Karina Madsen Smed

“Do it to Denmark”: A case study on viral processes in marketing messages

Marketers increasingly try to make marketing messages reach and ‘infect’ social media users, who subsequently share the message with yet other users, thereby ‘infecting’ additional users and spreading the message like a virus – processes often defined as viral marketing. However, what exactly happens to marketing messages when they ‘go viral’ has not received much attention, and the intention of this article is to take a closer look at what happens to marketing messages when social media users comment on and co-create these messages. Drawing on one particular case, that is, the ‘do it for Denmark’ commercial, the article suggests that what happens is not simply that marketers’ original message spreads like a virus. Instead, a diverse set of discourses are constructed and shared as the marketing message goes viral. The contention of this article is that ‘uncontrollability’ of viral processes creates unforeseeable associations and meanings that may have little to do with the original message and meanings – in the present case changing meanings from ‘do it for Denmark’ to ‘do it to Denmark’. Therefore, tourism marketers need to better understand the complexity of viral processes and how co-creation of viral messages may fundamentally transform and transcend the original message.

Do it Forever: Discursive representations of older adults and sexualities in vacation marketing

In advertising, sex has been ascribed a major role, but mostly in a one-dimensional, uniform, and ageist manner framing sexuality as the privilege of younger people. This has traditionally strengthened stereotyping discourses of older adults as ‘asexual’. However, in recent years, counter narratives emphasizing sex as an integral part of active, healthy, and successful aging have gained momentum. Using the promotional video ‘Do it Forever’ as a relevant case, this article analyzes representations of older adults’ sexualities in vacation marketing and points to how advertising is not ‘innocent’, but discursively positions older adults’ sexualities within an antiaging culture which positions older adults as ‘sexy olders’ in sharp opposition to the discourse of ‘asexsual old age’, potentially leaving older adults with little room to construct (a)sexual identities in-between the two strong and oppositional discourses.

Emerging Powers, Emerging Markets, Emerging Societies

The tourism sector has become one of the most important economic sectors in the world. The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) estimates that tourism-related activities account for about 9 percent of the world’s total GDP. Despite the global financial crisis, international tourism has experienced continued growth, expanding by 5 percent worldwide in 2013 (UNWTO, 2014, p. 3). The fastest growth happened in the Asia-Pacific region fueled by the growing disposable incomes of the newly emerging middle classes, but even traditional destinations such as Europe experienced a growth in arrivals of more than 5 percent in 2013. UNWTO expects this growth to continue at an average rate of about 3.3 percent per year for the next 15–20 years. For destinations interested in benefitting from this prospective growth, China has become an object of special interest. While China has long been one of the most popular destinations for international travelers, the country has only recently emerged as the largest source of international travelers. In an overturning of the traditional division of labor within the tourism sector, where developing nations have long been important destinations for international travelers, the wanderlust of China’s emerging middle class now extends from regional destinations such as Hong Kong and Japan to classic European destinations, with France and Italy as the preferred holiday spots in Europe (Timemetric, 2014).

New Tourists at Old Destinations: Chinese Tourists in Europe

The tourism sector has become one of the most important economic sectors in the world. The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) estimates that tourism-related activities account for about 9 percent of the world’s total GDP. Despite the global financial crisis, international tourism has experienced continued growth, expanding by 5 percent worldwide in 2013 (UNWTO, 2014, p. 3). The fastest growth happened in the Asia-Pacific region fueled by the growing disposable incomes of the newly emerging middle classes, but even traditional destinations such as Europe experienced a growth in arrivals of more than 5 percent in 2013. UNWTO expects this growth to continue at an average rate of about 3.3 percent per year for the next 15–20 years. For destinations interested in benefitting from this prospective growth, China has become an object of special interest. While China has long been one of the most popular destinations for international travelers, the country has only recently emerged as the largest source of international travelers. In an overturning of the traditional division of labor within the tourism sector, where developing nations have long been important destinations for international travelers, the wanderlust of China’s emerging middle class now extends from regional destinations such as Hong Kong and Japan to classic European destinations, with France and Italy as the preferred holiday spots in Europe (Timemetric, 2014).

New Tourists at Old Destinations

The tourism sector has become one of the most important economic sectors in the world. The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) estimates that tourism-related activities account for about 9 percent of the world’s total GDP. Despite the global financial crisis, international tourism has experienced continued growth, expanding by 5 percent worldwide in 2013 (UNWTO, 2014, p. 3). The fastest growth happened in the Asia-Pacific region fueled by the growing disposable incomes of the newly emerging middle classes, but even traditional destinations such as Europe experienced a growth in arrivals of more than 5 percent in 2013. UNWTO expects this growth to continue at an average rate of about 3.3 percent per year for the next 15–20 years. For destinations interested in benefitting from this prospective growth, China has become an object of special interest. While China has long been one of the most popular destinations for international travelers, the country has only recently emerged as the largest source of international travelers. In an overturning of the traditional division of labor within the tourism sector, where developing nations have long been important destinations for international travelers, the wanderlust of China’s emerging middle class now extends from regional destinations such as Hong Kong and Japan to classic European destinations, with France and Italy as the preferred holiday spots in Europe (Timemetric, 2014).