UmmahTalk

Existing brands are taking a key interest in the global Muslim segment. The brand owners can develop a strong brand based on the ethics and value system that’s important to this segment. In developing a brand for the Muslim community there is a distinct difference vis a vis brand development for other segments.

1. For other segments, it’s important for the brand to know the emotional drivers or triggers and factor that in, in its architecture (if possible), personality and image projection.
2.For the Muslim segment, not only is understanding the emotional drivers important, but understanding the value system on which those emotional drivers are based on and the impact of it on the brands’ supply chain is critical.

An existing brand has an existing “identity” associated with it by their stakeholders. Therefore a “re-brand” of that brand based on Islamic ethics would not jive with the targeted Muslim consumer.

Developing a “new” brand would be the route to take.

Strategically, the ethical values of the brand would have to be expressed through:
A.The brand’s representation projected by its employees to all its stakeholders including intended consumers. Thus having an customised (and real-time) “employee-brand program” becomes a critical success factor.
B.The brand’s communication has to be from the Islamic ethics perspective in terms of imagery, association, and tonality. It has to address the targeted stakeholder and not be a “one-size-fit-all” approach and clearly show the “individual and social benefit” that the brand usage brings.

At the business planning stage, the desire (or intention—i.e. why are we creating this brand based on Islamic ethics needs to be clearly detailed, understood and communicated to the organisation). This sets the foundation i.e. the brand is developed from the essence of the Islamic ethics and therefore, the purpose the brand exists is for it to provide a specific benefit to its stakeholders in order to improve their lives. This identification of purpose would lead to ensuring that the development process does not go against the ethical values (of the brand). Thus ensuring that the stakeholders and the brand would develop “trust” in one another which would result in loyalty.

Currently, there is are MNC’s who have a range of products, which are strong brands on their own that have been made available to the global Muslim community through the usual distribution channels. But none of these brands were developed based on Islamic ethics. They are brands developed in the classical brand marketing framework wherein a product benefit has been highlighted and (in order to address the Muslim community), process wise, they are currently ‘compliant” i.e. adhering to specific Halal standards (for e.g as required in the food category).

But for the brand to achieve success it needs to generate popularity and acceptance with the Muslim consumers.
Generating popularity and through that acceptance, whilst not an easy task, is also not impossible.

To obtain popularity or to create a ‘following’ a brand needs to treat the Muslim consumer as a human being first (casting aside the many varied stereotypes that come to mind)– i.e. understanding his/her emotional and aspirational triggers. Triggers that are based on their value system. Then factor in the “identity projection” (of the Muslim consumer) from using the brand. And finally take into account the environment (i.e. the geographical region that the consumer is in and the brand operates in).

Taking these into account, whilst developing the brand would ensure, to an extent, a fair degree of brand pull (Note: other market factors of distribution, pricing, product/service quality etc would have an impact too).

Does this, therefore, mean that those brands that market themselves as “Islamic brands” will start to compete with the global brand leaders?

Muslim brands or “Islamic branding is a term coined by virtue of the fact that we are all speaking to the global Muslim community. When we say “Islamic or Muslim brand” we mean that it’s a brand that based on the ethics and values of Islam. We are doing this, in order to communicate to the Muslim community that—‘this brand adheres to the code you live your life by. Therefore associating with this brand would benefit you”. (I beg pardon from all, in case that’s putting it too simplistically. But that’s the truth).

Such a brand projects or communicates its ethics and values which are actually, world over, similar. Thus, if the product develops trust (through popularity) and its quality is as per what is expected by the consumer, the pricing and image equally good, there is no reason why an “Islamic or Muslim brand” cannot attract a non-Muslim consumer also along with the Muslim consumer segment. (E.g. In Malaysia, the usage and acceptance of Islamic Finance retail products is higher amongst non-Muslims than amongst Muslims and the penetration of Takaful {as a financial product} amongst the Muslims is still abysmally low). After all, most of us as consumers do use brands on which we have trust and to a great extent we have loyalty with those brands. The parameters on which we select and use brands, at the end of the day, are quite common accross consumer segments.

Unfortunately, till date, the ‘product brands’ that have been available in the Muslim community, have come about due to a need to replace what’s available, conventionally, since the available alternative did not sit well with the Muslim community’s value structure. These product brands have a strong foothold but lack in delivering the desired brand image association and as a result are not fulfilling the Muslim consumers’ emotional needs. Additionally they will not be able expand their appeal to a wider audience simply because they will be seen as a ‘me-too’ product.

In summary, for penetrating and establishing a brand within the global Muslim community, brand development should start at the business objective level. That’s where the brand’s ambition should be articulated and mapped in order for the development process to keep that ambition in mind and develop the brand. I believe, brands whose core consumers are Muslims and tertiary consumers are others, can be developed and can become global brands. By virtue of catering to approximately 24% of the world’s population (currently), it gives any marketer enough volume and value to achieve in years to come and be a global brand in that way.

However, whilst the global MNC’s evaluate the associated risks, the Muslim entrepreneurs currently marketing product brands are running the risk of not being in sync with the community and upping their benchmarks and bringing on board required professional expertise in order to establish successful brands. It is a matter of time, before the global MNC’s will introduce independent business lines based brands which will comply through and through the value system requirements of the Muslim community and reap the benefits of doing so.

Everyday businesses around the world survive, grow and collapse around the activity called Sales. So as we look to introduce a one community approach to the Muslim business ummah, lets today talk about why Sales Management matters in the day to day running of your business.

For every business, sales is the fundamental backbone of any company. However the process in which sales are made, the strategy that is used to obtain sales, the execution of that strategy and the motivation you install in your sales people becomes a fundamental role in the success of your business or on the contrary, the demise of your business.

Running sales is an exact science which, if correctly calculated and implemented, will bring substantial sales growth. This management system becomes vital for our success in developing the right toolbox to guarantee that you can perform at new heights within your organisation. This ‘toolbox’ is the sales management and transformation kit.

So what does this involve and more importantly, how long does it take?

Primarily, you will be able to establish the beginning stages of your system through factual market understanding. This can vary in time lengths depending on the size of your targetted market but having this in place minimises your risk and becomes the platform of your strategy.

Secondly is the implementation of the strategy coupled with an active management program to solidify your sales levels. A long process which usually bears fruit in 6-12 months after which growth can become almost ‘dream’ like.

And finally, building your sales team to perform. This is a fundamental component of any leaders job and is even more vital in the sales arena. Building the mindset of your staff will boost the productivity they give you completing the sales management process.

This is a vital aspect of business which everyday is ignored in several countries across the world. It is likely to be a difficult task in certain sales intolerent cultures but none the less must and can be done. Sales management solidifies your business helping it grow in economic downturns as well as in boom markets.

Consider your approaches to sales now and wonder how much this would help your organisation grow!

The global Muslim consumer market segment is intriguing marketers across product categories for a variety of reasons. With a rising demand for products and services fulfilling needs of day to day life to aspirational requirements and armed with strong purchasing power, the global Muslim community is, indeed, a very attractive market segment.

For a brand, entering this market is no different from the planning requirements for entering any other market or segment.
Identifying the key markets, researching the impact of the existing product portfolio on the Muslim community of that market, evaluating the competitions’ actions in order to benchmark and obtain best practices and finally doing an opportunity cost analysis to obtain earnings and brand sustainability.

A recent article in the Marketing Week highlighted that “Muslim consumers are a growing, influential and extremely loyal group, making them a desirable market for mainstream brands. But reaching them requires more than launching Sharia-compliant products. Making inroads to this sector takes deep understanding of the values of this community and building the brand from there. They’re young, ambitious and worth at least $2 trillion globally”. The key words being “deep understanding of the values of this community and building the brand from there”. Building a brand in the global Muslim segment differs (from other consumer segments) in terms of risk and organisational demands.

The risks should not be underestimated. They should be thoroughly studied and evaluated on two levels:

•Product/Brand level– A product and brand risk analysis will consider the impact that targeting the Muslim consumers might have on the organisation’s core global brand if the product is sold in the western markets of UK, Europe and USA.
•Corporate level– A corporate level risk analysis will take into account a wider view of potential transnational consumer activism thereby enabling the organisation to be prepared to deal with at least three potential threats— social, political and financial.

(A) Social Risk: by virtue of their numerical strength and purchasing power the Muslim consumer can choose “not to buy”. Such “not to buy” acts are not uncommon. Recall the indignation and subsequently the impact the global Muslim community had over the publication of cartoons of our beloved Prophet (P.B.U.H) in a Danish newspaper. The subsequent lack of political and cultural empathy led to a widespread boycott of Danish products to the extent that even western retailers removed Danish products from their shelves due to fear of negative repercussions.

(B) Political Risk: Given the rising awareness of Islam, and a new found resurgence of the Muslim identity, governments across Muslim countries have responded with regulatory changes. Malaysia, for example, has created its competitive advantage by promoting halal foods, Islamic Finance and halal tourism. Kuwait, had its first women ministers a year ago (ref:www.guardian.co.uk).

(C) Financial Risk: An existing organisation has to evaluate the potential ‘fallout’ that may occur through alienating the existing consumer base by entering the Muslim consumer segment AND also has to evaluate potential revenue loss from not correctly serving the Muslim consumer. This needs to be balanced out versus the projected revenue growth expected from serving the Muslim segment.

Lastly, there is a risk of a “backlash” if the organisations are seen to be “exploiting” the Muslim consumer. With the rise of social media, and “interest communities” being online 24/7 blurring geographical and cultural distinctions, a backlash (on a brand) can spread like bushfire through the global Muslim community in a matter of hours. Thus affecting the brand not in just one specific region but globally across the markets it’s present. One way to minimise this risk is to ensure that the brands’ and the organisations’ activities benefit the community at all times.

The Muslim consumers seek reassurance that any brand offer from an organisation is not just a “marketing ploy”. They want to feel that the brand genuinely understands and empathises with Islamic values in all aspects of their operations. Towards this, communicating transparently and providing a beneficial and meaningful brand experience will enable a brand to reduce and control risk to a great extent in marketing to the Global Muslim Community.

Investing in relationships, has found its place amongst many a marketer. From personal branding to brand marketing, the post recessionary consumer mind-set has become one akin to those of the era after the Great Depression– cautious and savings oriented.

Companies are looking at new techniques and tools to further brand loyalty. Employees are being recruited based on corporate cultural fit. And the proliferation of social media marketing is bringing about a significant change in the way brands are going about developing their consumers’ usage.

So do these relationships pay? It would positively seem so.

In every sphere of life, be it getting a new job, striving in one’s job role, developing Read the rest of this entry »

When a brand identity is extended across a number of product or service lines, a failure in one of the lines can affect the overall brand perception. Stretching the brand identity beyond its current strengths could result in the brand from being credible. One of the key reasons for the brand to be affected is in its perceived value. By stretching the brand, the brand becomes vulnerable to areas of risk that wasn’t originally taken into account. These risk areas can quickly affect the brand and in turn the company’s profits. Read the rest of this entry »

As brand marketing professionals, we delve into the structural issues of developing a brand, and often invest heavily on the “brand building” process but do not take into account the associated risks or undertake a “Brand Risk Analysis” on those risks (at times).

With the growing importance of brand, the risks too, have proportionately grown. Given the rising growth of social media usage, the global financial collapse triggering major socio- economic changes and issues of transparency and trust, all have been catalysts in moving brand risk to centre stage and in the limelight.

Brand risk management can (and should) be identified, measured and managed within the enterprise risk management framework of an organisation. Given that brand risk is multifaceted—strategic, operational, financial, regulatory—and that, currently, these risks are often, managed by organisations in individual silos (departmental planning based), being able to get a true picture of the potential brand risk is poor. Read the rest of this entry »

An oft used word in today’s corporate world with limited or practically no delivery in terms of action. This could sound like a pretty strong judgemental statement. It probably is. It’s based on a decade long experience across industries, professional dealings and employee-company relationship. Out in my part of the woods, the experiential learning seems to lean towards the above (so far. And I’m still looking out to be proved wrong!)

Whilst developing a ‘brand identity’, the marketing team, the consultants, advisors et all use this particular word quite often. Finally, it goes into the documentation and at times also into the processes developed. But that’s where the DROP occurs! When it comes to putting the process to practice ie having free flowing two-way information between the employee and his/her superior, between the senior management and the mid, and junior management levels, somewhere some of the ‘information’ is “not communicated” in its full form. Resulting in assumptions, presumptions, and individual interpretations and finally producing a ‘pot-pouri’ where the brand experience is concerned. Read the rest of this entry »