Global Islamic Economy Focus session summary

Session 2: Understanding the Muslim Consumer

More than ninety percent of Muslims that Ogilvy Noor, an Islamic branding agency,

surveyed say their faith influences their consumption. Read it again, MORE THAN 90

%. A market stretching from the far western areas in Africa to the eastern tip of the

Indonesian archipelago contains a huge number of consumers, cultures, languages and

religions and a large proportion of the people living in the this region have one thing in

common that can unite them all: Islam.

There are known knowns: the Muslim population is young with 43 percent under the age

of 25 years old (who make up 11 percent of the world‟s population). And then there are

known unknowns: what global brands will step forward to answer the question “will you

engage with us?” with a resounding “YES!”. The returns for the brands that are „early

adopters‟ will be high as their engagement today will create consumers today, but also

yield dividends far into the future as well.

These were some of the points that came out of a discussion on “Understanding the

Muslim Consumer” with Shelina Janmohamed of Ogilvy Noor. It was the second of four

focus sessions on the Islamic Economy organized by the Thomson Reuters Islamic

Finance Gateway community in anticipation of the Global Islamic Economy Summit, to

be held in Dubai, UAE from November 25-26, 2013.

Global companies, particularly those in the West are used to dealing with more mature,

slower growing markets and target the emerging markets as a source of future growth,

and will have to move beyond the BRICs and into the Next 11, a group of important

markets following the growth trajectory of the BRICs. 6 of these 11 countries have

Muslim majorities and, with their different cultures and languages—they stretch from

Bangladesh to Egypt, Indonesia to Nigeria—the one unifying aspect that brands can

incorporate into their message is by catering to the Muslim consumers in these

countries.

But, to do so, companies will have to show that they take the Muslim consumer market

seriously and are not just doing it for show or with half-measures. Muslim consumers

can be the best messengers for brands that respect them, but beware the brand

damage that can come from misrepresenting a commitment to this market. Muslim

consumers—particularly the young consumers who brands seek the most—want to

represent their values in their consumption and expect honesty, purity and humility from

the brands they select.

To register for the Global Islamic Economy summit http://globalislamiceconomy.com/

Upcoming Global Islamic Economy Sessions:

Session 3: Is it time to stop calling it Islamic Finance? Speaker: Moinuddin Malim, CEO, Mashreq Al Islami Date: Wednesday, 23rd October 2013 Session 4: Halal as an Asset Class? Speaker: Rushdi Siddiqui, Founder & CEO, Azka Capital Date: Wednesday, 6th November 2013 The timings of the sessions are going to be announced. To know more about the session’s discussion outline and the speaker background, click on the session title above.

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