionally be presented in Annex 1, to the reader who wishes to gain a better understanding or revise the results.

3.5 Quality in scientific investigationAs mentioned in the beginning of this chapter, scientific investigations have both a critical and a creative prerequisite according to Kipling, due to the fact that creative has a positive connotation while critical has a negative connotation. Kipling wants to bring these two together in the investigation since them, together, can have the possibility for the researcher to be curious and see new possibilities and at the same time question the strength of these possibilities. Kipling argues that university studies and research should imbue a conscious critical way of thinking. It is therefore important to have some questions in the back of the mind during the work process;

How reliable are the sources that information is building upon? What in the information are facts and what are valuations of facts? Are there any connection between interest groups and data, so that some information is lifted up and some left out?

Knowledge criticism is about applying logical rules of thinking. It is through critical thinking that the truth is sought. And the creative-critical thinking is to set free the intellectual ability and subdue habitual patterns of thinking. Here, the creative thinking looks for the new and different, while the critical thinking will evaluate its quality of such as validity, reliability and relevance.96 This is the way in which this essay was conducted, from the introduction until the last part of “Further research”, in order to give the work scientific quality.

96 Eriksson, 1999: 32 ff.

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4 THE PROJECT: EMPIRICSThis chapter presents the information gained through interviews with the product manager of Matrix, from the pilot interviews with hairdressers over the phone and from the face-to-face interviews with the hairdressers in the salons. The answers given by Matrix and the face-to-face interviews with hairdressers serve as empirical material to be analyzed, but the pilot interviews that served me with an understanding of the field in the very beginning of this research, are presented for the sake of transparency. The questionnaires used for this study can be found in the Annex 2 and Annex 3 in the end of the thesis. Due to the large amount of information gained from the hairdressers, and in order not to leave out any of it, only a summarized presentation will be given in this chapter, the rest can be found in the Annex 1.

4.1 Interview with the Matrix product managerMatias Ristiniemi is a product manager at Matrix and his job has to do with everything that concerns the brand; from product releases to caring for the brand image. But his main task is to understand the consumers; the hairdressers but also the intern personnel such as salesmen, and to succeed in positioning Matrix out of the directives given from Paris. The salesmen, who are very important for the sales process out to the salons, are hired through interview processes. And the most important thing with a salesman is to be able to work independently and to be driven.

Matias manages the brand through really understanding how people perceive it;

“It is always about making sure that the brand is correctly positioned with our consumers. And therefore we look at various measurements and we have a lot of contact with the hairdressers and our own salesmen. It is about always understanding what is going on, to try and direct it out of the directions given; International marketing is in New York, but the owners are in Paris. The roles within the company are quite clear really; Paris decides over the US and the US decides over us. But the important is to know that all markets are different; "think global, but act local" that is the punch line. But then, we constantly work with different values, and in the end, what we want is for the people to buy our products. That’s what it is all about. The brand needs to be attractive.”

So the most important thing about Matias job is to have an understanding for the hairdressers and salesmen. But the absolute number one is to understand what Matrix is out of the brand purpose. It is not his job to do Matrix the way he thinks it is, but what L'Oréal has chosen it to be; to understand the purpose of Matrix from the L'Oréal directives. And then, in order to implement it, great knowledge is needed on how they are perceived by their consumers and salesmen.

Matrix exists because it fits the L'Oréal portfolio. Because the consumers have a need that the other brands of L’Oréal do not cover. And this need is; cheaper prices than their other brands. Matrix is "high quality for a good price” and it is positioned in relation to their competitors;

“…it is about finding segments where you can be alone; to always offer something that the others do not have - that the consumer experiences it that way. That is the most important thing. We know how hard the competition is, so Matrix needs to be unique.”

Matrix communicates about the brand through their salesmen, who meet the hairdressers daily. That is why this is their most important communication channel. They load the

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salesmen’s computers full of what they want to mediate, about how they want to be perceived. Then they have a Matrix magazine that comes out to the consumers every sales cycle. But equally important are education, courses, events and fairs that the hairdressers are invited to attend to. When I asked if Matrix has loyal customers, the answer was;

“Yes, we do, but we want more!"

Loyal consumers are created through long term relations. That is according to Matias the most important thing. These are relations between salesmen and hairdressers, and the ones that span over longer time, are more loyal. But it is said to be hard to create loyalty fast. Matias believes that loyal customers are created if the business model is correctly implemented. But the question is how to satisfy all the hairdressers and all their needs;

“…because if we do that, we will have loyal customers. We do communicate in various ways, and it is always about striving for a "top of mind position". We want that, when a hairdresser has a problem and thinks of a solution, Matrix should appear in their minds, and they should think that Matrix can solve their problem or need.”

Matrix’s target group is “everyone” and that is described to be the challenge, in comparison with other L’Oréal brands that are more exclusive and directs themselves towards limited target groups. Matrix does not limit them at all. And the vision of Matrix is namely to have some Matrix product in all the salons of Sweden.

“So, that’s the thing, on this level it is not a relation anymore. That is the difficult part. And we want to be the biggest brand in Sweden.”

A “Matrix customer” is someone who buys one product, and a “loyal customer” is someone who continues buying, in larger amounts. Even if their target group spans over a mass market, it needs to be a relationship branch; because if one salesman quits, then there is a good chance that the hairdresser goes over to another brand. But the thought with a Club Matrix is that if a salesman quits, then the hairdressers won’t go over to another brand, because they have others from Matrix to communicate to over the Internet. Information on what desires and needs the hairdressers have is found out through different researches and measurements.

The communication problem that there can be, is to sell through the salesmen, “unfortunately”, because the Matrix message does not come through to 100%. It is instead shaped after the salesman;

“The relation with our customers goes through the salesman, that’s the problem. But then we have the events, the educative courses and Matrix magazine which are good ways to communicate on the Matrix image.”

An ideal relation according to Matias is a win-win relation; where hairdressers buy a lot, and sell a lot. Because when the hairdressers make money in their business, then Matrix makes money in theirs. That is why it is very important for Matrix that the business of each of their customer goes well, that they have many clients; the more they color, the more they need the products, and the more they buy from Matrix. That is, unless other salesmen, from other brands convince them to change over to their products.

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A relation can be created at educative courses and events on different locations, where the hairdressers meet Matrix and make bonds. Matrix have big consumers, those who already existed ten years back, they come to the educative courses and they like the Matrix values. Communication with loyal customers differs a little bit, but not much, from communication with customers that are not yet established;

“But that part is up to the salesman really, and they go on promotion, so the more they work on the relation and sell, the more they earn. That’s how it works.”

The idea with Club Matrix, a home page for the brand, is to create a closer relation with the consumers, which will increase loyalty, make more money for Matrix and make “Paris happier”. But their consumers make money too, which is essential for Matrix. When I asked what Matias thoughts are on a “Club Matrix”, the answer was;

"- A big happy family!"

“But what is to be found on the Club Matrix homepage, I don’t know. That is the big question! To know "what" and "why"; how is it to be shaped? That’s what you are supposed to answer!”

How communication online will be, will depend on computers. If there is a need, it is good. “But if there isn’t one, we will have to try and create one.” To make this project successful, Matias emphasizes that they need to really understand the hairdresser, and offer them something that makes their work easier - that gives them an interest. “That is the key point!”

When I asked Matias about his opinion on Light’s “Loyalty Marketing” model97 which demonstrates that the most important aspect of creating brand loyalty is after purchase, the answer was;

“Yes, that is how it is. I’m signing it! You can always get the hairdressers to buy the products. The important thing is that, if they buy from us, they become members of Club Matrix. And it’s from there on that we should grow together, up in the skies!”

In theory, Matias thinks that relationship marketing is great, and that “it sounds just right; humanistic etc., it contains all the values that one wants, but the difficult is to put it into practice. We deal with mass-market products. That’s the difficulty. This is where I still have a difficulty seeing it; "how can you sell mass-market products with relationship marketing?" It does not exist yet. Today there is no other medium that compensates television, radio and magazines.”

And when I asked about how Matias sees the future of marketing communication, the answer was;

"It is fantastically interesting! I believe in someway, that anything can happen. Everything happens so fast. And so much is happening, and the possibilities are unlimited. Only the creativity of the man puts the limits. You have to be really creative now days! Internet is not limited to time and that is what opens up to such incredible possibilities. Internet is cheap, and when you erase time and money out of the question - it has incredible potentials.”

97 Light introduced the concept of loyalty marketing, see chapter of earlier research contributions

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4.2 Pilot interviews per telephone with hairdressersDuring two days, from 10 to 17 o’clock, I called around 200 hairdressers out of which 105 had the time to answer my questions. The purpose of these calls was to do an enquiry for Matrix about their new hair color SoColorBeauty; if they used the color, for how long, if they had gotten some education from Matrix about the color, and if they where satisfied. And if they did not use it - why not, and if they did use it and was not satisfied - then why not. This was a very good way for me to get started and get an idea of what I will be dealing with in my personal study. As I was calling, I got some supplementary commentaries and I also made some extra questions, and from all of this, these are the impressions that I got;

It was not an easy task to get the time to talk to the hairdressers as the majority of them where very busy and sometimes stressed but from the answers I got, I noticed how important it was for a company such as Matrix to make these calls; e.g. some of the salons that Matrix thought where their customers, did not even know about the Matrix products. Some had been trying to contact Matrix, because they where interested to know more about the products, but had not succeeded to get a hold of anyone. They asked me if I could have Matrix contact them. One person asked me if “they possibly had forgotten” about her. The general problems that were experienced amongst these 105 saloon, where that there was a lack of information, that there where communication problems which had made them go over to other brands, who a part from good products also had nice furniture to offer for the salons. One of the most upsetting problems for the salons seemed to be when they lost the relation with the salesmen or if it somehow had not worked so well. That had also made them change brand. Other problems where managing difficult colors. Many felt there was a need of more information about how to use the colors, and that the results where not so good in on some hair as on other etc. Education was stated as crucial.

4.3 Semi-structured interviews with hairdressersHere, only a summary of the most important information is presented. All empirical material from the hairdressers is to be found in the Annex 1.

4.3.1 About the Internet as mediumThe Internet was generally seen as a great way to gain information, but also to handle some of the practical affairs such as banking, buying cinema tickets and so on. The reason why the Internet is regarded positively is because it is available at any time and place. It was also seen as the future of communication. More and more people seemed to be interested in the medium as a means for communicating.

The divide seemed to be on generations; people over 30 expressed more skepticism, especially to the fact that it might replace some of the physical contact between people. The generations under 30, and especially 20, did not give it such importance, instead its potentials where highlighted.

4.3.2 About doing business with suppliersHere, there was a clear divide according to the individual life world of the hairdresser; how their reality looks; what their preferences and needs are shapes their relation to the Internet. Some would like to replace all contacts with salesmen, with Internet contacts, where it could be handled in their own pace and without any mess. Others preferred to handle all business through the phone, while cutting the hair. Some wanted a mix where much of the business

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could be handled online, but still have the physical contact every once in a while. The experiences of salesmen where often mentioned as complicated, also this to a major or minor extent. Some had terrible experiences, some where just annoyed by them, and some liked them. But mostly it was seen as a problem when the salesmen try to sell them their products when it did not suit the hairdressers.

What was mentioned as really important was education and events about products and hair styles. The hairdressers like being cared for by their brand, but what they do not respect are salesmen who do not know about the hair care business and still try to talk about quality and trends. Or even worst, when they talk about completely other things than hair care to win a friendship, described as false by the hairdressers. It is better to “lay the cards on the table” and manage transparent business. The favorite salesmen where described as those who had knowledge and respect and just came into the salon to check what products where missing and left without small talking, because it saves time for them. The hairdressers know how important the salesmen are for them, in order to “tag along” in the development of hair care, but they recognized that the relation can be improved, in hope to save time and effort and to develop as professionals. This was seen as important. But what is seen as especially important, is very individual in each hairdressers life world.

4.3.3 About an online spaceMostly an online space was expressed as good for business, because it could enable the hairdresser to manage things in their own speed and conditions. But what worried them was concerning the loss of physical contact with the brand, which is a good contact to have in order to know how to use the products (by touching and trying them together with representatives.) But also here the opinions where individual; about how it would work or what would be found online. What was mentioned as attractive with the online space is that there would be information about products, education, trends in hair care and an easy way to contact the Matrix office through an online dialogue.

The uncertainty expressed concerns the technical aspects of the Internet; since it as medium requires more effort from the hairdresser herself. It was still seen as a medium that would develop in the direction of business handled namely through such an online space, with many interesting possibilities offered and as a way of keeping track of orders previously made and those that will be interesting in the future. The Internet was seen as a way to organize business in a better way. But since the technical skills are limited, the hairdressers expressed they would wish the online space to be simple and fast.

4.3.4 About if anything in their business already changed with the technology, and if there is something to addBusiness management in the salons has not changed yet with the technology, a part from the fact that some salons has started to use an Internet booking system. The Internet was generally seen as an interesting medium with many positive characteristics.

In the hairdressers life world their most important needs where expressed to be their own clients and quality products, but also time and to develop as professionals. As concerns the business with the suppliers, they want things to happen fast and preferably on their own terms.

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5 ANALYZING THE PROJECTFirst of all, the empirics will be analyzed with the central notions of this study, in order to finally be discussed with the background of Marshall McLuhan and Manuel Castells. A division has been made according to the notions, to make the information more manageable.

5.1 Analyzing the empirics with earlier research Due to the amount of information gained through the interviews a certain structure has been given the project. But, some notions will be mentioned and repeated in many of these sections; it is done to give the best possible clarity to this study which is quite intertwined with all its parts.

5.1.1 Communication and time-space; About the Internet as medium As a starting point I would like to emphasize the general impression of the Internet as a medium that is under growth; it was often mentioned to be the future, that it has great potential, and that it is inevitably touching more and more parts of the hairdresser’s private life and their ways to handle things. Yet an uncertainty and insecurity was evident; as if people where on their way to discovering all the new possibilities it offers, such as getting a hold of information they didn't think was possible to get a hold of or reading the newspaper online. And the reason for the satisfaction was that it made it faster and easier to take care of practical things, such as managing bank affairs, than in the real physical world, where queuing for the turn was costly. This sort of “placing of online interaction in the context of real life” promotes according to Tuomi, innovation; that it changes and develops social networks and allows new relations to build up. This is an activity which can lead to an “economy of opportunities” where people actively manage their life options and which has been stated by the hairdressers as attractive; as they themselves want to have more control over what they do and in their own speed. This is one of the main reasons why the Internet was being favoured; since it was available at any time.

Tuomi also talked about social relationships that build up in communities, something that the hairdressers where estranging; they preferred and cherished the personal and physical contacts. E.g. they do not like to communicate with family and friends over Internet, unless they live far away. In the later case, when family lives far away, the Internet becomes extremely popular, in the way that Tuomi argues that networks bring people together. Some argued that unless it would be for Internet, there are those in the family that they would not have any contact with because of the distance. Internet thus becomes the medium that compensates for the geographic distance that has been brought up between people. As for creating identities, this might be more for the younger generations. The internet was frequently mentioned to be the medium of the generation of people that are 30 years and younger. Above that, Internet is too new to feel natural; it was often experienced as too packed with information, and too complicated. Even though, there was an interest to start learning all the new ways to communicate; such as handling the economic activities of the offline world, online. These types of practical activities are seen as the most positive aspects of the Internet. And thus, as Tuomi has put it, Internet is not separated from reality on some aspects of the life of hairdressers, as they see it as a natural way to buy cinema tickets or read the newspaper. This also concerns the point that Tuomi makes about the Internet as a medium which is not a passive world, to just view. No, it is a medium that require that we interact with it, that we take the initiatives. The central question is the potential that the Internet has, which evoked both positive and negative feelings with the hairdressers; some felt that it gave an incredibly good possibility to independently find information at any times and to handle

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business through. One even felt that she trusted the internet more than the post office. But, much scepticism was demonstrated as well; such as the technical aspects that where difficult and sometimes uninteresting, as it was mentioned that hairdressers are creative and not technical. Some felt uncertainties toward the safety online; that it might give a feeling of false safety.

Tuomi means that the aforementioned “economy of opportunities” would create positive feedback activities between different parties involved in some activity, such as possibly this product business between hairdressers and their suppliers, due to the fact that that the Internet as medium fosters an individual freedom which lead to this active management of life options. This means that people are freely and individually finding ways to meet their needs and desires; which according to Tuomi can be satisfied on specialized spaces online. Such as for example a “Club Matrix” could be considered as such; to meet the needs and desires of hairdressers that independently surf the net to look for ways and products that suit their needs. What happens is that they are not controlled or forced, since they are free, so instead they look for someone who can inform them, and insure them about their individual choices. But as the hairdressers stated it, they are not very good with technical things, so what they wish is to find information and mange business in a simple and fast way without complicated gadgets and special effects. For the moment many feel that Internet is complicated and time consuming. So, in order for it to be possible to create a relation online, the hairdressers need to be shown the way to go; to offer them the tools to become “informationalized”. The Matrix product manager himself recognized that, if there is no need for communication online, they will have to create one.

To return to the question of time-space and internet communication; Tuomi states it as inevitable to study the way in which social interaction is related to time-space, in order to understand the transformations that are happening in society and will happen in the future. And also in order to understand the development of social networks, such as possibly an interactive relation online, he includes the cognitive aspects of time-space; that is, how time-space is perceived and used. This is really an interesting question as concerns the hairdressers, because time for them was most often expressed as something that there was an incredible lack of, most often during their work. During a normal day at work many things has to be handled in the salon, and it is often a stressful job; cutting their customers having to run over to the phone. Some where stated to take too long, mostly so with salesmen that they where not interested in or who disturbed during work.

So, when discussing the internet, it was namely the time-space question that came up; as it has enabled many changes in the hairdressers own use of the time and space; that certain aspects of life has become more effective through Internet and therefore increasingly become an option to manage things. As a supplementary point to the managing of time-space online, was stated that it was much easier as well. These are some aspects of Internet that has made people use the new communication technology more and so changed some parts of their life and given them more time to spend with family and friends. As the quotation of Slevin notes, the Internet has become a way for the hairdresser to organize their time-and space in a more desirable way. And if we see the development in the light of Tuomi, that both cyber space and the physical space can be described with the same analytical tools, the virtual community that would be interesting for these hairdressers would be one that corresponds to their reality offline. To organize parts of their world in a more desirable way even as concerns the business with suppliers; to be able to erase those parts that annoy them and enhance those parts that makes them feel comfortable. But first, as Tuomi means, the physical space must be

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studied, because they can later be described in the same way for the online space. Because just as Internet has made communication personal and independent of time and space and changed the connectivity with people that live far away, it can change some of those aspects of consumer-brand interactivity towards a facilitated connectivity where problems that exist in the physical world can be managed online without worrying neither about time nor space. And as it has been recognized by the hairdressers, the Internet is the future of communication, and that it just remains to see where it develops as it has “no limits”, and so does the product manager of Matrix see it; as incredibly interesting, with unlimited possibilities and potentials.

Toumi thinks that we are moving towards a future where consumers are not passive, but find ways to use Internet for their advantage to survive and develop themselves. It is a space where people take the initiative to act interactively with the possibilities online. Tuomi calls this occurrence an “experience economy”; where people find ways to construct their identities, to communicate and to manage social networks. And if there is cooperation from those who are both looking for, and who can offer another “searcher” support for these constructions in an interpersonal existence, then Tuomi means we will have economical growth. This is very interesting for both hairdressers and their brands, as they can help each other to find answers for their needs. But, as an important part, it is crucial to know that on the spaces online, position is not occupied as it is in the physical world. Instead it is constantly produced, and therefore continuous reproductions must be done in order to survive online.

5.1.2 Interactivity and dialogue; About doing business with suppliersPeppers, Rogers and Godin all stress the importance of having information on the customer, and so does the product manager of Matrix. But what differs is the fact that this information needs to be given personally from each individual customer; that a feedback dialogue between the brand and the customer is essential since communication plays the most important and integrating part. It is what enables the company to give the customer just what he wants and nothing else; “tailor-made” is the new fashion term, but consumer consent should first be gained, to further create profit. It is about consumer consent; to communication, to tailor-make products and services, and to receive information. That instead of telling the hairdresser what she wants, ask her what she thinks and what she wants. And as the interviews with the 16 hairdressers presents, the opinions where very different; there was so much to the communication between them and their supplier that to understand what they want or would want, one must understand their situation or in other words, their life world.

As it seems now, according to what the product manager says, the real importance lies in what Paris tells the US and what the US tells the Swedish Matrix to do on their local market, how they should position themselves. The customers do not have much more to say about, than how they think they perceive the brand, so that Matrix knows they positioned themselves in the correct way. And that it is always about making sure that the customer experiences Matrix as unique. But at the same time they know they need to understand the hairdressers, to know what their needs and desires are. And this is done through different researches and measurements, but as concerns their physical contact out to the salons; they use salesmen and they pack their computers with information about how they want for the salesmen to make Matrix perceived. This is where the shift of traditional marketing and the permission marketing differ; that the brands should instead of planting messages into the customers; create a dialogue, in order for the voice of the hairdressers to be given attention. Now the attention is directed on selling, the more the salesmen sell, the more they earn, since they go on promotion. The salons differ a lot, as does their desires; some salons are smaller, some

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bigger, some have very good relations with their salesmen, some have only bad experiences, some want physical contacts, and others would like to get rid of that part of the work, others are somewhere in between. So, the general impression gained was that each hairdresser is very individual and work very individually.

Some of those communication attempts where noticed as interviewing and spending time at the salons; it was often expressed as annoying and time consuming to have so many salesmen coming into the salons each week; that in their attempt of selling products, they often small talked about other things than the actual products or even worse, tried to sell without knowing what they are selling. But the important, as also stated by Matrix, was to have the salesmen out there; because that is the way the business works today, to be able to exist as a brand. This is more a one-way marketing; of finding ways to plant the message of the brand into the customer. Maybe it is time for change now? And maybe the internet can be the enabler of a much better business for both parties? On an online space specifically formed to suit the hairdressers where a dialogue is possible.

Peppers, Rogers and Godin are discussing the importance of namely tailor-making everything to become as personal and conformable as possible for the consumer. That the communication dialogue between the parties is to be made such that it is expected, since messages are looked forward to, and personally created, but most of all there will only be information that the hairdresser wants to hear about. The hairdressers stated that what they do want to hear about are the new products and other hair care tips. (Not about what parties there are and such small talk.) Now they get the feeling that the salesmen just want to sell a lot. What they do want is to avoid all the "mess" and save time. Matrix is also aware of the problems that occur with salesmen, and hope that it can be compensated with a space online where to communicate with the customers. This is also the option, as the brand Matrix is a brand that direct themselves to “everyone”; they sell mass-market products, and that is the challenge they have in their communication work, as their vision is to have one product in every salon of Sweden, and be the biggest brand in the country. Their most important communication channels are the salesmen; they need them out there, so that no other brands salesmen come and convince the customers to change brand.

Generally the hairdressers where all quite happy about the relations with their salesmen (because they need to keep up with the new developments in hair care); some to a larger and some to a minor extent, but each and everyone had something that was less good; some even experienced the problems as terrible. It is here that the competition segment should be gained according to Peppers, Roger and Godin; if customers are interacted with, then they can learn about these problems and repair them, before they become disappointed ex-customers. But of course they can also gain those disappointed ex-customers of other brands to become very happy and loyal customers in their own company which knows how to handle the interactive dialogue in a way that will bring satisfaction. These messages of an interactive dialogue, is said to be much more effective than the traditional mass-market message, which instead of convincing the customer in the most effective way tries to get feedback in the most effective and valuable way as possible from the customer. And where the traditional marketer does not follow up and interact with the customers after buying the products. This seems to be the issue now; that salesmen only enter the salon to sell. But, as they are stated not to know anything about hair care, then they cannot bring the hairdresser with any interesting messages. It is a real mistake that so many brands “waste” a good relation with ignorant salesmen. Instead, this relation could grow deeper and be more effective, if the salesman, who comes into the salons, knows the world that the hairdresser lives in, respects it, and helps her. Or

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even better, where she helps him to help her. This is a relation which, as when established, could take the more effective and comfortable form online, through a dialogue. In this way the salesman can get the consent of this person; to collect information about her, and be open and honest about his intentions. Internet enables this type of computer system of tailor-made information, and makes it possible to remember it all. Internet not only restores data very effectively, it also saves a lot of time. And this is something that both hairdressers and brands wish to do, to enable mass-market activity to be managed on micro level.

It is important for big companies such as Matrix, and it is namely the character of the Internet that can answer the question of the product manager of Matrix; of “how to manage mass-market products” through such a personalized communication form. But the important, again, is to stress that this is not a goal, it is more of a vision kind of work. No fixed results will be reached; instead the process will constantly be shaped and reshaped to fit those changing needs of each individual customer. So, instead of trying to find customers for products, brands should find products for customers. Because now days it is the customer that wants to take the initiatives, and be treated good by her supplier just the way her customer wants to be treated good by her. It is an interactive dialogue of finding a way to satisfy needs, both ways. A part form getting quality products, hairdressers want to develop themselves, for example. And this is something which is equally important for their suppliers. Obviously these are speculations build on the work of Peppers, Rogers and Godin, but they are inspired by the life world of the hairdressers that I have gotten to know during a valuable period of time. Mostly so it was inspired by the great importance that was given to the personal contacts, and by the pity felt for the loss of time and causing of distress that some bad relations created, which would only foster an every time worse relation between the brand and customer. But worse than that, there where also those salesmen that tried to trick hairdressers to buy products, or who interrupted the hairdresser in the middle of cutting hair, with some small talk “about the weather”.

There are quite many smaller and larger problems that occur in the daily work between hairdressers and salesmen. And it is not the idea of a personal contact that is the problem; it is the way it has developed – into a hunt by many brands to just even get one product into the salon, as the product manager of Matrix said. Being out in the salons has given me the impressions that too much time are spent getting that bottle to the shelf, than caring for the actual consumer. This can hopefully be repaired by interactive relations online; that when the hairdresser gets enough of an annoying salesman, she turns to the Internet to take care of the business in the way she is more comfortable with. That instead of being “chased” as one put it, the hairdresser herself can take the initiative, if she wants to. This may seem as a very risky step for brands now, because all brands are doing the “chase-technique”. But there will most possibly come a time when the hairdressers will have had enough, but they will still need the products, so this is the key question. And as this has already started to happen, this is the chance for the brands to attract the consumers into an interactive relationship online a “loyalty club”; where both can improve their business. So, instead of giving the brand a bad reputation for the sake of a bad salesmen and shallow communicators that want to sneak in a product to the salon, the hairdressers should be provided with what they want; salesmen that know about the branch, but who wants to develop with the hairdressers in a flexible interactive dialogue of information exchange, that changes over time as the two parties change and develop. As Godin has found, consumers like benefiting companies that they trust. Due to the fact that was stated earlier, that all hairdressers are very different and want different things, a divide should be done according to these needs; so that the brand can answer each specific need in detail and repair discontent; and their value; is about having pre-knowledge of the future plans.

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Because, some prefer time, some prefer contacts with salesmen. This way time, money and effort can be saved, both sides. Godin means that people are much more selfish today, and especially of their time. The key is knowledge about what consumers prefer, and finding a reason for the consumer to stay with the company; to give attention and education and so on; to each time answer the customer what he can gain.It is not a new idea, to answer the customer’s needs and to think about what they want in every moment, but what is new, is that this dialogue about needs and rewards should develop slowly, over time, for the reason that it is seen to be much more effective. Because trust develops over time, just as human relationships usually do. Also solutions are found along the way. So, business will go faster and be more effective and profitable, but the trustful relation develops slowly, making the customer a part of the process of growing and becoming increasingly successful, at each step.

And, instead of at repeated occasions send out the same mass-message to many, and thus increase the communication noise in our life worlds, companies should try and aim to get that consent from the consumer which is so hard to get. To get to establish an agreement, just as hairdressers have mentioned they do with their favorite salesmen. This relation can be planned to suit each other, through caring for the valuable consent that was given by the consumer. This will also make it harder for competitors to take over the consumer from the brands, since so much knowledge and experiences has already been shared, and very difficult to replace. This is what permission marketing builds on, and which is according to Godin the most desirable way for companies as it is for consumers, where communication noise is avoided. This is a way to dialogue, similar to the one back in the early days, only it can be done between more people through the internet, and where much of the relations company is run by the consumer. And this is something that was wished by the hairdressers; to have a way to exchange information. But there are those hairdressers and brands that already established such relations offline, built on confidence, where they negotiate about a good price and change information. This is something very interesting and it could possibly serve to understand what a desirable way to work is.

5.1.3 Relationship and loyalty; About an online spaceWhat attracts the hairdressers to the Internet is namely its potential to save time, and to restore information. It has been mentioned that it would be good to have a system online to keep track of what has been done, and what has been ordered. To order online, was given very positive response, as some thought it would be good to get rid of the telephone that is often interrupting work in an unsuitable moment. So, the Internet was recognized as good for organizing time and space, but also information. Many negative things were perceived with Internet as well, such as that it is complicated to use, or that there is so much information out there that it creates confusion. And there was also uncertainty on how it would be; speculations about things becoming more complicated and time consuming was also expressed, e.g. that it might become more difficult to get a hold of a salesman. But, even if this insecurity posed some questions for as if an online space would serve as a communication medium with their suppliers, it was recognized to be the “future of communication”, as a “machine of great potentials” to “make the relations better in a busy world”.

How to manage a relation in an interactive environment is much more developed in theory than in practice. And this is what has been identified as the big problem by the product manager of Matrix, but as possible by Tony Apéria and Richard J. Varey. The basic points are

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the same as the ones previously viewed with Peppers, Roberts and Godin; that a deeper understanding of the consumer and the inclusion of the consumer voice into the relationship marketing, are crucial for a win-win outcome. It is all about knowing what the consumer wants, and as Varey has said, not all customers want personal attention. This has been stated during the interviews with hairdressers. Mostly the physical contacts where very popular, but there where those also who wished for ways to handle business faster and more effectively, without the salesmen, because they themselves wanted more to say and more control over the business. In this way Internet was mentioned as an enabler. So, according to the information given from both Matrix and the hairdressers, the physical contact is really important for business, but as it seems from the hairdresser’s side; to a varying degree and in different ways. Some of the hairdressers wanted much time spent testing products and discussing about them, others thought that a good relationship with salesmen are those where the salesmen merely come into the salon, check out what is needed and leave. However, a relation of trust was the essential for the hairdresser to stay with the supplier; intensive or not. This is where Apéria means that brands should look for insight; in the existing loyal relationship, because it represents the potentials that a brand has in achieving relations. Further on, a brand must also look at the existing brand image, just as Matrix has stated it. But instead of using it to only know how the brand is perceived as in the case of Matrix, this also should be the starting point of the relationship building, where the previously discussed dialogue should form the communication technique to gain an understanding of the changing needs of the customers and to know how these can be met, given from each individual consumer. The researchers mean that it is not enough to study the “top of the iceberg”, because much valuable information is to be found “under the surface”. It is online that Apéria and Varey means that such a relationship management can be handled in an effective way; where data can be restored and where the consumer can be viewed and treated individually. Hairdressers often stated it that the Internet is the future of doing business, but that as it seems now, few are ready for it. There still remains much uncertainty to how it should be handled, both from the brand side, as from the customer side. This point is namely what I aim to discuss in the section; how can a brand-consumer relation be managed online? As the most important communication way, the researchers have identified the dialogue, on which a trustful relation should be created. The way to go is; “a consumer governed category” of tomorrow. With this Apéria means that, as positioning refers to a dimension which is related to the consumer expectations, needs, and desires which change over time, and so should also the brand communication and positioning change in the same pace, with the consumer. The insights gained from the consumer governed categorization of how the brand is perceived in different dimensions, can help the brand differentiate itself against their competitors. But first of all, inspired by the information given from the hairdressers, the strategy of today must be changed. Today the hairdressers feel obliged to listen to the brands, they also feel that they do them a favour in buying the products or that the brands make them feel like they should be thankful that the brands sell them their products. There is not much harmony to the relationship, which Varey stated as important; no dialogue of information exchange. The core of the relation of today is too much about the fact to sell products. A “Matrix customer”, was identified as someone who buys one product, and a “loyal Matrix

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customer” was someone who buys in larger amounts. (But there is much more to a “loyal” customer, according to Apéria and Varey, this will be discussed further down.) So, the Internet was perceived as a very good tool to manage practical, personal things, but as concerns work and the physical contact; it was not imaginable to be replaced by computers. This does not need to be the case either, only the idea is to make the relation more profitable for each party as there are ways to save much time and effort online, where a marketing mix of both physical contacts and online contact, was mentioned as desirable. This is something that some hairdressers already have begun to realize, as they feel they live in a very busy environment. For example, it has been mentioned what a problem that can be created when a salesman does not show up when they should. Time is money for the hairdressers, and that is why they plan their time very carefully, and this is why many have gone from Internet booking to the traditional way of paper book booking, since cancelled bookings would cause too much problems, and since each haircut or colouring takes varying time to do and it is impossible for the customer of the hairdresser to estimate how much time should be reserved for e.g. a specific haircut. Some have found the booking system as good though. So, here experiences varied as well. As it looks now, both hairdressers and salesmen have a certain view of the others life world; hairdressers understand that the salesmen are hired to sell, and that they do it for any price, that they do not hesitate interrupting the hairdressers in the middle of their important work. And salesmen view the hairdressers as potential buyers of their products. As an interpretation to the way they often act in the salons (stated by the hairdressers); they do not understand the life world of hairdressers who are under a lot of pressure and disturb them repeatedly. In the light of Apéria and Varey, such problems can be handled through a relationship management build on dialogue, but not as a replacement of product management. No, what Varey means is that ways should be found to operate together harmoniously because importance that the brands give finding customers for products must be changed towards thinking in terms of finding products for customers. This is a social action of communication, where the goal is a mutual creation of meaning; an action of “reasoning together”. The trick lies in finding the “how” for encouraging the need for dialogue; the hairdresser must be shown that things can be improved, together. Because of the potential of the Internet, this can be made very successful – but just as Varey himself knows, is the fact that this field of management of buyer-seller interaction in the context of relationship process with ICT is still very new, and unexplored. That we must study and try out ways to facilitate it; maybe in the way of looking at normal human relationship building; where the person is attracted and persuaded to engage in a relationship, in order to further be maintained and developed. Matrix knows that loyal customers are created a long time, through relations; “if the business model is correctly implemented”. But the product manager questioned how to satisfy all hairdressers and their needs; he does know that the goal should be a “top of mind position” where hairdressers turn to Matrix for solutions. To begin with, it is a mistake is to define a loyal customer as one that “buys to a larger extent”, since a loyal customer has more to do with value defined by the consumer and integration of the consumer into the way of thinking how to operate business.

What Apéria suggests is that more attention should be given the consumer, and that brands can be built stronger if anchorage is made on both the conscious and unconscious needs of customers. For example, he brings up Light’s model of “Loyalty Marketing” as a means to sustain growth; by following up the important elements of marketing also after purchase,

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since it can strengthen the relationship between brand and consumer; where repeated valuable service quality and trust are the most important elements. In this interaction, the two parties will help each other in understanding the problems and finding solutions. It all will depend on their ability to communicate, and their will to communicate. Varey stresses that creating a dialogue demands a lot more effort than prompting a response to an offer; it is about producing credibility and likeability.

A loyal customer brings great profit to the brand, but a loyal customer is not merely a satisfied customer. Value needs to be increased and defined by the customer himself, because the new form of marketing is different from the mass market kind, in the way that it thrives on insight; on constant change; on creativity; and humanistic values. Some actions of today are not important, and brands should know this. They should also think in terms of how they themselves can become loyal to the customers. They should integrate the customer in the way of thinking of how to operate business. And as seems from the customer side, there is a response to the earlier hierarchy of brands controlling the customers, to where as the consumer himself wants to be governing the business. Both parties have a lot to learn from the other; they have to adapt to each other and develop a more communal type relationship. Manipulation of the other must stop, instead it should work after the idea that “when the buyer is ready to buy, the seller is ready to sell” in a relation where the aim is not merely to learn about the customer, but to learn with them in a production system based on a loyal relationship. All of this is very desirable for Matrix, as they wish that the “Club Matrix” online space could be the way for the brand and consumer to “grow together, up into the skies… - As a big happy family.”

5.2 McLuhan and Castells integratedThis project is fundamentally about the potentials of the Internet (especially for interactive communication) and in what way it is developing; something that both McLuhan and Castells has been researching and developed theories on. These potentials and ways of development become very important to take into consideration for a brand such as Matrix when they are about to create in interactive communication relation online with their customers; to enable a feedback dialogue and grow to become successful, together with their customers. A loyal club, or online space, is important for the hairdressers in order to save time and efforts in their relation with suppliers; to have the time to develop as professionals and to be able spend time with their family and friends. For Matrix, a loyalty club is an important compensation for their currently most important communication channel, the salesmen; to create a better relation with their customers built on loyalty. But the question is; how such an interactive relation online can be created, and what it can give for business development?

This is a very interesting question to put into the light of McLuhan and Castells, integrated, because they both have valuable ideas on the information age that we are currently developing in all spheres of society. I interpret these theories as supplementary to each other; since McLuhan seems to take the larger frame, while Castells goes deeper into the frame to make a closer analysis of the occurrences within.

As concerns communication from companies, Castells has recognized an exercise of power through a one-way logic, where the feedback from their public is made unable; something very undesirable for a company such as Matrix, as they will create an online space for interaction with customers. In the world of McLuhan, Internet is a “global village” as result of

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electronic media which has made everything accessible at any time. That even if it seems as though we are developing into a new communication system of “specialized cottages” defined by Castells, we have a lot to learn from the potentials that are out on the Internet; as character of one huge village full of diversities, divisions and discontinuities. Because even if a brand such as Matrix would prepackage an online space for their customers (the group of “integrated” people) there is the same competition that exists in the physical world that will circulate online the “global village”, trying to attract the customers to their “cottages”. Since this is a village of discontinuities, the brand must be flexible in their adaptability to the rest of the village, to maintain their cottage attractive. As McLuhan stressed, changes occur very fast, and the humans must be able to anticipate them, this must be done taking into account the whole “village” that produces enormous global sensitivity. In this light, an online space can not be viewed as a goal; it must be developed in the way as business previously developed offline, as extended online and thus made to suit our contemporary world better, where Internet has created a new climate full of visions and possibilities.

Because, viewed as an extension of man, Internet will create changes in the fundamental conditions of human life, as one of the greatest characters of Internet is its time saving potential. The “global village” is a dynamically many-centered place, where the meaning of the meaning is relationships, and where McLuhan recognized an economic development which would lead to the ability of tailor-making products after individual needs. It just remains for the Matrix brand to learn to adapt, with their customers, towards this system because the Internet is not only the extension of man, but also of the will of man. McLuhan also means that, when the effects of environment reach a certain point (for example the stressful business between hairdressers and suppliers where time is wasted) then people will agree for a new strategy; which will be fast, inclusive and time-saving, and possibly something similar to Castells “specialized cottage” which are globally produced but locally distributed organized computer networks; where interaction is enabled and information flows handled. Further on, Castells thinks that opposition and discontent towards Internet networks can be reunited through some unanswered challenges; where the most important concerns freedom, and which will become fundamental in everything. There might be some unconscious wishes with the hairdressers, that the brands are able to meet through the Internet; some dreams or ideas that they want to follow through, but did not think was possible.

McLuhan has described human behavior and influence through a very interesting idea of “social temperature” and “the medium is the message” that changes the societal climate of human life in its entirety. That every new medium brings about profound changes in our environment. He means e.g. that just as the train did not create the urge to move when it first was introduced to the society, it enabled movement to be faster and more effective and thus made people move to other places, since connectivity was made possible. In this way, Internet is the enabler of fast and effective communication, even if it has not yet brought about the urge to do so through Internet. (But, neither has the train brought about the urge in everyone, to move far away from their families.) From the empirics, it can be retained, that such a development is happening; that people see it more and more as an option to change their life pattern and enable an extension of the man onto the Internet; to save time which becomes more and more valuable in our contemporary society and leads to changes in the human conditions. This would mean that hairdressers, as the social conditions change, would follow the development as the time pressure will grow, mostly so because the social temperature will make people increasingly used to the fact that time can be saved in many spheres of life through the much more effective communication forms that the Internet creates, in the way

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that the train did back in the days. McLuhan also means that these are transformation that man is unaware of, because they are so enormous, due to the fact that it is “the medium that is the message”. If it would be the other way around, that the “message would be the message”, then man would question the changes and do so voluntarily. This becomes interesting to analyze, as the Internet is still developing and people are only now discovering its possibilities. It seems as though both McLuhan and Castells complements each other on this aspects as well, as they do when they discuss the Internet as a village or as many cottages; that in its entirety, the Internet mediates a message to the people that life conditions are changing and that it is inevitable not to take part of it. At the same time specialized messages makes the “virtual become our new reality in symbolic environments” or online spaces; which could mean that the brand and hairdresser transform their communication form, their messages between each other, over to the Internet; into a common cognitive pattern and reintegrated into functional networks, where the only difference between the virtual reality and the physical reality is the obliteration of time and space. The Internet creates its own geography, where information flows become manageable in these “interactive network societies”.

Online, Castells means that people will be divided into two groups; of either the “integrating” or the aforementioned “integrated”, this is what a brand such as Matrix should be conscious of. “Integrated”; means providing people with prepackaged alternatives. Since the hairdressers are neither so experienced with the Internet nor technical they can be provided with an interesting “online space” where their needs and desires can be met by Matrix as one of their conscious, and sometimes unconscious, needs have become “time”. If Matrix can provide them with a strategy to save time and effort, but still provide with quality products, education and personal contacts (if so desired) then this social network that develops can mean innovation and create profit, as Tuomi sees it in his ECC report. The group that consists of the “integrating” are those who have the ability to choose their communication circles, and thus choose their brand, which is why the brands should aim at preparing an online space which is attractive for the hairdressers, because Castells means that it is only in this “integrated” system that communication and socialization of the message becomes possible, and thus it is prerequisite for a brand that wants to build relations with consumers online. Castells also mean that it is the electronically founded communication that is “communication”.

To know what effect Internet has on the environment, McLuhan meant that it should be considered in the context of “hot or cold media”; of “more or less defined media” or media that requires more or less effort from the receiver. It is in this way that the effect of media can be described; as the form of speech is cooler than a written version of the same message, it could be considered that communication on an Internet space would demand less of the consumer in interpreting the message that a brand wants to mediate, vice versa. And further, that due to the fact that the structure of the Internet, as a “much greater speed-up”, can “retribalize”; i.e. create a community tie; with characteristics such as belonging and trust could be fostered in a loyal relationship.

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6 RESULTSThe Internet as communication medium is still under exploration and people are only in the course of discovering the possibilities it offers. It is positive since they are interested in new ways of handling offline activities, online, where the physical world in some aspects can be improved, mostly so due to the fact that it saves a lot of time. It can be negative in the way that the new medium meets skepticism and uncertainties about where it will lead us, mostly so concerning a fear of loosing all physical contacts. An interesting element is that, the younger the user, the more natural the Internet is regarded as a part of the life world. And this shows how the human communication is transforming into, namely an active management of life options, since the Internet is a medium that requires active efforts as opposed to other media such as the television or radio where information is transmitted through a one way communication. What characterize the Internet are the non-linear channels and the two way interactive communication possibilities it beholds. To be more specific as in how a Matrix can create an interactive relation online, there are some valuable elements to take into account and actions to carry out.

The most important fact is that each hairdresser is individual; with individual ways to work and with individual needs, and should thus be treated as such. Much of the valuable information is to be found “under the surface”; in getting to know each of the hairdresser’s life worlds and interact with them when creating meaning. So, instead of finding customers for products, the brand should find products for customers. Interactivity is about reasoning together. And this is a good move for a brand to take; to encourage the consumer into a dialogue through suggesting what can be improved, and this is where a “top of mind position” is possible. Create a relation built on loyalty is about giving and receiving feedback and attention. Changes occur very fast, so the Loyalty Club must constantly adapt to it, to remain attractive in a climate (the Internet) full of visions and possibilities. The Internet is the extension of man and his will; of what the modern human wants. The uncertainty and discontent towards the Internet can be reunited through unanswered challenges, where dreams and ideas that hairdressers thought where impossible, will be enabled. The most important needs of the hairdresser a part from their own customers and quality products, is time. This is what a Loyalty Club must provide. The key is to know where each individual hairdresser wastes her time. In the following section, a concept for how an online relationship can be built is given in shape of guidelines.

6.1 A Loyalty Club concept

• The consumer life world must be understood out of the perspective of the hairdressers, in order to know what can be improved and what actions damage the relation; e.g. disturbing the hairdressers in the work must be avoided.

• A part from the online relation the physical relation is still and most probably will remain, valuable. But only if the salesmen are professionals in the field of hair care and thus knows how to respect the hairdresser. This contact must be done on the hairdresser’s terms. Today many unnecessary problems exist in this relation.

• The Internet enables the creating of a dialogue with each individual hairdresser, and thus it is possible to acknowledge each conscious and unconscious need and desire of this particular consumer, which can be answered on the online Loyalty Club.

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• Hairdressers are not used to techniques, as they spend most of their time creating hair styles. So, the space online should be simple and on the first level only contain information that is relevant for them. The objective is to save time and effort, and develop the hairdresser as a professional.

• The online space should be similar to their reality offline, but serve as a means to organize time and space in a more comfortable and valuable way. But again, before developing the Loyalty Club, their life world must be fully understood.

• There should be cooperation from both sides; where each is a supporter of constructions in an interpersonal existence which foster economical growth. Which is something that both are striving for. But, this is a process of constant reproduction, and it is thus shaped a long the time.

• L’Oréal Paris decides how Matrix should be perceived, but this must be complemented and met by the opinions from the hairdressers, on what they want and how they think a successful positioning works. As it looks now, there is a weak dialogue and the relation between brand and hairdressers generally lack a mutual understanding. Instead, there is a sense of hostility and pressure to sell and buy, since it is done in the same way in all salons. This is a mass-market strategy, which is no longer neither modern nor effective. Each hairdresser is unique and individual in their desires and needs. The brand that discovers this and works accordingly will get their consent and in the longer run, even their loyalty.

• The Internet is an enabler to sell mass-market products through a micro communication; relations marketing, since it is an incredible tool for restoring and organizing data, fast and in a “mass-market amount”. Thus each consumer can be treated individually.

• There character of this relationship is similar to a “human relationship” such as friendship; it develops slowly and must be cared for. Each is in the relationship to gain something. But of course the brand-consumer relation is less personal, as the core is to do business. And therefore, it is namely important that aims and intentions are transparent, in order to create a trustful relation that can develop into loyalty.

• In such a relation; the more the relation is cared for, and the more data that is restored, the harder will it be for competitors to take over the consumer. Consumers like benefiting companies that they trust.

• This relation should start with a physical contact; a good salesman (defined as professional and respectful towards the life world of the hairdresser) who sows the seed of consent in the salon, and slowly transfers it online, where it can be farmed and grow. Some of these relationships already exists offline, and these can thus serve with valuable information.

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• The idea is to, instead of chasing the hairdresser, get the hairdresser to chaise the brand; through supplying them with attractive elements;

1. Professional development; courses and events (suggestion: ‘Event calendar online’).

2. Product information; demonstrative videos and guides (suggestion: ‘Ask the professional’).

3. Order online; bonus systems, rewards and trips to develop the profession (suggestion: A private ordering space that contains all data through a private ‘logg-in’ system’. Here the future can be planned for).

4. Network; an easy contact with Matrix (suggestion: an interactive dialogue through a channel similar to the msn messenger, such as Telenor has; you leave a message and it is directly answered. This permits the consumer to have influence in the relationship marketing, in tailor-making products and services).

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7 CONCLUDING DISCUSSIONThe thought of the Internet is both relieving and confusing; it proves time and time again that buying online can be trusted, that it takes care of my bank affairs very easily whenever I want and enables me to congratulate a friend on a birthday with flowers sent to the door even if I have only remembered in the last minute. My days do not require as much planning as they did before the Internet. But it also has its negative aspects in being an individual medium; more is demanded of me. I have to know what I want and where to find it. There is so much information and options to choose between. Inarguably it develops my independence as I don’t need help, because everything can be found online. And I can easily switch between companies if I am not satisfied; to find the one that serves my needs in the best possible way.

This person described above is the consumer of today; independent, conscious, demanding and her attention is hard to retain. And this is what marketing has to deal with, and it is not an easy task unless the consumer is interacted with, and given the possibility to remain the manager of individual life options. Companies have begun to understand this, as they have understood that the Internet is not a substitute for the TV or the radio, because online it is the people who have the control over the medium and choose what information to take in. And there is nothing more annoying than when a “pop-up” or a “micro site” commercial covers the screen when trying to read e.g. the news. Marketing is forced into a change of strategy, at least when it comes to the Internet, where traditional mass-marketing is to be replaced by an interactive “micro” communication. We are in some dimensions returning to the principles of conducting business in the early days of the village, where each shop was specialized in something and where dialogues between buyer-seller enabled a trustful relation and loyal customers.

But even if technology changed and made things work more effectively and faster, the human nature remains the same. It is a human who still needs physical and personal contacts, but is forced to work fast because of the societal speed. So, even if the Internet is a medium where time and space looses their significance, and makes for a great complement to do better and faster business, the human relationship continue to develop slowly. It is a communication process where the dialogue is at the center of concern, and which enables the customer to tell exactly what is needed in a world where, due to competition, the customer will get his voice heard. If this voice is given attention and answered by the company, a relationship of trust can be built. What is interesting to remark is that such a digital divide that exists between rich and poor countries due to accessibility, exists in Sweden due to generations. There seems to be a divide between what the Internet is for different generations; the generation of people over 30 seems to regard the medium as a means for merely finding information, where as it is for those under 30, and especially under 20, a means for communicating and finding alternative ways to live and manage life. Just consider the huge amount of young people who built themselves a carrier and earn a lot of money, writing blogs online. The Internet is an enabler for the human creativity that exists in the physical world; the difference is that online the reach is global, fast, easy and free. And people are taking advantage of it. Where this will lead our world is a question that both fascinates and frightens. What is inarguable is that the electronically founded communication is the “communication” of today.

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7.1 Further researchLately there has been a clear shift from institutional and company control over the public that receive their messages, towards involving the public into a communication with them; newspapers have added the possibility to react and give opinions on articles online where people can engage in debates; politicians speak directly with the population through individual blogs, and thus information that journalists or other sources publish in media can be defended or further discussed. These are only some of the many fields that have changed their ways to communicate, enabled by the information and communication technology online, but as Varey and so many other have recognized this Internet interactivity is still unexplored.

These changes of communication are so profound and the medium is still under growth, that many new communication forms are yet to be created. As I mentioned in the beginning of this project, the field of interactive communication is incredibly vast, and more than valuable to study further. To once more return to the ideas of McLuhan and Castells integrated; if the Internet is viewed as the huge “global village” of McLuhan, containing many different websites or “specialized cottages” of Castells, then it would undoubtedly be interesting to go deeper into the theories and predictions of both researchers, to study further on the field of marketing, such as it is on any field that exist online. Because if the Internet is seen in the light of a “real virtual culture”, then different spheres are products of its cultural characteristics; the Internet has the ability to bring people together and create dialogues, to exchange information and create meanings in a relationship of knowledge and experience exchange. As this has lead humanity to many new creative developments, it has also brought about a retreat back to the ways of handling things in the earlier days, and namely so in business. But more research is needed to make new predictions of the interactive information age ahead of us.

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References

Apéria, Tony (2001) Brand relationship management : den varumärkesbyggande processen Stockholms UniversitetApéria, Tony (2004) Brand relations management : bridging the gap between brand promise and brand delivery Liber: StockholmCastells, Manuel (2000) Informationsåldern. Ekonomi, samhälle och kultur Band I: Nätverkssamhällets framväxt Daidalos: Göteborg

Castells, Manuel (2002) Internetgalaxen. Reflektioner om Internet, ekonomi och samhälle Daidalos: Göteborg

Godin, Seth (2000) Permission Marketing. När kunden själv får välja Svenska Förlaget: Stockholm

Holme, Magne Idar; Solvang, Bernt Krohn (1997) Forskningsmetodik. Om Kvalitativa och Kvantitativa Metoder 2:a uppl. Studentlitteratur: Lund

Hård af Segerstad, Peder (2002) Kommunikation och information. En bok om människans förmåga att tänka, tala och förstå Uppsala Publishing House: Uppsala

Kipling, Rudyard in Eriksson, Lars Torsten; Wiedersheim-Paul, Finn (1999) Att Utreda, Forska och Rapportera 6:e uppl. Liber Ekonomi: Malmö

Larsen, Leif Ove; Helland, Knut; Knapskog, Karl; Ostbye, Helge (2003) Metodbok för Medievetenskap Liber Ekonomi: Malmö

McLuhan, Marshall (1989) The Global Village : Transformations of World Life and Media in the 21st Century Oxford University Press : New York

Moss, Michael A. (1997) Media Research: Technology, Art, Communication. Essays by Marshall McLuhan OPA : Amsterdam B.V

Peppers, Don; Rogers, Martha (2001) Enterprise One to One, Handbok i Relations Marknadsföring Richters, Malmö

Severin, Werner J.; Tankard, JR; James W (2001) Communication Theories. Origins, Methods and Uses in the Mass Media Longman: N.Y

Tuomi, Ilkka in ECC: Zerdick, Axel; Picot, Arnold; Schrape, Klaus; Burgelman, Jean-Claude; Silverstone, Roger; Feldmann, Valerie; Wernick, Christian; Wolff, Carolin (2005) E-Merging Media. Communication and the Media Economy of the Future Springer, Berlin

Varey, Richard J. (2002) Relationship Marketing : Dialogue and Networks in the E-Commerce Era John Wiley & Sons, LTD : West Sussex

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Annex 1

Empirical material from interviews with hairdressers

About the Internet as mediumThe impressions given of Internet as a medium were positive; and stated such as;

"it is a good way to communicate", "a way to get a hold of information", “you can find anything on the Internet, to buy things and so on…!”, “it is so good not having to stand in queues anymore, things just goes faster and there is more time left for other things, that is the great thing about Internet”, “a way to find the information and knowledge I need. There is everything online and it is available at anytime, when ever I want! - All that I need to know. I use it when I need help with something”, “It is a 24/7 medium – everything is accessible whenever I want”, “Internet is super good. One can take care of things on its own pace. Just click through and it is easy. My business is handled through the Internet.”, “I can get a hold of information that I thought was not possible to get a hold of!”

The Internet was most generally stated to be used when looking for information, to pay bills, to read news papers and magazines, to buy movie- and theater tickets, to e-mail, and to take care of practical things. And the generally good thing about all this is that it goes fast and that it is comfortable, and that it saves much time, which can be spent with family and friends instead.

So, the Internet was experienced as a comfortable medium which saves both time and energy, but that it also has many down sides since there is just so much information online, and that changes happen so fast with the technology that it is hard to keep up; “There is just too much of everything”. Some where more enthusiastic and told that it is; "incredibly good", that it is "the future", that it is "inevitable to start getting to know how to use the Internet".

One hairdresser felt that everything has gotten much more strict online; that for example the "Frisyrtorget" where she could previously go in without a problem, to read about the latest hairdressing trends, has become private and one needs to be a member to enter the site. “This has made things more complicated”. Some felt that Internet was complicated and time consuming.

“It feels as though Internet is not quite ready yet. It does not feel very safe either. It gives false safety.”

The positive sides with the Internet are told to be many, but so are the bad sides too. And generally, the Internet was seen as a "generation thing", "for people under 30". For those over 30, it was still good, but a much less natural way to handle things. It is also a lot about trust.

“I belong to the wrong generation when it comes to the Internet!”

“I think that Internet is for those who were brought up with it in a natural way.”

Mostly the people who are used to using the Internet said they use it to buy things, because it is less complicated than to move physically to the theater and travels agency. Many have also gone to reading the news online. The bad part of Internet is if there would be technical problems, “that would be horrible.”

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“I think one needs to be a technical freak to be able to use the Internet, I mean, us; the hairdresser; we are creative people, so technical things just do not work with us.”

To communicate, the Internet is seen as both fantastic and not good at all. Many could not imagine the personal contact to be handled with a computer. But others thought that programs such as Skype were incredible; to have the possibility to see friends and family through the web camera was much appreciated. “It is a fabulous way to keep in touch”. For example, some commented the fact that they would not be in touch with some of the friends and family, which they now keep a contact with through the Internet.

"I would want the Internet to be an object to communicate".

“It is the future of communication”.

“I think it is damn good! I can make myself understood better – read, write – and do it so fast. I trust the e-mail more than the post office! It is crazy, as a matter of fact, but it is so.”

When I asked about the potentials of Internet, there was no one that doubted its positive characteristics. Even if there was some skepticism within the people, there was no doubt that it will grow as a medium, and the future was seen as very interesting. Many have understood that with the Internet there are close to no limits; that "it just remains for us to see where it develops".

About doing business with suppliersThe most frequent way to do business is through salesmen that come into the salons but also through the phone. It is generally so that the hairdressers have their favorite salesmen with whom they have a trustful and a long relationship with. Only one hairdresser out of 16 does all her contacts through the Internet, with the Swedish hair care brand Gocciani. (It might have to do with that she is amongst one of the youngest I spoke to). She buys everything and handles all contacts online, except when some salesmen every now and then want to have some of her time and show some new products or hair styles. “It is cheaper to buy online!” Otherwise it is all built on personal contacts. It was generally seen as important to have established relations built on confidence.

“That makes it a lot easier for me.”

“If you are loyal to a company, they take care of a lot for you; courses at the salon and so on. This is really good. This is a sort of commercial for them too. And it does pay of to be loyal.”

Some of the salons have homepages, but it is more to show that they exist. Otherwise their marketing is build on personal contacts, or as one put it; “mouth-to-mouth messages”. Some even introduced an Internet booking system for their clients, but many still remain skeptical towards it since it is difficult to get the time well organized; if an appointment is canceled big problems appear in the schedule, and it is impossible that their own clients estimate how long it will take them to color or cut their hair. Each en every hairdresser thought courses where important, to develop themselves.

“Courses are such important part of the inspiration and development as hairdresser.”

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So for the moment, as concerns business with the suppliers, it is handled through the salesmen that come over to the salons to present new products and take care of everything that is needed. The opinion about the salesmen was much divided; some found it as excellent and very nice, that they are always reachable and good. Others found the salesmen as complicated and time consuming. That they did not really have the answers they where looking for and that it was difficult to find a time that suits both them and the salesman, as both are in a "very busy business."

“Its pretty old fashion, really, the way we do business but it is changing fast. Just a year ago everything was noted on paper, now the salesmen have laptops!”

Much of the contact is done over the phone, which was experienced as stressful for some hairdressers, as they had to run to the phone in the middle of caring for their own customer’s haircut or coloring.

In the business relation that exists right now, the problems where described, such as mistakes, faults in taking the order, or in the payment.

“These sort of things wastes a lot of time for us.”

“The mistakes occur when they try to trick us into buying products. They think we will not notice, but we do.”

“There are just too many salesmen, and that is a little too much time consuming. But it is still very important with physical contacts with the salesmen, with the ones we have chosen ourselves and with whom business works very well. It does actually work very well. Otherwise I do also give time for new salesmen that want to present something; I think you have to do that, to be nice. They deserve a chance.”

“I don’t really understand why they are here.”

“They are too pushy and heavy. It feels like they are always chasing us.”

Problems in the business were also identified when the hairdressers do not like the salesmen. Most hairdressers stated that the relation is very shallow, that the salesmen “suck up” to much.

“I mean, we know that the brand hire good looking young men to sell their products. And these guys are so aware that they are good looking, it is ridiculous. And the relation remains really shallow. The salesmen should know more about the products. Instead they smile and ‘hang out’ with us and ask about how our weekend was and if there’s any parties coming up. It’s annoying, and they think that we get flattered and buy their products, but that’s not the way it works. We are here to cut hair and we don’t have time to waste our time with small talk. Especially not when we know their aim is to sell in the end. They try to earn as much as possible.”

“Most of the salesmen are men, and the hairdresser’s are women. And I read in the paper ones about a study where it was found that men sell better to women and women to men. The suppliers must know this.”

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While talking to this hairdresser, her colleague steps into the room. The hairdresser I am interviewing smiles to her colleague and just says “…we are talking about the salesmen”, and laughs indicating something funny, her colleague smiles to and just sights and says “… oh yeah…the salesmen!”

The relation that the hairdressers have with the salesmen was still generally described as “pretty good” or “really nice”, because the physical contact, after all, was very important.

“I select the salesmen, with them I have a good relation that has been established over time. So it has been up to me. Some salesmen are not even welcome into the salon because I don’t like them, so we just communicate per telephone. Then we have an agreement that they come in once a week the same time just to get the business done.”

“If a salesman is not good, I don’t buy from him. It is very simple really.”

It was said that it would be good if the hairdressers could decide more for themselves.

But there were also some problems to a good contact;

“It would be great if the salesmen could come, only when it is needed, now they run here all the time. It disturbs us quite a lot. It would be good if we, ourselves, could take the contact when we wanted. But they want to make constant appointments and come over to talk and sell.”

“I mean, salesmen are important for us, I know that; when I started as a hairdresser I was really nice to all the salesmen, and listened to them, but a long with the time I have learnt that I need to be hard with them, its not nice, but I have no choice.”

“The problems occur when they do not come on time. This happens quite often, and that is a problem since we have a very strict schedule. Our work is very obsessed with time.”

“As a hairdresser we have many problems to take care of, we have many balls in the air at the same time, and we don’t give time to suppliers, or buy from them to be nice. The salesmen we have are really good. We buy because we have a need that we think they can answer to.”

An interesting thing that was told is that;

“…it is just crazy how much those salesmen have to sell… they tell us about their crazy budget they have to reach up to. It is insane”.

“Most of the time, the salesmen really encourage us NOT to contact the offices of the brand to ask things. They really want us to buy from them.”

A good relation with salesmen was often described as a fast and easy one;

“Suppliers should be honest, and inform us in the right way about new products. They should know what we want.”

“There are just so many salesmen who do not know enough about the hair care business. All they care about is to sell a lot. Sometimes they give us a free sample of a product but make us

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pay anyway. They think we will not have time to check it up. That’s when there is a problem with the bill. And that is time consuming as well. That is just terrible and it can give a brand a very bad reputation. Just because of one salesman. Internet would be good in that way, that I could get what I want, and just that. Nothing extra and no surprises like this ‘due to a misinterpretation’ as they say it is, for example.”

“Some salesmen just consume a lot of time, while they are ignorant as well. I get tired of them.”

“Salesmen they have a very low fixed salary, and the money they make, is on promotion, we know that. I don’t want them to come and force on a mass of products, no!, I want to decide when I need them and what I need”.

When it was asked if anything is missing in the relation between the hairdressers and their suppliers, it was often stated that it was the contrary, that there was too much to it. Something that could be improved, and which seemed to be a general opinion, was if more control would be given to the hairdressers as concerns the business with products.

“Something that could be improved, really, is that it could go faster. That they know what we want, and not force on a lot of products.”

“Now it feels like we should be grateful.”

The main needs were a part from getting high quality products, for the order and delivery to go fast.

“Business is so shifting, so sometimes, I only find out in the last minute that I need ‘these and these’ products. I want business to happen in a ‘NOW’ kind of fast way. And avoid all the mess that occurs.”

The question about an “educative relation” with suppliers was very welcomed.

“It is good to change information, about what they have that could be good for us, and what kind of products we need.”

“A good relation is built one logistic trust, that we can trust the plan and the time schedule.”

“As a salesman you should really have good knowledge of the products and hair care.”

“A good relation is where the salesman has actual knowledge about the hair care branch, and where both the hairdresser and the salesman can learn from each other. The more the hairdresser knows about hair care, the more difficult is it for the salesman to sell the products, if he does not know about the branch. Knowledge is so important. The good hairdressers will not listen to salesmen who do not know about hair care.”

“A good relation is a professional relation, where advice is given, and courses. Where more time is spend on the actual product, than small talking. It is important that they really want us to develop with them, that they are nice and gives good information and so on.”

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The video with hair fashion and ways-to-do tips that was given by the suppliers is much appreciated. This was seen as a development for the salon business. The hairdressers stated that, in order for them to develop, it is important to continue to go on courses and education.

“It is important to ‘tag along’ and to be up-to-date!”

Another one told; “films online would be good!”

Working in a salon was often described as “each hairdresser is their own business, we just rent the salon. This is how it is starting to be more and more.” This means that each hairdresser has their own suppliers and own ways to work. It is not about what the salon needs, but what the individual hairdresser uses and needs.

When it came to the question about the Internet as a means for them to manage parts of their business, the answers where not as clear and positive as when Internet was a means to deal with personal hobbies; first of all, most of the saloons saw their personal contact with the salesman as very important; to talk, have eye contact, spend time, and test the products together. Even though it could be complicated sometimes, education given physically was seen as much more valuable than when it is on the video. Many saloons also preferred the personal contacts because they could negotiate a better price, get some bonus products and create a stronger and more valuable relationship between one another.

The orders were also mainly done personally or by phone, and the main needs of the hairdressers where a part from good products, the personal contact and explanation of how to use the new colors that constantly come out. Product information and education was generally placed high on the need-level. It was also mentioned that the cost of transport of the products was a complicated question; that it was expensive to do many small orders and pay the transport each time.

” To get away that transportation cost would be an immense advantage”.

And it was a wish that orders could be made better; that instead of many small ones, have a bigger one each month. That could save money and time. Especially the issue of saving time was repeatedly seen as important.

About an online spaceConcerning an online space where the saloons could meet their suppliers, the attitudes where both positive and held back. Some mentioned that they could "clearly imagine" and "understand" the "future, growing intensity of Internet use for the purpose of doing business". But that as it looks now, most of the saloons I interviewed used the physical relation with salesmen to manage their work, did not have a computer at work and praised the personal contacts. But some stated that they wanted to have Internet at work though.

So, the question about handling the business online was given both positive and negative response; the comments on why it is not good, was that it just cannot replace the business made with human contacts. Others thought that the Internet has "very good possibilities to make the relation better in a busy world". Some felt that it would be good if some contact was made personally and some virtually. That the more in-depth questions could be dealt with in person, but that the more practical questions and questions that comes a long with the work

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days could be handled through the Internet. Some even stated that it would be a relief to avoid meeting salesmen, and take care of the business through the Internet, in ones own time and without stress having to run to the phone so much. And that it;

"…would have a good potential in telling me how much products I have used and what I need to have more of, yes it is a very efficient machine".

“The best would be, if Internet could offer us an efficient and easy way to do business.”

“I’d like to do my orders online.”

Some said, thus, that work would become more effective and cheap if business could be done through Internet with the suppliers;

“It would be good to do all business on one single place and find any information that I feel I want to have in the moment - easily.”

“I think it would be good, to have a dialogue online, instead of coming physically to a place. It saves time. And to manage business online would mean that we could have a better overview of things, better control. That is good.”

“I think we could become more organized, and become better in our work in that way. The computer could make things easier. I think so.”

“I think it is good to have Internet as a way to record what we have ordered and done, because over phone, we cannot prove to the supplier when we did not order something but received it anyway, for example. That would be good.”

“…then it would be good to have the Internet to get rid of the salesmen who come in a bad moment and unplanned. Through an Internet contact I could take the contact when I want and when it suits me. It is strange that I don’t have Internet in my saloon. But if business starts to develop in the direction of online space business and contacts, I will install Internet in my saloon. That is for sure. It would be really good. When I work and the salesmen come in, I get irritated. I would want to take care of all those product businesses in the morning, and then be able to dedicate myself to the creative work I do with my own customers. My main need is the customers, and the mood and ambiance at the saloon of course. What I need for my daily work is a good environment, good tools to work with and good high quality products – which are expensive and good.”

“There should be more homepages with the suppliers to do business on, now I only know Gocciani. It is much more expensive to buy from the salesmen.”

But there were also negative feelings towards such an Internet site;

“No, that would be too complicated than make things easier. We are very creative and the computer is not something for us. And we don’t want to loose the personal touch. We are more esthetics than technicians.”

“Internet is too high-tech for me.”

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“Did you know that, what is trendy now days is not to have any cell phone and not to use the Internet. That is cool. It is going back towards how it used to be, I think that. Personally I believe in a mix.”

Five out of all sixteen hairdressers I interviewed, where really enthusiastic towards this kind of a relation with their suppliers. With the enthusiasm, followed also a large number of ideas; that there could be a space where they could have a "dialogue with each other about for example how handle greasy hair" and where to find important information and take contact with suppliers so on. Most of the hairdressers claimed to believe that the communication could become better with the means of Internet; more effective, easier, and save a lot of time. Because "it takes a lot of time to deal with the salesmen and that if the relation could be handled online it could be good".

Another one said;

"…it would be faster, and better to get rid of the sales men and just shop online and handle the business online… it would ease the pressure".

“I want to be the one who decides over the business with the suppliers. I don’t need to listen to them! They just call so many times. And there are new things all the time. There is never peace and quiet.”

But since it is quite a new phenomenon, the impression was that there was some uncertainty of how such a relation could be possible. However, the attitude was that Internet would have the potential for it. One hairdresser spoke about the loss of days that needs to be spent at fairs. She further took up the idea that it could be a solution to have these fairs and information online.

"That would help a lot and save money, it is expensive to go to courses and fairs, but the information is necessary".

Another one mentioned that the brand KMS is so good, because of its homepage.

It was also stated that, the work of each hairdresser in the saloons is unique, that each has their way to work and their own products they use. And that this makes also the personal contact with the supplier very individual; that the bonus they get for shopping depends on it as does the relation they have. No one is the same, each work is formed in a certain way, and for this it is important to "have a relation with the supplier where they understand what is needed for each one of us here in the saloon." One hairdresser said she has been looking at the homepages of the different suppliers she has, and sees the possibilities they offer; "it is amazing to see how much there is, you can get help to design your saloon and win things" but at the same time there was a sort of confusion of how it all works, and that it is not as inspiring to see how hairdressers work on screen as it is physically.

And one hairdresser said that "hairdressers are both psychologists and hairdressers, so we need to make sure that the customers feel cared for and satisfied, this is also relevant for us as for how we want our suppliers to treat us”. Again, "personal contact is very important".

If there would be an Internet space for the hairdressers and the suppliers, they would like to find information about products, education, know about the latest trends and the latest haircuts

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on film for example, news of the hair care world, bonus systems, and above all, to be able to make orders online in an effective and easy way.

“It would be great to have a system that gives for example a 10% discount on a big order”.

And it was the general statement that the homepage should be simple and effective. More than so, these arguments about a homepage online for business management were given;

“I don’t want any glitter falling down on the page or pink flashy lights. No, I want it to be easy, simple and FAST!”

“It would be great to have one day, for example Monday, when the homepage was updated with new information and news. In that way I would not have to feel so stressed about looking each day. I could concentrate and check it all out Mondays, and do all the business-stuff then”.

“Even, one salesman less per week would be just great!”

“It would be good to be able to have the contacts that are not so nice to deal with, online, and the contacts that are valuable, to remain physical.”

Some also stated that it would be good to avoid having to call the suppliers, and be able to reach the office of the suppliers to communicate their needs and questions about products. "… personally, it would help me" says one hairdresser, while her colleagues said she prefers to make business through the phone while she cuts the hairs. She also mentioned that she is working as both a hairdresser and salesman for KMS (a hair care brand), and that she prefers that human contact. Others find the Internet too be a handy complement to a limited personal contact with salesmen;

“It would be good if there would be a possibility for a dialogue online with the salesmen, in case there would be some problems that need to be solved or so. But, if all contact would be merely online, then there is a need for some kind of back-up in case of technical problems.”

There was a negative response to spaces online as comes to the mass of information, which instead of helping, confuses. So this was one of the biggest problems seen with the Internet. Others said that using Internet wastes a lot of valuable time. That it is tiring having to deal with the Internet. The opinions are really diverse as comes to using the Internet for means of communicating with the suppliers; while some saloons hoped for such a relation that could be managed more efficiently, without the "running around and finding information and hunting the salesmen" it would be practical, others had much less interest. That, even if the Internet in it self is a very handy way to find information, it was preferred to "keep things as they are" - to have the relation physically and nothing more. But mostly, the hairdressers saw the Internet as growing immensely and increasing in significance in all spheres of society, especially with their children "who are getting better than themselves" at using the computers. Insecurity was also stated, that an online space contact would not give as much information about new products as the traditional salesmen contact does; that maybe it will be difficult to get a hold of the salesmen.

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About if anything in their business already changed with the technology, and if there is something to addAs it looks now, Internet has not yet reached the saloons, more than the fact that some orders are made online, and that the saloons that have a homepage have their own clients use the Internet more and more to book a time for a haircut. So, technology has improved some ways to manage the work, for some hairdressers and their clients.

The over all impression of Internet was that it is a "generation thing". That it is growing in significance but that the generation that will soon retire, does not consider the Internet as an important part in their work. One said; "...but, I belong to the generation that does not use Internet...” Instead they believed it would do so for the younger generation of 30 years and under. And that is how it seemed as I asked younger persons; they where much more positive towards the Internet and treated it more naturally; that is, as a part of their private life as well as their work. Here, a potential for an interactive relation online between the brand and their customers is much bigger. Some of these saloons already manage much of the relation with their customers online through their homepage, and many saw the importance of having a homepage for business.

Of the talks I had with the hairdressers, I got the impression which I have myself; that the Internet is right now in its stage of development, that if it could be cleared out of the immense ocean of information, it could serve as a very powerful tool in all the ways of our lives. And mostly, Internet was expressed as "the future thing". That "evolutions are unstoppable, and the net is the future". It is a "100% sure thing that Internet is the future, to take contact through the computer, it will be like that", says another hairdresser.

"It gives me the time I need, and I can do things in my own speed" says another, "and the fact that it would be possible to just ask, when there are any problems, it would be great".

And another person said; “… I mean everything will be handled trough the Internet in the future”.

But, it still seems that all of the people I talked to need time to get used to the Internet as a communication medium. For the older generations it is merely a means for looking for information, not to communicate. One hairdresser said that;

"I do not consider the Internet as a communication medium; I just use it for the search engines to find practical information, that way its very good, but my son uses it to communicate without any problems. It is incredible. Ones he felt a pain in his heart and contacted his friend through Internet to get help. I would never have even thought about it as an option! This is how it is".

It seems as if the hairdressers are so used to the way of doing business until now; with a personal contact with the salesmen, that it has made them stubborn for changes. They do not want to loose this "personal touch". Some also thought that one needs to be "computer interested" as person to want to deal with the online business.

On one salon, as I was waiting for my interview person I over heard a conversation that one hairdresser had with a supplier. The salesman wanted to contact the hairdresser about some products. The hairdresser said that; “…no, I will send you the form with the products that I want. You don’t have to call me all the time, and hunt me down. You don’t have to do that. I

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will contact you.” This seems to be one of the issues that hairdressers deal with often, that many brands try to get them to buy, and let them know that they do not have to think about making orders, but that the salesmen will contact them, to see what they need. But they do not seem to understand the pressure and concentration under which the hairdressers work as they do their creative work, cutting and caring for the hair or their own customers.

“…they just come into the lunch room, just like that, without asking; to talk and be ‘friends’, it is intimidating and annoying. We do not have so much time you see, and the lunch room is where we can have a break”.

“The salesmen just start small talking with us in the middle of a cut. They don’t understand that cutting requires concentration.”

The brands need to understand this, because in the life world of a hairdresser, their foremost needs are their own clients, and after that the need for products and educative development.The favorite salesmen where repeatedly said to be the ones that just come into the store and check out what products that are missing and leave information about a new product, and then, leave the salon.

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Annex 2

Questionnaire Matrix

1) YouWhat do you do?How do you hire the salesmen?How do you take care of the brand?What is important in your work?

2) The brandWhy does this brand exist?How do you position you brand?How do you communicate about your brand?Does your brand have loyal customers?How are loyal customers created?What is your target group?What is your brand company strategy?What are your company’s vision and values?

3) Your customersHow do you define you customers?What about them is important?How do you find out about their needs?How do you communicate with your customers?What is a loyal customer?What problems are there?How is the relation with the customers?What is an ideal relation?How can that be obtained?What are your aims?Does your communication differ from customers; such as loyal and existing customer relations and customers that are not yet established?

4) Club MatrixWhy a Club Matrix?What are your thoughts about it?What will be found here?How will communication be online?How can this project be done successfully?

5) The most important aspect of creating brand loyalty, is after purchase according to Light’s Loyalty Marketing model; how is this according to you?

6) How do you regard mass marketing communication?

7) What is the future of marketing communication?

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Annex 3

Questionnaire hairdressers

1) The InternetIs it a comfortable medium? How much is it used?For what is it used?What’s bad with the Internet?What’s good with the Internet?What are the potentials with the Internet?As a means to communicate, how is it?

2) Doing business with your suppliersHow do you do business?What problems are there?How is your relation with the suppliers?What can be improved?How are the salesmen?What is a good relation?How do you order, find products and so on; that is related to your work?Is anything missing?Which are your main needs?An educative relation; how is that?How could you develop your business?Do you feel stressed in your work?What do you need for your daily life/work?

3) An online space?What do you think about a space online, to do business?(What good would an online space do your business/work?) What about creating dialogues with the suppliers?What problems can there be?What is wished to be found there?Loyalty programs; what is loyalty for you?Could your needs be better fulfilled through the Internet?A relation of trust and inspiration online?

4) Has anything in your business already changed with the technology?

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