Islamic Marketing and Branding

Theory and Practice

T. C. Melewar, S. F. Syed Alwi, T. C. Melewar, S. F. Syed Alwi

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2017
• ISBN:
  9781317112235
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Negocios y empresa
• Subtopic: Negocios en general

Islamic Marketing and Branding: Theory and Practice provides a concise mix of theory, primary research findings and practice that will engender confidence in both students and practitioners alike by means of the case study included in each chapter.

Through three main parts (Branding and Corporate Marketing; Religion, Consumption and Culture; and Strategic Global Orientation), this book provides readers, from areas across the spectrum covering marketing, organisational studies, psychology, sociology and communication and strategy, with theoretical and managerial perspectives on Islamic marketing and branding. In particular, it addresses:

• 
  
  

• Insights into branding and corporate marketing in the Islamic context.

• 
  
  

• An introduction to Islamic consumption and culture, rules and regulations in brands and consumption in Islamic markets.

• 
  
  

• An identification of how the strategic global orientation of the Islamic approach is practised and how it works in different Islamic countries such as emerging countries. Readers are introduced to a variety of business and management approaches which, once applied to their business strategies, will increase their chances of successful implementation.

Addressing both theoretical and practical insights, this book is essential reading for marketing and branding scholars and students, as well as CEOs, brand managers and consultants with an interest in this area.

Part I

Branding and corporate marketing

1 Corporate brands and marketing strategies

Jonathan A. J. Wilson and Jonathan Liu

Learning outcomes

At the end of this chapter, the reader should be able to:

1. 1 Understand brand theory from several perspectives, or schools of thought
2. 2 Map the relationship and significance of brands according to varying stakeholder perspectives
3. 3 Identify marketing strategies within a hierarchy of Islamic compliance, Muslim cultures, and ethnocentrism
4. 4 Reflect upon the impact of macro and micro factors on the theory and practice of Muslim consumption patterns and economic transactions

Key points

1. 1 The Muslim economic landscape.
2. 2 The argument for viewing brands and branding as entities linked to spirituality and animism.
3. 3 What are the nascent schools of Branding thought and practice?
4. 4 What is the role of the Corporate Branding amongst stakeholders?
5. 5 What renders something Islamic and/or Halal?
6. 6 How should Islamic brands and marketing deliver emotive, compelling and competitive propositions?

Introduction

A prima facie case can be made for Islamic Branding and Marketing being understood simply as the permissibility and compatibility of practices and offerings according to the teachings of Islam. However, the call to atomise, evaluate and certify all activities formally and subsequently label them cogently under legally branded corporate architectures has given rise to a new cultural phenomenon – and this is on the rise, inside and outside of Muslim geographies across the globe. Globalisation, change at scale, economic, technological, Hertzberg’s hygiene and control factors are also transferring the domain of Islam more and more to a vanguard of businesses and branded consumption – as opposed to being just a religious imperative driven by the clergy. This chapter addresses the key areas and critical success factors necessary to deliver strategic approaches to Islamic Corporate Branding and Marketing.

Muslim geographies and economic factors

One quarter of the world’s population are Muslim, with well over half of Muslims today under the age of 25 – which prompted Miles Young, global CEO of Ogilvy, to assert that Muslims are the “third one billion”, following interest in Indian and Chinese billions, in terms of market opportunities (Ogilvy Noor, 2010, 2011). Furthermore, Muslims are expected to increase by over 35 percent in the next 20 years.

When considering the acronyms for the emerging economies to watch: in 2001 it was BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China); and more recently in 2013 MINT (Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria, Turkey), and CIVETS (Columbia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Egypt, Turkey and South Africa) – then it is apparent that economies with large Muslim populations are growing in importance (Wilson, 2014a).

In addition, this is a trend on the increase in the West. The 2011 Census in the United Kingdom has the Muslim population at 2.7 million, which is 4.8 percent of the total population. Of those, around 100,000 are converts to Islam, about two thirds of whom are female. There were an estimated 5,200 conversions to Islam in 2011, making it the fastest growing religion in the UK between 2001 and 2009 – with Muslims increasing at a rate that is almost 10 times faster than the non-Muslim population. The French city of Marseilles is approximately one third Muslim, with predictions suggesting that it will soon become the first Muslim majority city in Europe (Wilson, 2014a; National Geographic, 2012; BBC, 2012).

Three arguments are usually presented to justify the imperative for operationalising Islam-centric business models, which are as follows:

1. 1 Economic argument:
   1. Relies on deductive findings, based upon data presented to demonstrate the market potential through financial value, geographies and future sustainability through growing population figures.
2. 2 Consumer-based perspective:
   1. Posits that beyond market value and size, there exists a consumer-based religious obligation to develop the sector, also inherent in their faith. There are growing needs and wants, with desires to align these with Islam and varying Muslim identities, regardless of temporal gains.
3. 3 Geopolitical imperative:
   1. Commerce linked with Islam is influenced by geopolitics, and is held to be crucial when building international relations, political stability, and unique, yet collaborative and co-dependent national brand equities.

However, these perhaps are not reflective enough of the true nature of what is Islamic and Halal [which will be defined and discussed later], or embody the full range of their potential critical success factors. Furthermore, it is questionable whether we are witnessing developments in Islamic markets (as is posited) or Muslim markets (Wilson et al., 2013).

Pragmatically, it could be argued that what we have are Muslim markets and economies, with the aspiration of creating an Islamic system, through the sum total of Muslim economies galvanizing themselves under a banner of ‘Brand Islam’ (Wilson, 2014a). Or alternatively, this may be about Muslim geographies drawing from Islamic frames of reference and schools of thought collaboratively. On first reading, these two perspectives may appear to be saying the same thing. However, the order in which this process happens will yield differing consequences. The first is a bottom-up approach, and the second top-down (Wilson, 2014b).

Branding as a spiritual entity

Brands with duplicitous transient and transcendent attributes push analysis towards more figurative, tacit and implicit states, demanding more of marketers than simple financial calculations based on purely economic value drivers. The following chapter takes a broad view of corporate branding, in the interests of focussing attention on the cognitive affective and behavioural traits of external stakeholders – in line with more consumer-centric brand approaches and the increase in two-way media communication channels, which are creating new patterns of consumption.

Recent geopolitical events, trade and commerce in the Middle East and North Africa (MEANA) and Asia Pacific regions, the heartlands of the Muslim world, emphatically point to religious observance remaining a fundamental component, which impacts on corporate and individual value systems (Liu and Wilson, 2011; Wilson and Hollensen, 2013). Anecdotally, Islamic Finance, Halal and Kosher certified products and services are witnessing recession resistance and growth, beyond their core audience of faithful followers, supported by empirical evidence from BrandFinance® observing that “the Middle East has seen a 78% growth in brand value, based on high demand for Islamic banking products and services” (Wilson and Liu, 2010).

At the very heart of the matter, when societies try to understand and ultimately control religion, frequently wider discussions split thought into two basic camps and philosophical mind-sets, namely: either proving or refuting if there is such a thing as a divine being (if not many). And similarly, if there is such a thing as an afterlife, and what impact does this have on our conceptual understanding of transcendence? (Wilson and Hollensen, 2013). The argument being that rational proof and evidence offers easier anchors for control. Polemically it is argued that the fact that the majority individuals live believing that an afterlife is present means that from a business and economics perspective of supply and demand, these concepts should be viewed as, rather than needing an answer, instead being served and evaluated. Furthermore, established proof and evidence of human thoughts, feelings and actions suggest that from a business perspective a sufficient platform for advancement already exists. Therefore, what remains key is a refinement of understanding towards practical day-to-day affairs and their impact, rather than an over-arching philosophical debate.

Currently, many definitions of religion within business and management are often restrictive and literalist. The argument here is in favour of scanning and examining a wide spread of human activities – such as sport, music, fashion and food. The view is that each has the propensity to evoke a form of fanaticism, ritualism and spirituality, demonstrable of a common ground – which is arguably religious (Wilson and Liu, 2009). This identified religious fervour, which stretches beyond conventional definitions of religion to more post-modern pluralism and consumption, we have termed Neo-spiritualism.

Furthermore, religious and spiritual value systems appear to:

1. 1 Govern critical aspects of decision making
2. 2 Blend cognitive, affective and conative routed processes
3. 3 Draw from diverse viewpoints but arrive at similar conceptual destinations
4. 4 Encourage vertical and horizontal relationship building
5. 5 Oscillate between esoteric and exoteric interpretations
6. 6 Involve storytelling, linked to consumption and rituals
7. 7 Be situation specific
8. 8 Set clear boundaries supported by psychological contracts
9. 9 Create didactic polarisation of systems
10. 10 Help emotionally mediate and mitigate individual losses

Brands are created with the intention by their owners of encouraging consumption, patronage and the formation of a relationship, which it could be argued ultimately craves their worship – so much so that with their increase in importance, some brands have both individually and collectively managed to attain ‘god-like’ statuses. Driving this movement has been a trend of drawing from, aligning and blending religious language, rituals, mythology, symbolism and meanings – in order to gain deeper significance and competitive advantage. This has been embedded within the brand itself and/or been supported by marketing communications messages.

Even within monotheistic doctrines, there is the suggestion that humans have a propensity towards comparable polytheistic practices, whilst however being discouraged. In the Abrahamic monotheistic faiths, worshipers are commanded to worship one deity. Maltby et al. (2002) state that “the word ‘gods’ is usually interpreted broadly to include not just other religious deities, but non-religious concepts and persons as well” (p. 1160). Muslims are reminded on numerous occasions within the Qur’an and supporting religious texts, such as ahadith, of the ease by which they may in fact behave as polytheists.

Maltby et al. (2002), however, go on to assert that

it could be hypothesised that attitudes toward celebrities would be unrelated to religiosity. The concept of compartmentalisation might be invoked in support of this hypothesis. We compartmentalise when we take beliefs and mentally separate them from their unpleasant consequences. This allows us to maintain positive feelings about ourselves by detaching ourselves from the unpleasant consequences. Thus, Christians can believe in the story of the Good Samaritan, but detach themselves from the responsibility of behaving like the Good Samaritan.

(p. 1160)

The symbiotic phenomenon of corporate branding and religion appears to be applicable in a comparable fashion to elite celebrities, who seek to craft their identities into corporate brands – able to offer further brand extension opportunities. It can also be argued reciprocally that corporate brands seek to emulate the emotive and human qualities of celebrities (Wilson and Liu, 2009). Whilst Maltby et al. (2002) largely comment on and obtain data from Christians, these traits can be extended to include worshippers from other faiths, such as Islam.

In addition, atheists and agnostics, as part of a polemical discourse, are often described by their religious counterparts as in fact creating their own rituals and objects of desire;, which could be comparably interpreted as being a form of religion, as observed by Jindra (2004). Examples lie in politics, sport, music and celebrities, amongst others. Notable examples are present when studying the reverence shown by fans of such individuals as Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson, Bob Marley, Tupac Shakur and David Beckham. Jindra (2004) also talks of Star Trek fans organising, recruiting and holding ceremonies/ conventions, with fan bases that resemble religions. Furthermore this appears to stretch to inanimate objects, where consumers have queued up overnight to purchase the latest Apple handset or sports jersey, despite already being able to fulfil many of the functions, through existing product offerings.

Giles (2002) argues that fame can be interpreted as a quest to preserve a unique part of life for eternity – which applies the concept of a belief in the hereafter. Giles (2000) extends this to liken celebrity worship to religious worship. Evidence of this lies in the illicit acts of some celebrities being ignored, mentally deleted, mitigated or even forgiven (Wilson and Morgan, 2011). Furthermore, according to Giles (2002) the similarities between religion and celebrity worship in their psychological and physical demonstration of obsessive compulsion appear apparent. These are manifest in surrounding rituals and day-dreaming.

Nascent schools of branding thought and practice

Following a taxonomy undertaken by Heding, Knudtzen and Bjerre (2009), representative of a systematic analysis of 300+ brand management research articles, spanning the period of 1985–2006, it is suggested that these various approaches can be categorised within seven groups:

1. 1 Economic
2. 2 Identity
3. 3 Consumer-based
4. 4 Personality
5. 5 Relational
6. 6 Community
7. 7 Cultural

“These seven ‘schools of thought’ represent fundamentally different perceptions of the brand, the nature of the brand-consumer exchange, and how brand equity is created and managed” (Heding, Knudtzen and Bjerre, 2009, p. 3). Through their analysis, Heding, Knudtzen and Bjerre (2009) also sought to highlight key terms which have come into existence.

This chapter focuses on the following identified terms: Brand Community, Brand Culture, Brand Loyalty and Brand Relation as a basis for further discussions. The rationale is that they appear to be of most relevance when investigating the nature of various brand interactions. Groups 2–7 as identified by Heding, Knudtzen and Bjerre (2009) are reflective of a movement towards the defining tacit and figurative aspects of a brand, which suggest that emotion plays a significant role – and in doing so human characteristi...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• List of contributors
• Foreword
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• Part I Branding and corporate marketing
• Part II Religion, consumption and culture
• Part III Strategic global orientation