The global Islamic finance industry can take a leaf out of consumer marketing and utilize that knowledge to develop business strategies that are people centric in order to achieve organic growth.

1. Islamic Banker ASIA
Islamic Banker ASIA
Islamic Banker ASIA
Islamic Banker ASIA
Islamic Banker ASIA Islamic Banker Islamic Banker ASIA
Islamic Banker ASIA
Islamic Banker ASIA
Islamic Banker CHANGING PERSPECTIVE I CAN ISLAMIC FINANCE BE HUMAN?
64 / Islamic Banker ASIA / ISSUE 09 2014 What does consumer marketing
and Islamic Finance have in
common? Well, for starters, the global
Islamic finance industry can take a leaf (or rather
the entire book!) out of consumer marketing
and utilise that knowledge to develop business
strategies that are people centric in order to
achieve organic growth.
Business is for the people, by the people
It’s amazing how little we actually focus on the
BY JOY ABDULLAH
Can
Islamic Finance
Be Human?
‘people’ aspect in business in spite of the fact
that its people who make everything happen. An
organisation exists because of its staff, partners,
customers and other stakeholders i.e. people.
The value proposition of any organisation and
of any industry, is totally dependent on the
people involved. Yet organisations do not put
enough emphasis on understanding the people
involved in their business eco-system. Business
strategy development still appears to be using
the classical approach having a ‘USP’—unique
Islamic Banker ASIA
Islamic Banker ASIA
Islamic Banker ASIA
Islamic Banker ASIA
Islamic Banker ASIA ASIA
Islamic Banker ASIA
Islamic banking within Islamic finance has a
tremendous opportunity both within the global
Muslim community and the non-Muslim
community.
Capitalising on this opportunity depends on how
well an organisation is able to develop ‘trust’ with its
consumers. Given the impact of behavioural changes
amongst people and an increasing need for authentic
and transparent engagement, the Islamic banking
fraternity need to take on board how social media can
truly be a strategic edge in pursuit of growth.

2. PHOTO COURTESY OF AL-BARAKAH
ISSUE 09 2014 / Islamic Banker ASIA / 65
product centric projections. It’s not just a case of
a having a great product at a better price made
available easily! There’s more to it. The Asian
market-space has two distinct market segments
with one foundation. Whilst global growth is
occurring in Asia, there exists a hyper-growth
opportunity segment titled the 3rd Billion, or the
global Muslim community. If we look through
a numbers filter it’s an awesome market size;
62% of the world’s Muslim population
is in Asia
Muslims as a Share of World
Population, 1990-2030
selling proposition—from a 4P’s (product,
place, promotion, price) perspective. Not that
this is wrong. But given the massive behavioural
changes that has occurred in the last decade, not
acknowledging the impact of those changes, in
business strategy is akin to ignoring reality.
Business-as-usual in Asia?
Asian population numbers often throw off
enough to make any CEO salivate!
But proceed with caution!
Asian Muslims come from the same socio-cultural
fabric like their other Asian fellow citizens. Faith
is one part of their identity. Culture is the other.
Culture forms their behaviour. But here two key
differences come about:
1. As a group they are very young with people
under 30 making up 58% of the population .
2. Their value system is from their culture which
coupled with social media and spirituality, makes
them seek rich, interconnected experiences.
Quoting Dr. Jonathan A J Wilson—Senior
Lecturer & Course Leader, University of
Greenwich and Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of
Islamic Marketing,: “The global consumer artisan
as a second supplementary career who seeks rich
interconnected experiences and views the world
through multi-screens”.
Islamic Banker ASIA
Islamic Banker ASIA
Islamic Banker ASIA
Islamic Banker ASIA
Islamic Banker ASIA ASIA
Islamic Banker ASIA
Islamic Banker ASIA
Islamic Banker ASIA
Islamic Banker ASIA
Islamic Banker ASIA
Islamic Banker ASIA Islamic Banker Islamic Banker ASIA
Islamic Banker ASIA
Islamic Banker ASIA
Islamic Banker

3. Islamic Banker ASIA
Islamic Banker ASIA
Islamic Banker ASIA
Islamic Banker ASIA
Islamic Banker ASIA ASIA
Islamic Banker ASIA
Islamic Banker ASIA
Islamic Banker ASIA
Islamic Banker ASIA
Islamic Banker ASIA
Islamic Banker ASIA Islamic Banker Islamic Banker ASIA
Islamic Banker ASIA
Islamic Banker ASIA
Islamic Banker CHANGING PERSPECTIVE I CAN ISLAMIC FINANCE BE HUMAN?
66/ Islamic Banker ASIA / ISSUE 09 2014 This Impacts Business
Businesses spend millions on research,
intelligence, technical competencies, and product
& process innovations, all for growth.
Who does all of this? People!
But what’s needed is to ensure effective
integration of both soft & hard skills that result
in internal and external efficiency of a business.
In doing business in Asia and specifically
with the Muslim community this comes into
acute focus. Ensuring this integration from a
people-perspective becomes a must. Islamic
financial institutions need a key shift to take
place in their business thinking to place their
most valuable asset people at the top of their
priorities. Organisations who do this, can
guarantee a domino-effect on their processes.
For any business today, and Islamic finance is
no exception, having a competitive advantage
is critical. But this competitive advantage is no
longer one that emanates out of the product or
the service process!
Being human, behaving and using
social media
Post the global financial crisis and the resultant
recession marketers, across the globe, are
unanimous in acknowledging that consumers
have had significant behaviourial changes. These
changes have impacted on the way they engage,
interact and participate in the brand experience.
A key factor for this behaviourial change is
the rise of social media and interest-based
community networks.This change has blurred
the geographical borders of communication
and has impacted heavily on business strategies.
Brands, across industry categories, are moving
into having well defined brand experiences in
order to differentiate their offer. Islamic finance
cannot opt to be impervious to this behaviourial
change if it aims to be a significant part of
mainstream finance industry!
Where do social media play in all this?
The POWER to DEFINE and CONTROL
a brand has shifted from corporations and
institutions to INDIVIDUALS who forms virtual
COMMUNITIES. Today social media has
brought this global community together through
common interest groups and sharing brand
experiences in a click!
So how can Social Media benefit Islamic
Finance?
Maximising customer affiliations. Taking a
look at the APAC data from the same report
we find that APAC countries are the one’s still
having trust in the financial services & banking
industries. What this means is that there is a basic
Here’s a snapshot of current, global,
‘active users by social network’
globally
Source: data & visual courtesy - www.wearesocial.net)
The value proposition
of any organisation
and of any industry, is
totally dependent on
the people involved. Yet
organisations do not
put enough emphasis
on understanding the
people involved in their
business eco-system.

4. PHOTO COURTESY OF AL-BARAKAH
Islamic Banker ASIA
Islamic Banker ASIA
Islamic Banker ASIA
Islamic Banker ASIA
Islamic Banker ASIA ASIA
Islamic Banker ASIA
Islamic Banker ASIA
Islamic Banker ASIA
Islamic Banker ASIA
Islamic Banker ASIA
Islamic Banker ASIA Islamic Banker Islamic Banker ASIA
Islamic Banker ASIA
Islamic Banker ASIA
Islamic Banker ISSUE 09 2014 / Islamic Banker ASIA / 67
foundation of trust on which the Islamic financial
services and Islamic banking industry can build
strong relationships if the brands are authentic,
transparent and value benefit oriented in their
relationship development. Social media becomes
a key tool in this relationship development. To
obtain measurable benefits here’s some key do’s
and don’t’s:
1. Social media is a conversation online with your
stakeholders. The key behaviourial change that is
noticeable through social media are:
A. Everyone has a opinion
B. Everyone is in a community connected through
a mutual interest
Utilising social media to get a conversation going
is not just a simple case of a brand opening a
social media account and simply putting up any
messages that it wants.
Keep these basics in mind:
1. The social media conversation is not:
l controlled
l organized
l “on message”
The conversation is:
l organic
l complex
l speaks in a human voice
Social media is not a strategy or a tactic - it’s
simply a channel.
2. Go All-In It may only take five minutes to
create a Facebook page or Twitter account, but
merely entering or dabbling here and there in the
social media space a few minutes a week won’t
produce results. If you’re looking to get anything
of social media, you should first consider the
amount of time and effort that it requires to be
effective with social media marketing.
3. Get That Strategy Ironed out Social media
marketing is slick and trendy. While it can be
a great tool for banks, that doesn’t’ mean you
should jump on the bandwagon without a clear
purpose. In the early days, you could get away
with strategy statements about “engagement,”
“listening” or “testing the waters.” Not anymore.
You have to go deeper. Much deeper. Why are
you really in the social media space? What do you
hope to get out of it?
4. Build your community through personal
interactions Social media is all about
connecting with people, so it’s the perfect tool
to show your customers that you’re human.
Build trust and add a personal touch to banking
by interacting with readers, offering advice
and asking questions (not necessarily related to
banking). By initiating friendly conversations on
your social media platforms, you can establish
a virtual community and better connect with
consumers.Don’t just make statements!
5. Resolve customer issues publicly Don’t
fear customer complaints in social media. Instead,
embrace it using social media as a customer
service tool and let your customers know that
you’re there to help them online. If a customer
posts about a problem they’re experiencing with
your products or services, reply to them and help
them work through the issue. By engaging with
customers online, you can ensure that customer
grievances are addressed promptly, and by doing
so, convey your commitment to high-quality
customer service. Have a clear process with
authorisation, potential issues and messages
worked out and an escalation process in the case
of a crisis.
6. Monitor and Measure Monitoring and
measuring your social media success is key to
calculating the impact of your social media
presence. To decide how many resources you
should commit to social media, you need to have
a gauge on your return on investment (although
calculating ROI in social media is notoriously
difficult). For starters, you can turn to any
number of online analytic tools, which will give
you a sense of how your social media profiles are
performing.
Social Media is PRACTICAL!
For an Islamic bank or financial service institution

5. Islamic Banker ASIA
Islamic Banker ASIA
Islamic Banker ASIA
Islamic Banker ASIA
Islamic Banker ASIA ASIA
Islamic Banker ASIA
Islamic Banker ASIA
Islamic Banker ASIA
Islamic Banker ASIA
Islamic Banker ASIA
Islamic Banker ASIA Islamic Banker Islamic Banker ASIA
Islamic Banker ASIA
Islamic Banker ASIA
Islamic Banker CHANGING PERSPECTIVE I CAN ISLAMIC FINANCE BE HUMAN?
68 / Islamic Banker ASIA / ISSUE 09 2014
to benefit effectively from social media usage it is
critical that you ensure the business strategy has a
clearly articulated value proposition that answers
the ‘what’s-in-it-for-me’ question. Be it corporate
or retail, at the end of the day its people who are
involved on behalf of the brand and from the
market.
l Learn what people are saying about you
l Create buzz for events / campaigns
l Increase Brand Exposure
l Identify and recruit influencers to spread
your message
l Find new opportunities and customers
l Support your products and services
l Improve Search Engine Visibility
l Gain competitive intelligence
l Get messages out fast
l Retain clients by establishing a PERSONAL
RELATIONSHIP
l Be an Industry leader not a Follower
Strategically planned social media activity would
enable the industry to communicate with the
consumers in their own language and interest
areas thus drawing them to view the information
and start to have a better understanding of what
Islamic finance is all about. Such consumer
fulfilment would lead to high engagement with
the brand as the brand would be perceived as
a point of expert reference. In turn this would
result in demand generation for specific products
and services that the market accepts. Bottom-line
for a brand having a ready market demand
means having a sustainable &profitable business
operation. IBA
About the author:
JOY ABDULLAH is the head of
marketing and communication at
INCEIF-The Global University of
Islamic Finance. A cross-functional
organisational specialist, Joy
advises organisations in making
their brands’ sustainable through engagement,
value-benefit and developing a thriving eco-system.
He can be reached at ‘joyabdullah@gmail.com’.
Opinions expressed in this article are strictly the
authors’ own views and have no connection with any
organisation.
Taking a look at the APAC data from the same report we find that APAC countries
are the one’s still having trust in the financial services & banking industries.
APAC includes: China, Indonesia, Malaysia, India, Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea, Japan and Australia. EMEA
includes the Netherlands, UK, Poland, France, Sweden, Germany, Italy, Spain, Ireland, Russia and the UAE. Emerging
includes Brazil, Mexico, Russia,India and China. Developed includes US, UK, France, Germany and Japan.
Global U.S. EMEA APAC Emerging Developed
Banks 50% 42% 33% 69% 68% 37%
Credit Cards/ Payments 49% 38% 39% 60% 61% 43%
Insurance 45% 45% 34% 57% 58% 38%
Financial Advisory/ Asset 43% 44% 30% 55% 58% 32%
Management
Strategically planned
social media activity
would enable the
industry to communicate
with the consumers
in their own language
and interest areas thus
drawing them to view
the information and
start to have a better
understanding of what
Islamic finance is all
about.