ISLAMIC VIEWS ON PROMOTION

1. Promotional Goals

Promotional goals are an integral part of marketing strategy. Marketing teams use
various types of promotion to achieve measurable, short-term results in the marketplace,
such as persuading consumers to switch brands or try a new product, for example.
Companies can also use promotions as a longer-term tactic to strengthen customer
relationships or improve the performance of their distribution methods.

● New Product
When a company launches a product, it can use promotional tools to support part of the
launch. One goal might be to persuade consumers to try the new product by offering
free sample packs when they purchase another product from the company. This
promotional goal helps to ensure the success of the launch. The company could also
set a promotional goal of persuading retailers to stock the new product by offering a
special discount on initial orders.
● Sales
If a company wants to increase sales of an existing product, it can use promotions in a
number of ways. One promotional goal is to encourage consumers to buy more of a
product by offering discounts or other promotional incentives on larger pack sizes.
Another goal is to build repeat sales by offering consumers incentives such as
discounts on their next purchase of the same product.
● Loyalty
In a competitive marketplace, companies can use promotions to strengthen customer
loyalty. Promotions are a valuable tool for building relationships with customers.
This type of promotion has a longer-term objective, using continuing promotions to
reward loyal customers and protect the customer base against competitive attack.
An example of a loyalty promotion is a frequent-flyer program operated by an airline
in which customers can collect cumulative rewards based on the number of times
they travel with that airline.
● Information
Loyalty programs also provide companies with valuable information on their customers’
purchasing habits and preferences. Food retail groups, for example, issue loyalty
 cards that reward customers with points each time they make a purchase. The card
system also records details of the customers’ purchases, enabling the retailer to
make targeted offers to customers in the future. The goal of this type of promotion
is to acquire and use customer data.
● Distribution
Companies can use promotions as a tool to develop their distribution channels. Car
manufacturers, for example, operate promotional programs that reward top-
performing dealerships with holidays and other awards. The promotional goal there
is to increase sales or improve performance in critical areas, such as customer
satisfaction.
● Measurement
Promotional goals should be measurable. The results of sales promotion can be measured in
terms of a change in the marketplace. An example is to persuade 10 percent of users
of a competitive brand to try the company’s product by the end of the six-month
promotional period.

2. Promotional Mix in Islam

There are many means of selling goods. All retail and international companies have their
strategies of targeting sales. Some firms use advertising as a strategy. Kotler (2008: 422)
defines advertising as “any paid form of non-personal presentation and promotion of
ideas or goods or services by an identified corporation or body.” The objective is to
accomplish a specific communication task at a certain level with the target audiences in
a specific time (Colly, 1961: 23). Advertising objectives are to inform, persuade, remind, or
reinforce.

One of the problems of advertising in Malaysia is facts advertised in the

newspapers, Internet and television broadcasting may not be true facts. A fruit juice
that was said to be rich in vitamin C had been tested but found to contain no vitamin C; yet
the company keeps on advertising it. Housing developers giving beautiful leaflets of
houses, advertising them in the media and promising that they would be completed within
24 months may not complete the project despite taking the money. There is also
beauty-saloon advertising for slimming body which may not be qualified to do so. These
kinds of promotions are not ethical and are not allowed in Islam. Promotion incentives to
sell with samples and cheaper prices of goods, with refund assurance too are always
available but how many are genuine offers (Kotler, 2008: 619). Another criticism is the
use of women posing as objects of sexual desires for promoting goods. This is degrading to
women and not acceptable in Islam (Al-Ghazali, 1983: 21). In addition to this, promotion of
gambling, lottery and games of chance are forbidden in Islam (Quran, 2: 219 and 5: 90).

Mediums of sales of the goods and services include personal selling, direct
marketing, multi-level marketing, selling through the Internet and others. Personal
selling is personal presentation by a firm’s sales force for the purpose of making sales and
building customer relationship (Kotler, 2008: 422). This is a two-way communication
between sales personnel and customers, be it face-to-face or through telephone or video
conferences. This is an effective means as the sales personnel can probe the customers’
needs and directly negotiate the sales to fit the wants of the customers and conclude the
sales (Abdullah, 2008: 19).

Direct marketing is connected to carefully target individual consumers to obtain an

immediate response and cultivate direct and lasting customer relationships through
the use of mail, telephone, fax, the Internet and other communication tools (Kotler,
2008: 422).

Multi-level marketing is involved with various levels of sales personnel and each level
shares a certain portion of the profit. The price of the goods can become very high and
the application of new members is a mean to increase sales and profit; sometimes, the
sales personnel are involved with getting more members to join the sales force rather than
sell the goods. Besides, the prices of the goods can be very high. This is however, banned in
Malaysia and Singapore.

In our corporate world today, target on the amount of sales is the main objective of
companies when promoting their products. The degree of fault and cheating are
unfortunately rampant in our society. Since men are looking to the creed which accepts
the foundation of morals including utility or happiness; it holds that actions are right
in proportion if they tend to promote happiness, wrong if they tend to produce the
reverse of happiness. By happiness it means intended pleasure, and the absence of
pain; by unhappiness it refers to pain and the deprivation of pleasure (Hsieh, 2010:
53). The moral aspects of marketing are getting less and less significant when men
pursue their goal of marketing. Because of this, some planners in market strategy want to
capture the market with bigger share and aim for bigger profits only. Kitchen (2002: 174-
184) says, “the managers must reach out to and communicate with customers, consumers
and the general public who impact markedly on market share and profit performance.” He
adds, “… more, and not less, attention needs to be paid to the parameters of
marketing communications.” Kitchen is right in that marketers should understand the
specifics of the Muslims’ needs and pay attention to what is halal and haram in Islam.

Islamic branding is not a brand of well-known goods from Islamic countries. It refers to
any brand that seeks to address the needs of Muslim markets, regardless of whether the
markets are from Muslim majority nations or Muslim minority nations, also whether the
owners of the company are Muslims or not (Temporal, 2001: 1). Undoubtedly, there will be
views that it is not good to mix the brand of goods with religion. From the marketing
perspective it would be good to know the customers and to provide the goods that
they really want. This branding is also not Islamic evangelism but merely selling a good with
a brand. It is also to know the cultures and wants of groups of people bound together
by common values and practices. Islamic branding and marketing are just means to create
the goods wanted by Muslims as consumers (Temporal, 2001: 1)

3. Advertising Media Selection

Advertising media selection is the process of choosing the most efficient media for an
advertising campaign. To evaluate media efficiency, planners consider a range of factors
including: the required coverage and number of exposures in a target audience; the relative
cost of the media advertising and the media environment. Media planning may also involve
buying media space. Media planners require an intricate understanding of the strengths and
weaknesses of each of the main media options. The media industry is dynamic - new
advertising media options are constantly emerging. Digital and social media are changing
the way that consumers use media and are also influencing how consumers acquire product
information.

● Determining Reach and Frequency

Reach is the measure of the percentage of people in the target market who are exposed
to the ad campaign during a given period of time. For example, the advertiser might try to
reach 70 percent of the target market during the first three months of the campaign.
Frequency is a measure of how many times the average person in the target market exposed
to the message. For example, the advertiser might want an average exposure frequency of
three.

An examples for flights:

1. Hainan Airlines

As a growing Chinese airline, Hainan Airlines saw an opportunity to extend their

international presence. With China’s growing tourism industry, they wanted to expand their
reach of international travellers to cities beyond the better-known tourist destinations like
Beijing and Shanghai, to places like Xian and Chengdu.

To increase brand awareness, Hainan Airlines needed a targeting strategy that identified
customers searching for air travel to and from China. This route targeting allowed the airline
to feature routes and destinations to some of the lesser known areas in China, to and from
flights in the U.S. and Canada. This strategy allowed them to showcase routes between
cities like Las Vegas and Chengdu, while still featuring the better-known routes, like New
York to Shanghai.

Hainan Airline’s approach of maintaining the larger, well-established routes while

targeting lesser-known routes paid off. Their strategy resulted in staggering results with a
47:1 return on ad spend and bookings of over 3,000 tickets to fly to various cities in China.

2. Korean Air

Korean Air knew the U.S. represented an under-tapped market for them, but they
needed a strategy to reach and engage a larger audience. Using Expedia's first-party data on
shopping and purchase behaviour, audience extension – our Passport Ads product –
identifies the attributes of a ready to convert shopper and is then able to reach that
audience profile across the web. This enabled Korean Air to stay top of mind with shoppers
as they continued through their web browsing journey outside of Expedia.com. This ability
meant that even after customers left Expedia.com, Korean Air could follow and reach them
when they were ready to purchase.

By following customers through their online journey, Korean Air witnessed outstanding
success with a 20 percent lift in their click-through-rate and an overall 10:1 return on ad
spend.

● Advertising Theme

The central idea or message which is reflected in all the advertisements in an ad

campaign of a product is termed as advertising theme. The objective of an advertising
theme is to position the product firmly into the minds of target customers. Hence, a series
of ads are created under an ad campaign having same theme so that customers receive the
same message in several ways and record the same thing in their mind. This has proved to
be more effective in creating impact than showing individual ads of the same product but
with different themes.

● Advertising Media

Advertising media refers to the various media channels through which advertising is
done. Advertising media is used for showcasing promotional content which communicated
in various forms such as text, speech, images, videos using TV, radio, online, outdoor etc.
Basically they are channels through which companies can advertise their products and
services to reach to customers.

The important of advertising media

Advertising media plays a pivotal role in business and marketing for companies. There are
many companies who offer products and services to companies. However, it is impossible
for every customer to know about every brand or product. This is why companies advertise
and use advertising media to reach to customers. Depending upon the customer
demographics, advertising budget, targets of the company and advertising objectives,
companies can choose the type of media they want and they can do an advertising
campaign. This helps to create a buzz about the brand, showcase the product and service
utilities to the customer and build a strong brand. Using all media channels is often referred
to an integrated marketing communications and helps to build a brand using 360 Degree
branding.

4. Sales Force

Definition: The division of a business that's responsible for selling products or services.

Evaluating your current sales force is an important step in the process of deciding whether
and how to grow your sales team. If your existing sales force is fine and will be more than
adequate to fuel future growth, you can keep the number of people the same and simply
add some additional training or perhaps a revamped compensation package. On the other
hand, your sales force may need to grow by a few heads, or you may choose to stay the
same size but have different people filling the sales positions.

● Techniques

1. Time Management Makes All Difference

A salesperson who audits his time has a better chance of meeting his sales goal.
Spending a disproportionate amount of time with a non- or low-producing customer
compared with the customer with much higher potential is a frequent mistake. Salespeople
should be encouraged to keep a quick time log noting the time spent with each customer or
on that customer's concerns to see if time is spent wisely.

2. Get Noticed and Stand Out

Getting noticed helps keep you top-of-mind in your customer's eyes. The furniture store
that offers free hot dogs and soft drinks to shoppers usually makes customers spend more
time in the store. Those customers will probably buy more and are left with a positive
impression of the store's sales assistants. Offering to help a customer with an industry
analysis or some other difficult task will also cement your relationship to your customer.
3. Build Strong Customer Relationships

Strong customer relationships are one of the key linchpins of sales. Technology has made
this easier. Successful salespeople create customer databases and contact those customers
on a regular basis. Emailing company news, sales fliers and even birthday greetings can keep
your customers in your fold and not your competitors.

4. Practice Good Closing Techniques

Effective closing of a sale is sometimes elusive even for the most seasoned of
salespeople. Sales management should encourage role playing on a regular basis to ensure
each salesperson is using good closing techniques. Leaving an account open for too long
means a salesperson is spending too much time on one customer when others need
attention.

5. Use Website to Generate Leads

A company website should not only be an online brochure telling about your company's
abilities, it should also be a mechanism to collect leads and orders. Sales management must
distribute those leads to the sales force and insist on prompt follow-up. Leads from websites
are generally potential customers who have read the site material and are at least
somewhat preconditioned to talk to a salesperson.

● Sales Force Management

Sales force management is the soul of the company. Establishing a world recognize
brand does not only require marketing and advertise efforts, but it also requires the sales
representatives or in simple words sale force along with all other promotional activities.
Firms are now investing considerable funds, time and expertise to rain the sales force. In
order to compete in the market and getting brand recognition; a quality product needs a
quality sale force. The Sale Force is the face of the Brand or the Product. A very important
aspect of marketing that yields business is the efficient and effective use of sales force
management and companies are always looking for better ways to complete this task.

Managing Customer relations effectively needs a well-trained Sales Force, which is also
known as sales force management. The Companies are now spending a considerable
marketing budget on Customer Relation Management CRM and Sales Force Management
Systems. Some firms are opting for Automated Sales Force Management System. The Sale
Force is responsible for all the contacts that are made with the end users, keeps a record of
all the data and tracks down the customers to generate sales.

● Elements of Sales Force Management

1. Lead Generation

The Sales Representatives generate the sales lead and then track the potential user by
gathering the data and customer related info like phone numbers, tastes, and buying
patterns.

2. Sales Forecasting

Predicting the company future sales based upon the previous sales for a particular
period of time; is sales forecasting process. The Sales Forecasting is done for the next tax
year or the fiscal year (or for a period of a time in the near future). This enables the
company to take important business decisions regarding production, distribution,
advertising budgets.

3. Order Management

The sales Force Manages and streamlines the product orders efficiently. A well-executed
Order Management System or OMS results in Sales Boost, Improved Customer retention
and Better Consumer Relations. Order Management System is quite a hefty term for a
simple concept; delivering Goods and products without or minimum delay is order
management.

4. Product Knowledge

The basic element for closing a deal or making a successful sale is having the complete
knowledge of the product. To win the customer trust is of outmost important for the Sales
representative. In order to convince the buyer to spend the money on the product the Sale
team must have the complete know how of the Product and its benefits.

● Functions of Sales of Force Management

1. Recruitment
 An essential part for the effective sales force management is recruitment. Over the
decades companies have designed advances selection programs and procedures to test the
behavioural, Managerial, and Personality Skill and expertise are identified. Some companies
have developed research methods or execute surveys to look for the preferences and
demands of the customers for the selection of Sales team.

2. Training and Supervision

The crux of building a well-trained and effective sales force is Sale force Training
Programs. In order to beat the market completion and become a market leader Trained
Work force is required. Efficient Training during the product life cycle can build a strong Sale
Force. Supervising the sales Team will keep the moral of the sales people high and put the
sales team in the right direction to manage the customers. The better the results are
achieved the Sale team if provided better the supervision. The efficiently managed sales
teams perform task effectively and meet the sales goals.

3. Motivation and Incentives

The Data and Market Research suggests that a Motivated Sales Force is more target
oriented, Goal Achievers, and Result Producers. To drive up and boost the morale of the
Sales employees the Motivation plays an integral role. Compensations, Incentives, Sale
Shares, Quotas are motivational elements for the Work Force.

4. Sale Force Evaluation

Evaluating the Sale Results, Product Numbers and Profit Reports is the key for the
successful Sale Force Management System.

5. Behavioural Aspects

The fast paced business world the buying and selling has no longer remained the
transaction marketing; it’s about building strong ties with the customers. The Companies
now focus on relationship marketing. The Sale force management must be equipped with all
techniques and arts to build long term relationship to make a successful Sale. The Art of
Negotiation is the key element of closing the deal.

● Basic Objective of Sales Force Management

 A customer identifies the Brand or product by the Sales Representatives. The Sale Force
Management is the primary link between the Product offered by the Company and the end
consumer that will buy the product. Over a decade the firms have a single goal of earning
profit and making sales. The Sales Team were recruited to search for the present and
potential customers and to make the sale. The Soul purpose was to sell a product. Now with
the advancements in market; the user is becoming more and more informed the companies
cannot focus on the sole purpose of earning profit. It about winning a customer that will not
only ensure current sales but also ensures future business or profit for the company.
Therefore, the sale Teams are now better trained as closing the deal requires effective
communication, good negotiation skills and product knowledge. The Sales force
management gathers info regarding market completion, new trends, and Changing
Consumer demands. The sales representatives are the Eye and Ears of any business
organization and can really matter a lot in the success and failure of the product.

5. Sales Promotion

Sales Promotion is one of the elements of the promotional mix. (The primary elements in
the promotional mix are advertising, personal selling, direct marketing and publicity/public
relations). Sales promotion uses both media and non-media marketing communications for
a pre-determined, limited time to increase consumer demand, stimulate market demand or
improve product availability. Examples include contests, coupons, freebies, loss leaders,
point of purchase displays, premiums, prizes, product samples, and rebates.

Sales promotions can be directed at either the customer, sales staff, or distribution
channel members (such as retailers). Sales promotions targeted at the consumer are called
consumer sales promotions. Sales promotions targeted at retailers and wholesale are called
trade sales promotions.

Sales promotion includes several communications activities that attempt to provide

added value or incentives to consumers, wholesalers, retailers, or other organizational
customers to stimulate immediate sales. These efforts can attempt to stimulate product
interest, trial, or purchase. Examples of devices used in sales promotion include coupons,
samples, premiums, point-of-purchase (POP) displays, contests, rebates, and sweepstakes.
 Sales promotion is implemented to attract new customers, to hold present customers, to
counteract competition, and to take advantage of opportunities that are revealed by market
research. It is made up of activities, both outside and inside activities, to enhance company
sales. Outside sales promotion activities include advertising, publicity, public relations
activities, and special sales events. Inside sales promotion activities include window displays,
product and promotional material display and promotional programs such as premium
awards and contests.

Sale promotions often come in the form of discounts. Discounts impact the way
consumers think and behave when shopping. The type of savings and its location can affect
the way consumers view a product and affect their purchase decision. The two most
common discounts are price discounts (“on sale items”) and bonus packs (“bulk items”).
Price discounts are the reduction of an original sale by a certain percentage while bonus
packs are deals in which the consumer receives more for the original price. Many companies
present different forms of discounts in advertisements, hoping to convince consumers to
buy their products.

● Sales Promotion in Islamic Perspective

Islam emphasizes the free and independent judgment. Islam does not support the
deceptive sales promotional tactics. Al-Qur’an condemns all forms and shapes of false
affirmation, unsubstantiated charge, mixture of good and bad, and false testimony.

In the Islamic marketing ethics, it is unethical for the sales people to overpraise his
selling products. In Islamic principle, product should be described details by the sellers or
company. False impression to promote sell product is strictly prohibited in Islamic ethical
framework (Hassan, Chachi, & Latiff, 2008). Therefore, in terms of product promotion
strategy, Islamic business ethics has been supported the some important rules and
regulations, for example firstly, the producer or seller must avoid false and misleading sales
promotion advertising. Secondly, they should reject of high pressure manipulations and
misleading sales promotion tactics. Finally, they should avoid such types of sales promotion
that use deception or manipulation or cheating to customers. Islam says that a seller is a
person like other human being who is accountable to Allah (swt). He should be honest and
fair in his selling business activities or product sales promotion activities. Islamic ethics has
given support to exchange the true document, specification of product quality and contents
to the customers. Allah (swt) has mentioned into the Holy Qur’an, Surah At-Tatfif, verse-1-3:
“Woe to those that deal in fraud, Those who, when they have to receive by measure from
men, exact full measure, But when they have to give by measure or weight to men, give less
than due”. If Muslim business people do not practice these then there could be occurred
disgraceful, dishonourable and shameful earning through deceit, treachery, theft and
injustice in goods and service promotion tactics. According to Islamic principles, business
holders are required to disclose all faults in their product, whether the product has defect or
not, they should clearly mention to customers during the sales promotion period. It is a
mandatory requirement for the sales people that they should reveal all known defects
which cannot be seen on the surface and cannot be found out by the shoppers. Marketing
disclosure should ensure the product quality to the customers by the word of mouth and
writing. The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) clearly condemned all manipulative
promotional behaviour stating that “one who cheats us is not one of us” (Al-Nawawi, 2:770).
In Islamic ethics, promotional techniques must not use sexual appeal, emotional appeal,
fear appeal, false testimonies and artificial research appeal, or contribute to the dullness of
the mind or encourage extravagance. In the Islamic principles, Islamic ethics strictly
prohibits stereotyping of women in sales promotion advertising, and excessive use of
fantasy. In terms of product sales promotion strategy, the use of suggestive language and
behaviour, and the use of women as objects to attract customers are not allowed in Islamic
marketing.

6. Publicity and Public Relations

● Definition of Publicity

Publicity is defined as the way of disseminating information to the public at large,

through media. It can be in the form of news, stories, event information or write-ups, that
creates awareness and credibility in the people regarding a brand, product or the company
offering them.

Publicity aims at spreading the information or news, to the maximum number of people,
in minimum time. It is a non-paid form of communication, which is not under the control of
the company. It can be a positive review regarding a product, i.e. mobile, television,
refrigerator, etc. given by a satisfied customer, or information published in the newspaper
regarding the quality-rich services provided by a company, or it can be a simple word of
mouth.

In a nutshell, publicity has nothing to do with the company’s sales; it is all about creating
awareness in general public through editorial or unbiased comments concerning a product.

● Definition of Public Relations

Public Relations can be understood as the strategic management tool, which helps an
organization to communicate with the public. Here, ‘public’ means the group of people that
have an interest in or impact on a company’s ability to achieve business objectives. It is not
only concerned with getting public attention, but it also aims at reaching the goals of the
organization, by communicating the message to the target audience. It includes press
releases, crisis management, social media engagement.

Public Relations is all about maintaining the positive image of the company in the eyes of
the public and developing strong relationships with them. It encompasses a range of
programs organised by the company to promote its product and services. There are many
companies, which have public relations department, which looks after the attitude of the
appropriate public and also spread information to them, to increase the goodwill.

The functions performed by the public relations department include press relations,
corporate communications, counselling, product publicity.

● Key Differences between Publicity and Public Relations

The difference between publicity and public relations can be drawn clearly on the
following grounds:

1. Publicity can be described as public visibility, wherein news or information is

communicated to the general public so as to build credibility or awareness in them, with the
help of a channel, i.e. mass media. On the other extreme, the term public relations, as the
name suggest, is a strategic management tool that aims to create a company’s positive
image in the eyes of the public.
 2. While publicity is not under the control of the company, public relations is fully under
the company’s control.

3. Publicity can be positive or negative, in the sense that it can be positive or negative
feedback regarding the product or service concerning a product given by the customer or
controversial news about the company. Conversely, public relations is always positive,
because it is strategized and managed by the public relations department of the company.

4. Publicity is free of cost; as it is made by the third party. As against, in case of public
relations, the company incurs money to organize events, sponsor programs, third-party
endorsement, etc.

5. Publicity involves, gaining the attention of the media that communicates any
information or news, regarding a product, service, person, organization, etc. so as to create
awareness in people. In contrast, public relations seek to attract the target audience, for the
purpose of boosting the company’s sales.

● Public Relations Roles on Islamic Products in Malaysia

The essence of public relations is to look after the nature and quality of relationship
between the organization and its different publics and to create a mutual understanding
with them In order to build strong relationship with stakeholers, Barathy et al., (2011)
stated that Islamic banking facilities need to facilitate the understanding of Islamic banking
products and services being offered. Hamid and Nordin (2001) in Barathy et al., (2011)
argued that a better consumer education will assist in making people more aware of Islamic
products.

In Malaysia, most of public relations practitioners explain Islamic banking policy through
corporate websites and social media. Al Rajhi Bank Malaysia for instance, disseminate their
banking information through website. The role of public relations practitioners is to update
information about Islamic banking products such as why compound interest or Riba is
banned, and commercial dealings are based on the principal of profit and loss sharing. This
information is essential because it can educate public about Islamic Banking and how it
differs from the conventional banking.
 Malaysia's Central Bank Governor, Zeti Akhtar Aziz encourages Islamic banks in Malaysia
to expand further in the Southeast Asian region (Asian banking & finance news, 21
September 2012).

One example of such expansion is CIMB Islamic, who signed a Commodity Murabahah
agreement and a Foreign Exchange (FX) - forward Agreement with London-based European
Islamic Investment Bank (EIIB). Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd also collaborated with China’s
Bank of Shi Zui Shan to set up its first Islamic bank in China - in Ningxia Province, in two
years, with the aim of developing and promoting Islamic banking in China (IslamicFinace.de,
26 July 2012).

Advertising is also considered as one of the most important strategies to maintain

organization sales. Brassington & Pettitt (2000) defined advertising as any paid form of non-
personal communication directed towards target audiences and transmitted through
various mass media in order to promote and present a product, service or idea. However,
according to Zulfiqar and Kamran (2012), for Islamic product advertisement, a brand should
fulfill all aspects of the Islamic laws and norms before being presented to its consumers.

Halal trademarks and Islamic products can easily capture Muslim market worldwide as
there are 1.6 billion Muslims all over the world. Branding of Islamic products and promoting
its ideology could be one of the best ways to penetrate the market. For instance, Bank Islam
Thematic TV Advertisement 2008 on Youtube is one of good example of the right Islamic
advertisement as it used Muslim models with proper dress code (aurah). Islamic product
advertisement is different from conventional product. Abul Hassan et al., (2008) explained
that in Islamic ethics, promotional techniques must not use sexual appeal, emotional
appeal, fear appeal, false testimonies and pseudo research appeal, or contribute to the
dullness of the mind or encourage extravagance.

Over the last decade, an emerging body of public relations research has attempted to
establish the role of website communication in building relationships with publics (Callison
& Seltzer, 2010 in Sommerfeldt, Kent & Taylor, 2012). Kent and Taylor (1998) argued that
strategically designed and well-managed websites may provide organizations with
opportunities to engage in dialogic communication. Due to the importance of website,
abundance of Islamic products in Malaysia utilize the use of website as a tool to engage with
its key publics. Nestle, for example, become the largest food manufacturer in the Halal
sector, with more than $3 billion in annual sales in Islamic country (Kearney, 2006).

In order to establish their reputation and relationship with the public, Nestle Malaysia
create their own website and social media sites including Facebook and Twitter. Through
the use of website and social media sites, public relations practitioners not only can be
contacted by the public but they can also publish information and promote their products.

The terrain of public relations practice is also shifting with new media bringing about
substantial increases in stakeholder strength through communication within stakeholder
groups and between different stakeholder groups (Van der Merwe, Pitt & Abratt, 2005).
Through Nestle Malaysia website, Nestle Malaysia can inform the public that they are the
first multinational to voluntarily request for Halal Certification of all its food products when
it was first introduced in 1996. Public relations practitioners of Nestle also utilize the
internet to solve certain issues such as the controversy of the use of non-Halal substances in
their products. Nestle Malaysia published “Halal Media” to inform the public of their swift
action to suspend the production of its products after traces of pork were found (Halal
Media, 2 Februari 2011). Handling issues and conflicts quickly is crucial to ensure that the
image and reputation of the organization continues to be preserved (Middleberg, 2001).
Overall, the presence of new technologies provides an opportunity for organizations to
establish two-way communications with their publics (Gregory, 2004; Grunig, 1992).

Roshayani et al. (2012) stated that the demands for corporate social responsibility (CSR)
initiatives are increasing. Organizations operating within the principles of Islamic law
(Sha’ria), such as Islamic banks, are exposed to additional demands with regards to their CSR
initiatives. These Islamic organizations need to provide information on CSR activities that
reflect the Islamic perspectives. Asyraf & Nurdianawati (2007) on their research about
Islamic banks in Malaysia also stated that social responsibility could be used as a strategic
tool to enhance reputation and public image of a business institution. CSR also proves to be
profitable for any business institution in the long run. Indeed, Islamic banking should lead
the way in promoting good social responsibility practices.

Besides, public relations (PR) practitioners also need to play important roles in correcting
any misconception or wrong perception of Islam. Issues related to prejudices, racism and
Islamophobia need to be clearly explained because Malaysia had played a major part by
developing an Islamic financial system and the halal industry. (Bernama, 6 Disember 2011).

7. Electronic Promotion

Basic principles of e-Promotion (electronic promotion) or Internet Marketing are

convenience, reach, cost personalization, relationship and social. Convenience: Students or
related service receivers can browse institute at any time and place when it is convenient
for them. Reach: Institute can promote their services in any part of the country without
setting up local outlets, widening their target market. Cost: Marketing on the Internet costs
less than marketing through a physical marketing. Cost on printing is very much reduced.
Personalization: Institute can track potential students by creating blogs and fulfilling their
person needs. Relationship & Investment: It provides an important platform for building
relationships with students at all levels. When a student is enrolled, Institute can develop
relationship by engaging him on web and inviting him to submit reviews on Institute service.
Social Engagement: Engagement or Investment is defined by reference as the time, energy,
and other resources an organization is willing to devote to build a relationship. Social
responsibility and community involvement, or building communal relationships, are
considered indicators of organizational investment.

● Social Networking

Social networking services facilitate the development of online social networks by

connecting a user's profile with those of other individuals and/or groups. Research provides
evidence that an increasing number of organizations are already engaging with social media
as part of their marketing strategy. A study reveals that India has recorded world's largest
growth in terms of social media users in 2013. Engaging with social media as a higher
education marketing tool is an attractive proposition, because of positive past experience in
the business sector on the effects of social media marketing and the high adoption rates of
social media by the younger generation.Improved communications, customer engagement
and increasing brand loyalty have been identified as outcomes of this form of marketing.
Social media is a relatively new but fastgrowing category of online interactive applications.
These applications are based on user-generated content rather than supplier-generated
content allowing peer-to-peer communication and user participation. The term “social
media” is widely used nowadays. The first time it appeared was in 2004, after LinkedIn
created its social media networking application. Reference defined the social media
application as an online technology tool to allow people to communicate easily, utilizing the
internet to share and discuss information. According to, social media is defined best in the
context of the previous media paradigm. Traditional media such as television, newspaper,
radio and magazines are one-way, static broadcasting technologies. Having a Facebook page
has become a virtual prerequisite for many companies. Internet marketing enables
institutes to take advantage of the growing importance of social media. Institute can take
advantage of this type of influence by incorporating social networking tools in Institute’s
promotional campaigns.

● Website

A set of interconnected webpages, usually including a homepage, generally located on

the same server, and prepared and maintained as a collection of information by a person,
group or organization. Websites are an excellent avenue for building and maintaining
relationships between organizations and their publics. There are several characteristics of
websites, such as content richness, design flexibility, interactivity. Both public relations
scholars and practitioners agree that organizational websites play an important role in
building and maintaining relationships with important publics. Websites enjoy great interest
especially due to the fact that, they serve as one of the most common sources of gaining
information. In the professional world, there is a sense that corporate public relations
websites influence a public’s perceptions of an organization, and loyalty towards it. The
matter of improving the quality of websites and searching for suitable methods for
assessment is dealt by. Reference focus on defining framework for a website evaluation.
Reference claim that providing a positive experience on the organization’s website is crucial
to maintaining a good relationship with publics, increasing reputation and customer loyalty
and ultimately surviving as a business. An institute’s web presence is extremely important
because visiting the website first is found to be a precursor to visiting the campus.

8. Word of Mouth Marketing

 Word-of-mouth marketing (WOM marketing) is when a consumer's interest for a
company's product or service is reflected in their daily dialogs. Essentially, is it is free
advertising triggered by customer experiences and usually something that goes beyond
what they expected. Word-of-mouth marketing can be encouraged through different
publicity activities set up by companies, or by having opportunities to encourage consumer-
to-consumer and consumer-to-marketer communications. Also called referred to as
"WOMM" or "word-of-mouth advertising," WOM marketing includes buzz, viral, blog,
emotional and social media marketing.

● Word-of-Mouth Marketing: Efficacy

According to Nielsen, in 2012 consumers around the world said they trust
recommendations from friends and family (earned media) above all other forms of
advertising. That represents a rise of 18% from 2007.

Consumers are more emotionally bonded to a company when they feel they are listened
to by the company. That is why many companies will have sales representatives discuss
their products and services with consumers personally or through a feedback phone line.
This kind of interaction, as well as promotional events, can stimulate conversations about a
company's product.

There is significant temptation to fabricate word-of-mouth marketing. Accordingly,

the Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA) has crafted a code of ethics for the
industry, the best word-of-mouth marketing strategies are "credible, social, repeatable,
measurable and respectful" and there is no excuse for dishonesty. WOM marketing
expert Andy Sernovitz has boiled down WOMMA's code of ethics into a three key rules to
avoid issues:

1. Say who you are representing (always disclose a relationship)

2. Say only what you believe (be honest with an opinion)

3. Never lie about who you are (be honest about your identity)

9. Viral Marketing
 Viral Marketing is that which is able to generate interest and the potential sale of a
brand or product through messages that spread like a virus, in other words, quickly, and
from person to person. The idea is for it to be the users themselves that choose to share the
content.

Due to their speed and ease to share, social networks are the natural habitat of this kind
of marketing. The most widespread example in recent times is the creation of moving,
surprising or spectacular videos on YouTube, which are then shared on Facebook, Twitter
and other channels.

The reason to make use or virality, the ease in spreading and sharing, is however a
double-edged sword. We cannot forget that in this type of campaign, a large part of the
control falls into the hands of the users, and we risk the message being misinterpreted or
parodied. On the other hand, a successful viral campaign can work miracles for your brand’s
results.

● How a viral campaign works

A viral marketing campaign is very simple to carry out: create a video or another type of
content which is attractive to the target, put it on the internet and plan the first actions to
get it moving. Form there on, all you can do is wait for the fuse to light and for users to start
sharing like crazy.

In some cases, virality happens by accident, from a video uploaded by a private user that
all of a sudden becomes popular and begins to circulate all around the Internet.

As for the dispersion strategy of the videos created by brands, we have two focus points:
the shown or the concealed. In the former, the user is aware from the first moment that
they are viewing advertising content, while in the latter the participation of the brand is
hidden and is only revealed later.

If you apply concealed marketing techniques, it is important to be very careful so the

user does not feel tricked, cheated or deceived, as the viral campaign could then turn
against you.
 No matter what strategy we choose, we should never ever become spammers, nor go
overboard while sharing the content. Instead of repeating message over and over again, the
best strategy is to find the perfect place and time and let the “viral fuse” light itself.

● Advantages of viral marketing

1. Low cost.

What characterizes viral campaigns is that the users do a significant part of the work for
us, which drastically cuts down the costs of dispersion: it becomes unnecessary to buy
advertising or space on the media.

2. Potential of great reach.

A viral video on the Internet has the ability to reach a huge international audience
without us having to invest money or make any extra effort. Due to this, a small company or
even a private individual can go extremely far.

3. It is not invasive.

In viral marketing, the decision to participate and share always comes from the user, and
so it never comes across as invasive. Like this, the perception of the brand and the
interaction are significantly better, compared to more classical forms of advertising.

4. It helps build up your brand.

If we really hit the bull’s-eye in terms of creativity, we are creating content so incredible
that users themselves decide to share it and, hence create a personal connection with your
brand. It is without a doubt an extremely powerful tool when it comes to branding and
awareness.

CONCLUSION

The development of marketing theories under Islamic observation may seem like a
farfetched idea to many scholars, but review of relevant literature reveals that Islam offers a
distinctive set of principles that can conceptualize the marketing field in its own inherent
manner. Islamic teachings assert the importance of social welfare and promote the well-
being of whole society instead of guarding the interests of the few. It will be fair to infer that
Islamic marketing encapsulates the disciplines of business ethics and corporate social
responsibility. Islam offers a parallel paradigm of conducting business, which does not only
suit Muslim markets but also non-Muslim markets, as the principles of value maximization
and justice are the fundamentals of building a welfare society. Islam extends its counselling
to all segments of the society. Islam advises against the ostentatious and splashy
consumption as it makes people covetous and engulfs them with insatiable desires for
material possessions. In a similar vein, the profit- oriented firms indulged in serious cut
throat competition to amass more wealth are warned as ‘The mutual rivalry for piling up
(the good things in this world) diverts you (from the more serious things) until you reach the
graves’ (Al-Quran 102:1 – 2). The nexus of motivation in Islam is more spiritual in nature,
which makes it different from other ethical stipulations as it focuses on bringing the change
within, the true form of conduct that has more foresightedness and can be used as a tool to
promote fair marketing practices. The study has its limitations, as it does not cover all
aspects of marketing. This study relies heavily on the Holy Scriptures that does not allow
statistical inferences, though the very nature of this study does not demand so. For future
studies, it would be valuable to see the extent to which national and multinational
companies follow these Islamic marketing principles and how they influence the way
consumers perceived the image of these companies, which can ultimately impact on their
different behavioural traits, for example, repurchase intentions, consumption values, and
patronage behaviour. In order to gain acceptance from the scientific community, Islamic
marketing knowledge should be enriched and its strategic importance should be highlighted
by the scholars working in this field
References

● “Journal of Consumer Marketing”: Setting Promotional Goals: A Communications'

Relationship Model; David B. Jones; 1994
● https://www.researchgate.net/publication/292566564_Islamic_Perspective_on_Mar
keting_Mix
● https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advertising_media_selection
● https://blog.advertising.expedia.com/how-two-airlines-used-audience-targeting-to-
reach-more-customers-across-the-web
● https://www.mbaskool.com/business-concepts/marketing-and-strategy-
terms/11861-advertising-media.html
● http://www.businessstudynotes.com/marketing/marketing-management/elements-
functions-sales-force-management/
● https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sales_promotion
● https://keydifferences.com/difference-between-publicity-and-public-relations.html
● http://jiscnet.com/journals/jisc/Vol_2_No_3_September_2014/4.pdf
● https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01483672/document
● https://www.cyberclick.es/numericalblogen/what-is-viral-marketing-advantages-
and-examples