The purpose of this study is to ascertain how present methods in branding, used in private sector companies, are or could be transferred to the public sector organizations.

It is done by means of a case study of Micasa Fastigheter done through participating observation. It also includes a survey of key decision makers included in the branding process, on different political and administrative levels.

Swedish municipalities’ and county councils spend over 50 percent of the Swedish gross national product, their operations affect most individuals just about every day and information and advertising from and about the operations of public sector organizations (PSOs) is vital for the existence of the citizens. How the PSOs communicate what they spend the tax payers’ money on has its own set of rules. The operations of PSOs are controlled by quite a number of laws and regulations. None of the laws apply directly to the methods of communication, yet PSOs have historically been very strict with most types of marketing. The results show that in the last couple of years this has changed and municipalities in particular have started to actively work on and communicate its brands. Stockholm is no exception. The reason for the change is the development of marketing in non-profit organizations, the occurrence of social marketing and image marketing and possibly the globalization and Internet.

Micasa Fastigheter is a municipal company that has gone through a branding process during the past 2.5 years. The company has step by step passed through the same stages in its branding process as a private company, the only exception being the very little advertising. It is thus possible for a municipal company to brand itself without clashing with the laws and regulations that govern the public sector. A result that, according to my survey, is due to a maturity in marketing issues amongst decision makers in the City of Stockholm, a general focus in the Swedish society on branding and, the people in charge of the branding process.

A look at the municipality of Stockholm is a good start since most trends start in the capital but a more thorough look at a substantial number of Swedish municipalities would be interesting for future study.