Marketing to Muslims

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According to the new report, famous New Age Muslims include Egyptian talk show host Amr Khaled, and also singer Ahmad Sami.

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Based on their findings, the authors of the report came up with five different consumer segments, or clusters, within the Islamic market that they hope will become a useful tool for advertisers in the future.

"What used to happen is, we used to borrow these clusters from the West, and then try to adapt them and force them into the Muslim culture. Here we tried to create new clusters that are proper and really belong to the realities of the Muslim world," he says.

The first group, Religious Conservatives, is extremely religious and conservative and does not approve of gender interaction. They expect others to follow religious practices. People in this group are generally have a negative view of the media and are considered information averse. As consumers they are not brand conscious and would override their personal choices for religious beliefs.

"They don't want to access the internet. They believe the media is bringing in Western values, which is not something that they subscribe to," says Gagan Bhalla, AMRB's MENA general manager.

"This is probably the group that is most under pressure. It's very hard for them to take a step forward but at the same time, as society is evolving they feel left behind. Their reaction is very negative," Haddad says.

Societal Conformists believe that social norms should be adhered to, even if it comes at the expense of personal choice. They lack self confidence and depend on others to make decisions. According to the report, this group uses religion to make people adhere to traditions because they are not comfortable with change.

At the same time they are not particularly religious and are positively disposed towards Western values. "They would like to see Western programmes on TV and they would like to visit Western countries on vacation," Bhalla says.

Non-Traditional Strivers are open-minded and ambitious. They are willing to compromise on religious values in order to get ahead in life.

This segment, which mainly emerged in the Southeast Asian countries, is highly influenced by economic factors and will sway with whatever enhances their living standards.

Extreme Liberals are very liberal, independent and assertive. They are not very particular about traditional and religious practices. They are pragmatic individuals who like to explore different options even if it might not conform to accepted religious and societal norms. This group is not expected to grow significantly in size in the near future.

New Age Muslims are moderates who are somewhat traditional and religious, but who do not expect others to follow religious practices. They see no contradiction between modernity and Islam.

The report describes this group as "the result of a desire for progress and modernity while reacting to the Western pressure on Islam". They are religious but believe in female empowerment and gender equality. They are also pro-media and realise the potential advantages of the internet.

"People are underestimating how fast this segment is growing," Haddad says.

According to the report, famous New Age Muslims include singer Ahmad Sami and Egyptian talk show host Amr Khaled.

So, how to use this information in your marketing strategy? Haddad uses ready-made meals as an example. "I am not going to go to the Religious Conservative, I am going to go to the New Age Muslim because most likely it's a dual-income household."

The product would also be pitched in a slightly different way. "In a Western market you would probably position the product on a convenience platform," Bhalla says.

However, to a New Age Muslim woman, being able to spend time with your family is likely to be a bigger selling point than convenience. "Although she is a modern woman, there are some religious and cultural values that she subscribes to," he says.

What surprised the authors the most was the size of each segment in some countries. The highest number of Extreme Liberals was - perhaps predictably - found in Turkey.

But the highest percentage of Religious Conservatives was found in Jordan and Egypt, both often seen as relatively liberal countries.

The UAE had the largest portion of New Age Muslims, followed by Saudi Arabia and Pakistan in second place.

The opportunity lies in when you stop viewing this market from a monolithic point," Haddad says. "There are a lot of opportunities in this market for any marketeer who wants to take it seriously.

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READERS' COMMENTS

NOW IS THE RIGHT TIME TO RUN CAMPAIGNS FOR ISLAMIC PRODUCTS
Posted by Altaf Hussain, Karachi, Pakistan on Wednesday 3 December 2008 at 20:00 UAE time

I strongly emphasize to run strategic campaign at national and international level to promote Islamic products which is the need of the time specially when the conventional system is almost flopped but except in few areas.
And this is the right time for advertisers to feel their responsibility and to play their greater role to educate the Islamic institutions by motivating them to reap their prime share in the present cultivated and developed market .The world would certainly enjoy the revival of economy and a boom can be achieved, only if the campaigns are run at national as well as on international level. Also this would brings stability, improved growth as well as happiness and joy and pleasure to everyone, especially for the participants, if the things are taken seriously with due speed.

Does Kosher means Halal?
Posted by shakeel, Toronto, Canada on Saturday 29 November 2008 at 19:42 UAE time

"Muslims are the largest consumers of Kosher products in the US". How can you ascertain that the Kosher products are Halal.

The Islamic dietary requirement tells Muslims what is lawful and what is prohibited. All the foods which are lawful are called Halal and prohibited foods are called Haram. Pork and its byproducts, alcohol in food flavouring and alcoholic beverages, and blood are Haram. Beef, chicken, turkey are Halal only if it is slaughtered by a Muslim and saying certain prayers at the time of slaughter. If the slaughtering is not done according to Islamic sharia then the meat from that animal becomes Non Zabiha. Only those products are certified Halal when they meet the Islamic dietary requirements from raw material to finished products including processing, processing aid ingredients, packaging material and sanitary practices.

Not all Kosher products are Halal.

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