Islamic branding and marketing: creating a global Islamic business.

Abstract

Very little has been written to date about how Islamic branding and marketing, or “marketing to Muslims,” differs from or is similar to traditional branding and marketing, which is based on Western corporate development. The lack of literature on the topic is surprising, given the extent of the world’s Muslim population and the prominence of Islam. This gap in our knowledge gave rise to The Oxford Research and Education Project on Islamic Branding and Marketing, which is being conducted at Oxford University’s Saïd Business School and which I am directing. A brief description of this project is given in Appendix 1. Much of the fi ndings of this research work have been incorporated into this text. A second reason for writing this book is that many of my clients, as well as professional people whom I have met in Islamic countries, have commented to me on the need for a body of thought on this subject area. The extent of this interest, and the impact of the extremely rapid development of Islamic countries on the aspirations of Muslims in a branded world, leave me in no doubt that the next wave of global branding will come from Islamic economies and companies. A third reason is that global brands from Western countries are becoming very interested in Muslim markets. Some have already started to build their brands across the Islamic world and are seeking to achieve a complete global presence by entering the last remaining and biggest signifi cant segment of the world’s population.