Expert Opinion on marketing to Muslims published in Campaign Asia's article on the Halal Beauty sector.

1. insight6
campaignasia.com20 campaign December/january 2015
nesia. “Their line is made
from all natural and halal in-
gredients, designed specifi-
cally for Asian Muslim wom-
en’s skins,” explains Qoolio
Chigurh, strategic planner at
JWT Jakarta. “However, in re-
cent years, they’re moving to-
wards expanding to the
broader public as more and
more non-Muslim Indonesian
women have chosen Wardah
as they consider it to be a ‘saf-
er’ choice for their skin.”
Brands are unequivocally
paying more attention to their
relationshipwithMuslimcon-
sumers. This is certainly true
of the cosmetic and personal
care industry with huge de-
mand for halal cosmetics and
personal care products from
Malaysia,followedbyIndone-
sia and Pakistan.
While the halal label is al-
ready well-established in the
food sector, it gained popular-
ity in cosmetics when the Ma-
laysian government intro-
duced a halal cosmetics
standard in June 2010.
Striking a balance between
faith and beauty can be tricky
for Muslim women, though.
Many fear that mainstream
cosmetic products might con-
tainalcoholorby-productsde-
rived from animals forbidden
by Islam. Shelina Janmoham-
ed,VPatOgilvyNoor,saysthe
growthisalsobeingdrivenby
concernthatproductsMuslim
women put on their bodies af-
fect who they are.
The brands making a mark
in this sector, Janmohamed
says, tend to be smaller com-
panies set up by entrepre-
neurs who thought, “There is
no product that suits my need
to be halal so I’m going to set
one up for myself.”
One such brand is Wardah,
particularly popular in Indo-
cally for hijab-wearing young
Malaysian women. Cultural
sensitivities meant the brand
couldn’t show the women
washing their hair or flaunt-
ing hairstyles. So the cam-
paign depicted the hijab as a
fashion statement, while still
respecting Muslim values.
Not a strand of hair appeared
while women were shown en-
joyinganactivelifestyle.After
a decline of 5 per cent in 2012,
Sunsilk grew by 9 per cent in
2013 and brand scores
amongstMalayhijab-wearing
women grew by double digits.
In a similar vein, Henkel
launched its Gliss Restore &
Refresh line last year in the
MiddleEast,whichitclaimsis
“the first haircare specifically
for veiled hair”. Colgate-Pal-
molive, meanwhile, has intro-
duced a halal toothpaste.
“As the demand increases,
brands need to cater not just
the basic needs for halal cos-
metics in general but also for
different age groups and life-
styles,” adds Chigurh.
This view is backed by John
Goodman,regionaldirectorat
Geometry Global. “[Futurist
Muslims] are very at home
with the modern world, but
are still strong believers and
loyal to their faith. Brands
should take care to neither of-
fend nor patronise them.”
Long ignored or misunderstood by the mainstream, Muslim women’s beauty needs are being
championed by a new wave of niche brands, to commercial success, writes Matthew Carlton
Beautybrandseyeinghalalcosmetics
sector study Muslim consumers
Hair today… Sunsilk’s Clean & Fresh was specifically aimed at Malaysian Muslim women
In terms of marketing,
these brands tend to take a
two-prongedapproach.“They
are clear that the ingredients
are halal-friendly and the sec-
ond reflects the lifestyle of the
audience that they are speak-
ing to,” says Janmohamed.
Research has shown, she
says, that marketing by West-
ern brands fails to appeal to
Muslim women because it
shows“anostentatioustypeof
beauty” which doesn’t speak
to who Muslims are or what
they look for.
Some Western advertisers
arebuckingthistrendthough.
Sunsilk’s Clean & Fresh vari-
ant was formulated specifi-
expertopinionMarketingtoMuslimscallsforculturalunderstanding,notsweepinggeneralisations
The global
Muslim
population is
often cited as a
‘global
community’.
But in fact it is not a
homogeneous market
segment that can be
qualified by one primary
differentiator — age,
language or skin colour — or
through attitudes and
behaviour.
Unlike other cultural
consumer segments, the
global Muslim consumer
segment is made up of a
myriad of socio-cultural sub-
sets that have been
influenced by emigration
and adaptation to different
social and environmental
norms depending on their
current place of residence.
This has resulted in today’s
diverse mix of Muslim
consumers who each have a
strong, unique value system
and identity that is yet
based on and governed by
the values of Islam.
Brands targeting the
global Muslim community
need to adopt more
strategic customer-centric
approaches to meet the
pace of change. Enhancing
personal relationships is
very important in attracting
and retaining customer
loyalty. To do that, brands
have to listen and listen well
to each Muslim consumer’s
individual cultural
statements and create
experiences around that in
order to resonate and
engage with them.
The way to establish a
strong brand in this
community is through
understanding the
consumer’s sociocultural
background and their
physical environment, and
commonalities of values
must also be clearly
communicated and
perceived.
Joy Abdullah is the head of
marketing and communication
at INCEIF, the Global University
of Islamic Finance
Market 2013 2014 2015
Australia & NZ 1.34 1.36 1.37
China 17.3 19.98 18.74
Thailand 20.4 21.61 23.01
India 77.89 84.62 92.23
Pakistan 119.7 130.52 142.85
Indonesia 255 283 315.74
Malaysia 306.68 340.41 379.56
Total 798.31 881.5 973.5
Source: Technavio
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Page 22
Halal beauty market (US$ million)