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Konsten att hitta ett Loophole i den svenska tobakslagen

Evers, Alexandra LU and Dahlberg, Lovisa (2025) SKOK11 20251
Department of Strategic Communication
Abstract
In response to increasingly strict regulations surrounding the marketing of tobacco-free nicotine products in Sweden, nicotine pouch brand Loop has adopted new strategies to maintain brand visibility and consumer engagement on social media. This study examines how Loop constructs and communicates its brand identity on Instagram in a legally restricted environment, using strategic communication that avoids direct product promotion. By applying a theoretical framework grounded in multimodal semiotics and cultural branding theory, and conducting a qualitative visual analysis inspired by Barthes’ levels of meaning, the study explores how meaning is created through the interplay of image, text, color, and layout.
The material consists of six... (More)
In response to increasingly strict regulations surrounding the marketing of tobacco-free nicotine products in Sweden, nicotine pouch brand Loop has adopted new strategies to maintain brand visibility and consumer engagement on social media. This study examines how Loop constructs and communicates its brand identity on Instagram in a legally restricted environment, using strategic communication that avoids direct product promotion. By applying a theoretical framework grounded in multimodal semiotics and cultural branding theory, and conducting a qualitative visual analysis inspired by Barthes’ levels of meaning, the study explores how meaning is created through the interplay of image, text, color, and layout.
The material consists of six Instagram posts published between January 2023 and April 2025, selected through purposeful sampling. The analysis is thematically structured around three recurring patterns identified during the research process: group representation, body and merchandise, and geographical environment. Within each theme, the selected posts demonstrate different perspectives on how the brand identity is constructed through visual storytelling. Strategies such as surrogate marketing, healthwashing, norm-breaking aesthetics, and emotional branding are analyzed in relation to how they position the brand within both cultural and commercial discourses.
The findings show that Loop strategically bypasses legal restrictions by replacing product-centric communication with aesthetically driven, culturally coded narratives that promote lifestyle, identity, and values associated with the brand. The study contributes to the understanding of visual brand communication in regulated digital spaces, and highlights how brands adapt their strategies to maintain relevance, resonance, and market position in a shifting communicative landscape. (Less)
Abstract (Swedish)
Till följd av en allt strängare lagstiftning kring marknadsföring av tobaksfria nikotinprodukter i Sverige har varumärket Loop utvecklat nya strategier för att synas i sociala medier utan att bryta mot rådande regler. Denna studie undersöker hur Loop iscensätter och kommunicerar sin varumärkesidentitet på Instagram genom strategisk kommunikation som undviker direkt produktreklam. Med utgångspunkt i ett teoretiskt ramverk baserat på multimodal semiotik och cultural branding-teori genomförs en kvalitativ bildanalys inspirerad av Barthes tre nivåer av betydelse: denotation, konnotation och myt.
Materialet består av sex inlägg från Loops svenska Instagramkonto, publicerade mellan januari 2023 och april 2025, där urvalet genomförts... (More)
Till följd av en allt strängare lagstiftning kring marknadsföring av tobaksfria nikotinprodukter i Sverige har varumärket Loop utvecklat nya strategier för att synas i sociala medier utan att bryta mot rådande regler. Denna studie undersöker hur Loop iscensätter och kommunicerar sin varumärkesidentitet på Instagram genom strategisk kommunikation som undviker direkt produktreklam. Med utgångspunkt i ett teoretiskt ramverk baserat på multimodal semiotik och cultural branding-teori genomförs en kvalitativ bildanalys inspirerad av Barthes tre nivåer av betydelse: denotation, konnotation och myt.
Materialet består av sex inlägg från Loops svenska Instagramkonto, publicerade mellan januari 2023 och april 2025, där urvalet genomförts strategiskt. Analysen är tematiskt strukturerad utifrån tre mönster som identifierades under forskningsprocessen: grupprepresentation, kropp och merchandise samt geografisk miljö. Inom varje tema analyseras två inlägg som belyser olika sätt att kommunicera varumärkesidentitet genom visuella uttryck. Strategier som surrogatmarknadsföring, healthwashing, normbrytande estetik och emotionell varumärkeskommunikation diskuteras i relation till hur Loop positionerar sig i kulturella och kommersiella sammanhang.
Resultaten visar att Loop kringgår juridiska begränsningar genom att ersätta produktfokuserad reklam med estetiskt och kulturellt laddade berättelser som förmedlar livsstil, värderingar och identitet. Studien bidrar till förståelsen för visuell varumärkeskommunikation i reglerade digitala miljöer och belyser hur företag anpassar sina strategier för att behålla relevans, kulturell resonans och marknadsposition i ett föränderligt kommunikationslandskap. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Evers, Alexandra LU and Dahlberg, Lovisa
supervisor
organization
alternative title
En kvalitativ multimodal analys av Loops indirekta marknadsföring på Instagram
course
SKOK11 20251
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
Strategic communication, multimodal semiotics, surrogate marketing, brand identity, Instagram, tobacco-free nicotine, healthwashing, visual communication, Loop, cultural branding.
language
Swedish
id
9192498
date added to LUP
2025-06-30 11:13:13
date last changed
2025-06-30 11:13:13
@misc{9192498,
  abstract     = {{In response to increasingly strict regulations surrounding the marketing of tobacco-free nicotine products in Sweden, nicotine pouch brand Loop has adopted new strategies to maintain brand visibility and consumer engagement on social media. This study examines how Loop constructs and communicates its brand identity on Instagram in a legally restricted environment, using strategic communication that avoids direct product promotion. By applying a theoretical framework grounded in multimodal semiotics and cultural branding theory, and conducting a qualitative visual analysis inspired by Barthes’ levels of meaning, the study explores how meaning is created through the interplay of image, text, color, and layout.
The material consists of six Instagram posts published between January 2023 and April 2025, selected through purposeful sampling. The analysis is thematically structured around three recurring patterns identified during the research process: group representation, body and merchandise, and geographical environment. Within each theme, the selected posts demonstrate different perspectives on how the brand identity is constructed through visual storytelling. Strategies such as surrogate marketing, healthwashing, norm-breaking aesthetics, and emotional branding are analyzed in relation to how they position the brand within both cultural and commercial discourses.
The findings show that Loop strategically bypasses legal restrictions by replacing product-centric communication with aesthetically driven, culturally coded narratives that promote lifestyle, identity, and values associated with the brand. The study contributes to the understanding of visual brand communication in regulated digital spaces, and highlights how brands adapt their strategies to maintain relevance, resonance, and market position in a shifting communicative landscape.}},
  author       = {{Evers, Alexandra and Dahlberg, Lovisa}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Konsten att hitta ett Loophole i den svenska tobakslagen}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}