"What's the beef?"

Muslim Futurism and Islamic Branding

Speech by Miles Young at the Inaugural
Oxford Global Islamic Branding and Marketing Forum

The world is re-balancing, but it might be fair to say that the business of marketing and branding is only just beginning to acknowledge this, and catch up. 

But, numbers talk; and big numbers talk loudly. In fact, it was when we sent out a mailer recently, describing Muslim consumers conservatively as the ‘third one billion’ that the bells started finally to ring in the global HQs of some of our clients. Yes, this is a market bigger than India or China is, and yet it receives a tiny fraction of the attention. And it is not just that the numbers are there, but the value is also. The GDP of the five large Middle Eastern countries is the same size as India, but on a population which is one-third of it. Most global enterprises, whether from the West or the East, have a BRIC strategy, and many are starting to look at N-11 in the same way. 53% of the population of the N-11 are Muslim. Finally, Muslim countries are some of the youngest in the world. There are more than 750 million Muslims under the age of 25, representing 43% of the global Muslim population, and 11% of the world’s. 

But the numbers alone do not tell the whole story. From the 1970s on we have witnessed an Islamic Renaissance, perhaps as profound as its European counterpart of the 16th century. The reassertion of thought and culture which this has produced, at a time of technological change, means that this is an active, creative and innovative constituency, and one which is on the move. It is also one which we in the West can learn from. 

There are two challenges which Western marketers face when contemplating this opportunity. 

The first is that global enterprises still operate within matrix structures in which the primary axis is geographic. However, the Islamic world is a powerful vertical segment which unifies attitudes and behaviours, but not always by geography. This causes significant issues of sponsorship within organisations. Where does the Islamic conscience rest? If I may venture an answer, I suspect it will increasingly be with global product management, another vertical function; whereas, if at all, it lies currently within local markets in product management. In other words, the big transition needs to be from a local/ tactical function to a global/ strategic one. 

And the second is the tendency of the marketing and advertising industry to see it as just another interesting segment. In this mindset, it becomes equated with ‘greys’, or the ‘Pink Dollar; or Latinos in the US. Of course, all these are very valid targets for segmentation strategies, but the Islamic opportunity surely differs qualitatively. We are not looking here at a segment which is qualified by one primary difference, be it age, orientation, language or skin colour, and then whether attitudes and behaviour vary from a norm in accordance with that. Rather, we are looking at an alternative norm, one where the starting point is Islamic identity, and everything else fits into it. An American Muslim is a Muslim first and an American second. An American grey is an American first, and grey is a qualifier. In other words, much of the conventional marketing canon, the textbook thinking of Kotler and others, does not really cope intellectually with the Islamic opportunity. 

About the Author

Miles Young is global CEO of Ogilvy.

Download Muslim Futurism and Islamic Branding (pdf, 144Kb) 

Source: WPP / Reading Room

Declining income, conflicted managers and demoralised staff. If you’re in the brand identity business, it may be time to re-evaluate your business development strategy.

Recently, whilst out-and-about in the branding community, conducting what I now refer to as the rounds, I have noticed a worrying vacuum or, in the wider context of things, an opportunity well worth exploiting.

It is undeniably tough out there – clearly illustrated by frugal cost-cutting, unpaid leave, head-count freezing and many other cautious, overhead reducing activities. However, I am amazed at how so many senior managers are undervaluing the importance and holistic benefits of a clear marketing and business development strategy.

On mass, agencies already on the verge of collapse have started advertising vacancies for generic new business positions. Their posts command applications from candidates who can guarantee a rolodex of clients and qualified leads. In return they offer little more than the most basic salary, an unclear future and very little, if any, security. They too often rely on badly managed and out-of-date contact lists and assign the task of cold-calling to reluctant if not actually telephobic staff, or outsource it to apathetic third-party telephonists.

How then can consultancies expect to grow, during a time when salaries are cut, morale is at an all time low and unpaid leave is encouraged? The answer, I suggest: Agency leaders themselves need to start thinking outside of the box.

Continue reading my post on BrandRepublic.com / Blogs / …

Corporate Identity: we’re in crisis too but we should be able to recover faster (Part 1)

One cold January morning, as I walked to the tube station, I stopped off at a newspaper stand to pick up a copy of the Financial Times. Being quite late in the day, having arrived at Heathrow just a few hours before, I made what I thought to be an obvious assumption that copies of the newspaper would be scarce. I was wrong and what transpired was an odd conversation that has stuck in my mind since:

Me: Do you have any copies of the FT left?
Vendor: Do I. I’ve got too many.
Me: Over order?
Vendor: Nope, I guess nobody is interested anymore.

Several months before I left the UK for the holiday season – a failed attempt to disconnect from the media for a few weeks – the imminent recession and economic downturn was already starting to take shape. In a spurt of confusion, the glass quickly turned from being half-full, as the world’s media began to ‘stoke a fire’ that quite clearly has ‘sucker-punched’ the commercial world in to even deeper depression.

Since then, confidence has reached an all time low, illustrated by consumer led, post-war, cost-cutting measures and all too cautious buying practice. However, for a few, things are not so bad – the popularity of online gaming as well as sales of lipstick and cake mix appear to have significantly increased.

The world’s media painted pictures of the board room with CEOs and company directors reacting badly, showing little or no courage in their own convictions, projecting a distinct lack of leadership and shying away from the bullish ambition they were once credited so generously for. As a result, we have seen the dramatic drop of share-prices, the crumbling of financial institutions, industry collapse and the need for governmental “bail-outs”. The repressed outlook continues to darken our streets and I, for one, have had just about enough.

[continue]

Corporate Identity: we’re in crisis too but we should be able to recover faster (Part 2)

Like clockwork, during times of financial difficulty, balance sheets are reviewed, snap-decisions made and marketing budgets frozen – the Corporate Branding and Identity profession has certainly felt the pinch. But as professionals, we have all preached, until we are blue in the face, about how cutting budgets, used to sustain brand positioning and market share, is but a knee-jerk reaction and, in the wider scheme of things, will provide nothing but a short-term solution – directly fuelling an even longer-term road to recovery. Predictably, our peers have also published commentary detailing how history has shown a recession to be a great time for maintaining and growing brands – providing many proven examples of some of the world’s most successful brand launches and marketing campaigns.

Since Q4 2008, a multitude of additional “thought-pieces” have since arrived in my inbox and written by recognised professionals, mentors and peers, each one intent on stating their case. However, I have found only a few to have been relevant and therefore, inspirational.

Recently, after having first commissioned research, Alan Siegel, founder of Siegel+Gale, wrote about the need for keeping things simple – subtly cross-referencing his own expertise on the matter, of course. In summary, Siegel blames much of our distrust in the brands we once endorsed to the use of unnecessarily complex language and vocabulary – jargon. His conclusion, for us all to unite, take-arms and ‘refuse to do business with any organisation that violates the need to know and understand’. Siegel demands clarity and transparency, forcing government, financial and commercial sectors to articulate and communicate better by using clear, concise and uncomplicated messaging – literally ‘cutting the fluff’ to restore trust.

Whether you agree with Siegel’s thoughts or not, for me, what made his piece all the more insightful, all the more compelling, was the use of appropriate and relevant research. Choosing to open dialogue with the client’s customer and to not simply rely on self-opinionated ego or, even worse, the dated and published insight of others.

[continue]

Corporate Identity: we’re in crisis too but we should be able to recover faster (Part 3)

However, on reflection, to come out of the current climate on top, engaging and entering in to dialogue with the end-user is but half of the conversation needed.

Captains of industry, once held in high esteem and celebrated by the press, have become bearish and fearful and, when leaders refuse to dip their toe in to the sea, is it any wonder that no-one else will follow? Open dialogue, in both directions, is certainly needed and paves the way in helping us to paint a much clearer picture.

We need our clients to really share with us what it is that is keeping them awake at night. In turn, we can then facilitate truthful dialogue between the client and the customer. Of course, like most things marketing-related, I very much doubt I am telling you anything you don’t already know, it’s just, that if agency newsletters and current thought-pieces are anything to go by, no-one appears to doing anything about it.

At first, the answer may not be that obvious, but by making an increased effort to listen and learn, ensuring the most appropriate and flexible methods are used, persuade clients and consumer to really trust and share their fears and anxieties – innovation will take form and succeed and the economy will grow. The future promises to be an exciting place for us all and already we have started to see major corporate identity activity; with AIG becoming AIU overnight and Merrill Lynch initiating a corporate identity change, following its acquisition by the Bank of America. The outcome of the latter, is eagerly anticipated and for obvious iconic reasons.

[continue]