ISLAMIC BRANDING

MBBC 4263 ISLAMIC MARKETING

PN. JUNAINAH IDRIS
LEARNING OUTCOMES

• Islam : The religion and the brand

• How are Islamic brand doing?
• Branding in Islamic countries
• Challenges for aspiring Islamic brand
• Key success factors and strategies aspiring Islamic brand
 Importance of Islamic Branding
Information Helps firms develop

Values

In order to engage in Islamic

market, firms need to Culture
Norms
employ Islamization brand
strategies based on
information obtained from Appreciative of the
the Islamic market, including Practices novelty of the
customers, competitors and Islamic market
the business environment.
 • In Islam brands cannot be shariah compliant
ISLAMIC until it fulfill many conditions related to
ingredients, logistics, impact and intentions.
BRANDING • Companies who fulfill shariah compliant
practices have earned right to use the word
“Halal”, “Islamic” or “Muslim Friendly” to
support their marketing effort.
• Company building on negative Muslim
sentiments, claimed to have introduced
the Islamic alternative to Coca-Cola.
• As usual people who bought the drink
disposed of the bottles as an object to
kick. Muslim didn’t do anything and
continued to purchased it.
• However, if such product had been
introduced by non-Muslim companies,
the fallout would have been extreme and
the company might have been labelled
as anti-Islamic for disgracing the name of
Muslim most holy place.
 DEFINITION OF ISLAMIC BRANDING
Religion
Product fulfill shariah
compliant requirements
Appeal specifically to Muslim
customers (faith based)
Main attraction is the concept
of Halal
Origin
Originate from Islamic
countries. Eg: Emirates Airlines,
Egyptian Orascom, Kuwait
Finance House etc.
Companies not promoting
themselves as shariah
compliant as not all their
product and practices are
shariah compliant.
Customers
Brands from non-Islamic
countries yet are designed
specially to target Muslim
customers.
Main attraction is the concept
of Halal
Owned by MNCs that have
skills and know how of
branding. Eg: Nestle, Unilever,
Loreal, Mc Donald, KFC.
 ISLAMIC BRANDS VS ISLAMIC PRODUCTS
Turkey wine country is one of the largest producers of grapes in the world,
and it sells them to other countries that have a less favorable climate.
Turkish wine regions are spread throughout different climate zones: 60%
of the wine is produced in regions surrounding the coasts (Sea of
Marmara, the Black Sea, and the Mediterranean

NO such thing as Islamic or

Halal wine

Barbican doesn’t promote its non-alcoholic beer as beer in

the Muslim market but rather as a malt drink.
 Branding that’s empathetic to shariah
OGILVY NOOR (2010) values, in order to appeal to the Muslim
DEFINED ISLAMIC consumers, ranging from basic shariah
BRANDING AS A friendliness to full Shariah compliance in
all aspects of brand’s identity, behavior
and communications.
 • Companies focusing on short-term profits and operational
efficiency, and neglecting the longer-term nature of brand
building.
HOW ISLAMIC
• Tendency to rely on the Original Equipment Manufacturing
BRAND DOING? (OEM) trap—that is, making products for other companies that
would then put their own brand names on them.
• A prevalent mindset among chief executives that brand building
is not strategic and is really only done tactically via advertising,
promotion, and other communications activities.
• Lack of acknowledgment that brands are assets with consider-
able value.
• Over-reliance on the status quo, especially in those countries
“Not Very Well” endowed with an abundance of natural resources
• Lack of government support of brand building by companies in
Islamic countries. This is reminiscent of Asian brands during the
20th century, when only Japanese and Korean brands
succeeded due to their receiving government support.
 WHY THE INTEREST IN ISLAMIC
BRANDING INCREASING?
GROWTH IN DEMAND
There is the compelling
argument provided by the
sheer size of the market,
with its relatively young and
growing population, and
01 GROWING
AWARENESS
rising affluence. This, in
itself, is providing a growth
in demand for Islamic
products.
02 Growing awareness of
Islamic consumption
as a result of the

03
above, and a greater
GLOBAL MARKET empowerment of
The fact that Islamic Islamic consumers.
countries and companies
have seen the power of
branding in global
markets, and witnessed
Western brands moving
into their markets.
Islamic brands have the potential to cross
over to non-Muslim markets, due to:

1 2 3
Shared Increasing quality Increasing
universal values standard of availability of Islamic
in relation to Islamic products products and
purity, health, and services. services in non-
and wellness. Muslim-majority
markets.
 STRATEGIES FOR ISLAMIC BRANDING
Points-of-Difference
• Attributes/benefits that consumers strongly associate with a
brand, positively evaluate, and believe they could not find
to the same extent with a competitive brand.
Secret Recipe
• POD criteria
Desirable -Consumers must see the brand association
as personally relevant to them.
Deliverable - The company must have the internal
resources and commitment to feasibly and
profitably create and maintain the brand association
in the minds of consumers. The product design and
marketing offering must support the desired
association.
Differentiating - Consumers must see the brand Bakers Cottage
association as distinctive and superior to relevant
competitors.
 STRATEGIES FOR ISLAMIC BRANDING

Points-of-Parity

Attribute/benefit associations that

are not necessarily unique to the
brand but may in fact be shared
with other brands.
 THE RATIONAL VS EMOTIONAL OF BRAND

• As parity becomes the norm, and brands

match each other feature-by-feature and Example :
attribute-by-attribute, it is becoming harder
to create a brand strategy through rational RATIONAL EMOTIONAL
means.
Do I need it? I want it!
• So, while consumers screen the rational
elements of quality and other compelling What does it do? It looks cool!
product attributes as part of the buying
process, the real decision to buy is taken at What does it cost? I’m going to get it!
an emotional level.
How does it compare I only want this one!
• The rational thoughts tend to be analytical, to…?
but it is the emotional statements that drive
the purchase decision.
 EMOTIONAL BRAND RELATIONSHIP PROCESS Togetherness /
Partnership
• Awareness comes first, followed by
involvement and purchase—a few
meetings—which can lead on to the Amanah

Loyalty
friendship and trust levels, which in turn
lead to brand loyalty and lifetime customer

Trust
relationships.
• The power brands get to and past the loyal to brands

Respect
friendship and trust levels. If they didn’t that reinforce
Muslim beliefs
become friends with customers, and and values.
develop that sense of comfort, familiarity,

Information
and dependability, then they would never Halal or recognizably Islamic in
have reached power brand status. nature. However, I must qualify
this statement: respect won’t
• Companies that don’t get to the critical

Awareness
be given if the product doesn’t
friendship level often get stuck at the reach adequate quality levels
awareness stage. (QC of the countries).
 The Qur’an

The practices of the

Prophet Muhammad

The practices of other

ISLAMIC VALUES FOR prophets, such as Yusuf,
Ibrahim, Ismail, and
BRAND BUILDING Idris

Sources of Islamic Values 99 names of Allah

 Pure Wise
Trusted Kind
Wholesome Communicative
Responsible True
Honest Respectful
GENERIC ISLAMIC VALUE
• Modest
Other generic Islamic values with Credible
universal and emotional appeal that Peaceful
are not exclusive to Muslims, and so Consistent
can be used to appeal across all
Intelligent Considerate
markets.
Fair Authentic
 CHALLENGES FOR ASPIRING ISLAMIC BRAND
Gaining brand Awareness

• Islamic brands attempting to break Ensuring accessibility

into and progressively gain a share
in their chosen markets, especially
where Western brands are already Gaining Acceptability
in dominant positions, will have to
Achieving suitable and
overcome a variety of challenges, consistent standards and
the most important of which fall quality
into six main areas:
Gaining Trust

Attack from brand competitors

 KEY SUCCESS FACTORS AND STRATEGIES ASPIRING
ISLAMIC BRAND

The main strategies for brand building by Islamic companies are:

1. Understand the market clearly.

2. Build your brand based on Islamic values with universal emotional appeal.
3. Position your company and brand on relevance to the market.
4. Communicate the brand appropriately and with Islamic appeal.
5. Gain first mover advantage in new industries and categories.
6. Consider mergers, acquisitions, and partnerships.
7. Develop new and ethical business models using Islamic values and practices.
8. Build an international brand using Western techniques and appeal.
9. Aim for a niche market.
10. Offer a close alternative in a major category.
THANK YOU