Interview on Challenges and Misconceptions in Islamic Marketing-- A&M Aug 2011 Issue

8/4/2019 Interview on Challenges and Misconceptions in Islamic Marketing-- A&M Aug 2011 Issue

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WWW.MARKETING-INTERACTIVE .COM30 d ve ri i n + mrke i n | au g u s t 2011

The numbers are hard to ignore. The Muslim

dmogaphic accounts fo mo than 20% of

th wolds population at about 1.6 billion and is

pctd to incas to 2.2 billion by 2030.

Phaps mo nticingly, th Muslim makt

is now valud at US$ 2.1 tillion globally.

Th Muslim makt psnts a signicant

untappd makt, nots D Paul Tmpoal,autho of Islamic Branding and Marketing:

Creating a Global Islamic Business.

Ths days, whn companis a facing

v stong comptition in stablishd makts

and many companis a ushing into high-

pol gions such as China, India and Bazil,

th singl biggst makt in th wold has bn

lagly ovlookd. Islamic makts could psnt

a potntially gat oppotunity fo gowth with

compaativly littl comptition fom intnational

o local bands.

In Malaysia, wh Muslims mak up mo

than 60% of th population, it is natual fo

makts to focus on this makt sgmnt basd

on th sh volum and valu to thi businss.

THE FUTURISTS

Who is todays Muslim consum? With an

stimatd gowth at of US$500 billion a ya,

what is most notabl about this makt sgmnt is

th fact mo than 40% of th Muslim population

is und 24 yas of ag.

Mt th Futuists, dmd th nt

fonti fo makts.

Ths youths a poud to b Muslim and

a vy individualistic. Thi viwpoint is: dont

tll m how to b a Muslim, what I choos tombac is my own thing. This is a gnation

of consums who want to not only ngag with

bands, but pct much mo fom thm as

wll, plains Shazia Khan, associat planning

dicto at Ogilvy Noo, th Islamic makting

consultancy am of Ogilvy.

Th young contmpoay Muslim consum

is goal-ointatd and ambitious, and nding

individualistic bands that ct this zst and

div is appaling.

Accoding to Khan, thy a fustatd at th

cunt offings in th makt and want bands

that a innovativ and fowad thinking.

Th taditional fomulas do not apply to

this goup, with sach nding it put off by

stotypical potayals of th Muslim idntity.

Thy want to b ngagd and shown

advtising that is ngaging. Its not ockt

scinc, but its about makts undstanding

that it is not what thy thought ths consums

wantd. It actually puts thm off, that tm

attitud, this is a gnation that gw up post-

9/11 Khan says.

This sam goup is also snsitiv to th

hitag of bands, wanting to know if th is a

stong moth band backing a paticula offing.

Khan says: This is a vy connctd and savvy

f e atu r e : i s l am i c m ark et i n g

BEYONDTHE CALL OF

DUTYWoth US$2.1 tillion globally, th

Muslim makt cant b ignod. GabeyGoh nds out how companis can

mak th most of thi oppotunitis.


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Beverage

NoorBrAND INDex

Food & dairy PersoNal Care


A halal brand has to additionally factor in thevalues that form the basis of the emotional

triggers in this consumer segment.

Jumaatun Azmi managing director and founder of KasehDia

gnation and you cant hid fom thm. How

many skltons do you hav in th clost? Thy

will com out. If you lt thm down, thy know

thy hav th pow and thy a not afaid to

boycott you band.

Jumaatun Azmi, managing dicto and

found of KashDia, ags, adding consums

in this sgmnt mak choics that asst thiidntity as Muslims, and choos poducts that

a Syaiah-compliant.

It can b a highly isky sgmnt if th

consum diving this industy is not fully

undstood by th band own, sh says.

Commnting with fnc to th halal

industy, Jumaatun says: Whil oth bands

facto in th motional tiggs whn cating a

band psonality and imag, a halal band has

to additionally facto in th valus that fom th

basis of th motional tiggs in this consum

sgmnt.

This consum is looking fo poducts that t

into a halal lifestyle and looks beyond just how

the meat is slaughtered.

Malaysia iNdex

F&N 136

ramly 136

Ayamas 131

Nstl 131

Maigold 131

evyday 131

Quak 1330

Walls 130

Anln 129

Kaft 128

Dum 128

Maggi 128

Yakult 127

Kno 127

Vitagn 127

Fnlaf 127

Dutch Lady 127

Magnolia 124

Fam Bst 123

Pingls 123

Fiv Sta 111

Lays 108

Hinz 106

Nido 105

Malaysia iNdex

Shuah 121

Balqis 120

Colgat 115

Sai Ayu 112

Johnson & Johnson 110

Sunsilk 105

Bio 104

Lu 103

Pantn 103

Fai & Lovly 103

rona 103

Clan & Cla 102

Had & Shoulds 101

rjoic 101

Dov 98

Niva 97

Dali 97

Body Shop 93

SK II 91

LOal 90

Clos Up 87

eucin 83

Cabt & evlyn 82

A 81

LOccitan 80

Malaysia iNdex

Lipton 137

Alicaf 135

Boh Ta 134

Milo 133

Pow root 132

Nscaf 131

Yos 131

Pl fsh 131

Sasons 130

F&N 128

Sunkist 127

Maigold 126

Dinho 126

Ovaltin 126

Miinda 126

Vico 124

Coca Cola 124

Ppsi 120

7 Up 120

Halal must now encompass the whole

supply chain and meet lifestyle demands of the

Muslims of today, while remaining true to the

fundamental religious requirements of halal which

is basically what is permissible according to the

Quran.

THE MUSLIM DOLLAR

Izelan Basar, channel manager for Muslim lifestyle

channel Astro Oasis, notes Islamic marketing is

fast gaining popularity among companies locally,

and this is because of the strong emerging middle

class of Muslim consumers.

Haris Ismail, vice-president for branded

content at Astro, observes there are two main

approaches to Islamic marketing: general

brand association, largely the domain of FMCG

products, and Syariah-compliant products,

usually from the Muslim manufacturers who will

deploy the Islamic claim over their products.

Jumaatun says: To cat a comptitiv

band, th makt must st and fomost

undstand th valus this makt is basd on

tust, puity, quality, fai-tad, intgity and

tanspancy.

As a poponnt of th us of bandd contnt

Souc: Ogilvy Noo/TNS 2010


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in aching this makt sgmnt, Hais points to

th cnt ffots of Gani, ownd by LOal,

as an ampl of a succssful cution.

The brand wanted to improve its equity

among the female Malay audience so a drama

series called Tudung Ekspres was created, which

depicted the lives of four Muslim women from

diverse backgrounds and socio-economic status.Though th show, ths chaacts

psonid th nw-ag Muslim womn who

a modn and pogssiv in tackling lifs

challngs that on facs in a mtopolitan city.

At th sam tim thy hold tu and stadfast

to th tachings of Islam and taditional valus,

Hais says.

Th show had succss with a cult following

avaging 600,000 viws ach pisod.

Howv, Izlan says companis could

do mo in Islamic makting bcaus thi

involvmnt is limitd to using Malay talnts

and Malay cultu nuancs ath than Syaiah-

compliant appoachs.

Phaps ths companis a not ady

to mbak on Islamic makting as a statgy

bcaus gnally thy do not hav th pocsss

in plac.

Howv, h nots local companis, who

hav mbacd this fom of makting, hav sn

thi ffots pay off.

W s potntial and, in fact, high dmand

fo Islamic poducts which a cuntly und

psntd in th makt plac, h says.

Fo Izlan, ducation is th ky in nding

succss, divn lagly by th ising population of

mo discning consums who dmand bttpoducts which suit th Muslim lifstyl.

Th makting fatnity nds to b ducatd

in Syaiah-compliant makting appoachs to

quip thmslvs with th undstanding of how

to bst utilis Islamic makting, h says.

Hais adds: rligion is a dlicat topic at th

bst of tims and whn involving matts such

as ligion, w must consciously b snsitiv

bcaus it is vy inticat and you would not

want to ovsll o undsll somthing such

as this.

Khan nots that to dat, it is th FMCG giants

such as Nstl and Unilv that hav bn th

most succssful in sonating with th Muslim

community in thi campaigns.

Sh cits Sunsilks Livly Clan & Fsh

shampoo campaign as a bakthough in

spaking to Muslim consums byond th

taditional cus.

Unilv, which owns th Sunsilk band, says

th poduct is th st shampoo to spak dictly

to th lifstyl of a tudung wa.

Th ad fatus a young woman waing

a hadscaf saying sh can now do what sh

wants bcaus sh no long has to woy about

itchinss, bfo sh gos on to kick a goal in a

co-d socc gam.

THE RIGHT NUMBER

In the case of Salamfone, Malaysias and the

worlds rst Syariah-compliant telecommunications

provider, the tenets of Islam are hard-wired into its

business and brand philosophy.

Fo ampl, as pat of its band pomis, it

also offs a hotlin svic to its subscibs

Talian Hidayah wh on can call to ask fo

ligious advic, ask fo guidanc on a paticula

fatwa (ligious dict) and a halal dictoy to

chck if an aty is ctid.

Launchd in Apil, its CeO Kamshul Kasim

says h saw a nd to addss a gap in th

makt.

Wv bn haing a lot about Islamic

banking and insuanc and I thought to myslf,

what if w did somthing simila in th tlco

spac? says th industy vtan who boasts

25 yas in tlcommunications.

Many would ask whats so halal o haam


The marketing fraternity needs to be educatedin Syariah-compliant marketing approaches

to equip themselves with the understanding of

how to best utilise Islamic marketing.

Izelan Basar channel manager for Astro Oasis

MaxisMobileServicesSdn.

Bhd.

(73315-V)

This Hari Raya let us remember what is truly important. Let us askforgiveness for the times we werent there, and give heartfelt thanks for

the times we were. Let us cherish, deep in our hearts, the bonds that makeus strong. As we come home to those we love, let us find true peace.

MAY OUR BONDSNEVER BREAK

SELAMAT HARI RAYA AIDILFITRI

Emotional resonance: Brands must nd the right frequency with their Muslim consumers


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Souc: Ogilvy Noo

Core Muslim values What they mean for brands

Puity B authntic in wod and dd

Honsty B tanspant

Humility Avoid hubis

Disciplin Display fcincy

Togthnss B pat of th community

Imag-consciousnss Hlp pojct th ight imag


about a tlco povid? Its not just a matt of

ctication, its also gtting th concpt of th

businss, vn ou souc of funds ight, fo

ampl w cannot accpt mony that is tid to

gambling. It is th basic tnts of th company

and ou tansactions must b quitabl and fai in

accodanc with th uls.

In addition to bing ctid as Syaiah-

compliant which is annually viwd, oth

quimnts th company must full includ th

advtising of its picing.

It must b tanspant, up font and claly

statd.

Th bands pimay audinc is Muslim

consums 25-55 with its sconday tagt

17-24. Fo now, it is focusing its ffots in th

pdominantly Muslims stats of Plis, Kdah

and Klantan.

CoMMoN ChalleNges

1. Developing trust

Bands hav to infom, ducat and assu th consum aboutpoduct quality (and this is wh halal ctication and Syaiah-complianc coms in). Having a fully ctid halal supply chainis pctd. Simultanously, bing sn to b Syaiah-findly(though complianc) is qually impotant.

2. Islamic values

Th undstanding of Syaiah valus (which th consummpathiss and aligns thi lif with), nds to b claly shownin th bands communications.

3. Intention

Businss (as p Syaiah) is basd on intntion o Niat. Islamicvalu-basd businsss nd to nsu valu maimisation foth community in which it opats. This, in itslf, is a paadigmshift in tms of how w know businss is don. This paticulapoint of diffnc nds to b communicatd, plaind andundstood by thos psnting th banding so as to bcommunicatd to th consum. Such commitmnt fom anoganisation has to b ld by th CeO and no-on lss. It hasto b caid out in a igoous way though many pats of th

oganisation bfo th makting and banding pocss canbgin.

4. Branding

Whn an oganisation gos in fo banding, th is nocompomiss in sophistication. If th banding is not givn its fullssnc and sophistication, todays Muslim consum will notallow us to gt away with it and th band will fail.Scondly, us of motions confoming within th thicalsponsibilitis (that th oganisation has) must b allowd in thband communication.

CoMMoN MisCoNCePtioNs

1. Muslim only purchase during the holy month ofRamadhan.

Incoct. Muslim consums a lik any oth consumswho nd poducts and svics though th ya. Advtissbhaviou cts th misconcption, that is, addssing Muslimsonly duing ramadhan giving th impssion to oths thatMuslims only buy duing ramadhan and no oth tim; thfothy (Muslims) nd not b addssd at oth tims of th ya.

2. Over use of standard symbols such as the arch andcrescent moon.

Shows a lack of undstanding of Islamic cultu and lads toalinating Muslims (spcially young ons).

3. The halal mark (and Syariah-compliant) gives a productbrand identication for the Muslim community.

Th halal mak is fo Muslims to know th poduct has complidwith quid pocss gulations. It dos not do anything oththan suppot band activitis.

4. The Muslim consumer is a stereotype

Pvious sgmntations of th Muslim consums hav bnon th scals of dvoutnss to Islam. Thus th w ith

libals o consvativs. rsach by JWT and Ogilvy Nooclaly shows si distinct sgmnts classifying th global Muslimconsum whin th appoach has bn to s how ligionplays a cntal ol in th lif of th Muslim consum.

Joy Abdullah senior consultant at Daily Baraka

Kamshul plains th pimay goup a

mostly consums who a ady and accptingof Salamfons valu poposition and says what

supisd him most was th numous quis

fom non-Muslim consums.

Whn I ask thm why, th ply is usually

bcaus thyv obsvd how Islamic

companis pactis thi businss and think that

simila appoach would apply in ou cas, which

appals to thm, h says.

Whn askd about th challngs th band

facs whn it coms to makting its svics,

Kamshul says whil th a many similaitis

in Islamic and scula makting, th a som

distinct diffncs.

Ou cutions would b slightly diffnt

bcaus w hav to wok within ctain

boundais. With convntional campaigns, you

could us almost anything, in whatv styl you

want.

In ou cas w cant bcaus onc you

say you a Syaiah-complaint, you hav to sk

appoval fom a committ bfo pocding.

H admits it mains quit stictiv (w

cant b lik Calvin Klin using a tall dak

handsom man showing a si-pack!), but whil

limiting in a way, it ncouags cativity.

Aging with Kamshuls assssmnt of

th bing oom fo cativity, Ogilvy Noos

Khan adds it gos byond th halal ctication

whn it coms to ally sonating with todaysMuslim consum. Th band nds to liv it.

Th Muslim consum will ask, whats you

band stoy lik? A you cting valus I sha?

Its mo than a poduct thy a buying into. And

such valus must also b communicatd claly

though any band communications, sh says.

Whn it coms to th alm of copoat

social sponsibility initiativs, Khan daws on th

following Hadith: H is most chaitabl who givs

so sctly that his lft hand knows not what his

ight hand has givn.

Th poblm is that whn bands do it,

thy dont do it wll, with advtising campaigns

shouting about what chaitabl woks thy hav

don. Thats off-putting, if you doing it, do it

without shouting about it, Khan says.

Kamshul ags, citing th sam Hadith

adag whn spaking about Salamfons

appoach to Infaq (chaity).

Fo vy call mad, on cnt is automatically

put into a spaat account fo chaitabl

causs.

In May of this ya, a landslid hit an

ophanag in Hulu Langat in Klang, killing 16

popl. Whn th company found out, it mad

a rM5,000 donation to th ophanag using th

funds.


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million, Kamshul says.

Howv, h admits th situation is volving

and it is only a matt of tim bfo popl alis

th valu of it.

FINDING QIBLAH

By 2050, mo than 60% of th global und-18

population will b Muslim.

rsach suggsts ths consums

will kp to thi Islamic valus and will want

appopiat poducts. Lifstyl poducts such

as fast-food, psonal ca, fashion, cosmtics,mdia poducts, including social mdia and

digital poducts, a all likly to bnt fom this

dmogaphic tnd, says autho Tmpoal.

It is cla addssing th nds of this

consum goup is somthing makts can no

long igno with succss dtmind by not

only how wll a band upholds th valus of th

ligious tnts of Islam, but also sonats with

thos who follow th faith.

With a lag global makt hungy fo

compatibl bands, KashDias Jumaatun

says Muslims, although unitd by th sam

fundamntal ligious quimnts, a also

an immnsly cultually and thnically divs

community.

This poss a challng to makts who

must tak a diffnt appoach in diffnt

gogaphic aas. Th on-siz-ts-all appoach

will not wok.

Whn askd what advic h would giv to

bands looking to nt th Muslim consum

spac, Kamshul says: Ths dnitly a

makt, but you hav to wok doubly had, as its

not a f-fo-all thing.

You hav to stick to th uls and it taks

doubl ffot and mo cativity to gt you

poduct out into th makt.

Giving to the community: Salamfones donation to a orphan house, a victim of the recent landslide.

No to stereotypes: The modern Muslim shuns orthodox portrayals and craves an innovative approach by brands.

Whn it coms to alms in Islam, on should

not shout, but in ou cas w could not avoid

it, w had to advtis to show how w w

disbusing th funds. Th mony is not ous and

blongs to th consums, h plains, adding

adhnc to tanspancy in its tansactions was

also anoth quimnt.

Moving fowad, th band has a tagt

of 200,000 subscibs by th nd of th ya

and cuntly pomots its offings via slctd

taditional channls such as TV (Astos Oasis

and TV3) and pint (Harian Metro).

W fl w a on tagt in tms of co

dmogaphics, but nd to incas th stickinss

of th band in th maktplac, h says, adding

th days of customs ocking to nw bands out

of cuiosity a ov, with nin tlco plays now

in th makt.

Th onus is now on plays to diffntiat

within this cowdd spac.

Anoth challng is convincing ou dal

ntwok to pomot it, but to mitigat that ongoing

challng w hav gon out and don on-gound

pomotions to sll th band.

H obsvs th Muslim makt can b sn

as too nich within his industy.

Fo ampl, w tagt th Muslim

population, which is aound 18 million popl.

Tak out th vy young, th babis and ldly

and th numb gos down to nin million. Som

dont ca about thi tlco bing compliant so

ally its an addssabl makt of som v


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Interview on Challenges and Misconceptions in Islamic Marketing-- A&M Aug 2011 Issue