How does a company differentiate itself from the competition? One way is to use fictional characters as spokespersons. This thesis focuses more precisely on the mediation of Tele2’s core values through a spokes-character named Frank. The purpose of this thesis was to look into Frank’s use in Tele2’s TV-commercials as a way of communicating and strengthen the company’s brand identity.

Our chosen method was a case-study with a rhetoric analysis of the TV-commercials. The questions we strived to answer were; what messages can we find in the TV-commercials and how is Frank used in the mediation of those messages? What attributes can we find in the spokes-character Frank and how do they reflect Tele2’s core values?

The conclusion we reached was that Frank mediates all of Tele2’s values, but not all of them are found in every commercial. Depending on the message, Frank shows different characteristics. There is also a story to be found in the commercials. Frank is developing through time along with Tele2, and is used to communicate changes in the company and in the brand identity. He is both the messenger and the message.