Early days for halal marketing

Source: WHS website.

There can be no one size fits all approach to halal marketing when different Muslims have different attitudes to halal, it was mooted at the fifth session of the Academics Forum, World Halal Summit (WHS 2015) held in Malaysia. 

Describing halal as a phenomenon, moderator Dr Jonathan (Bilal) AJ Wilson from the University of Greenwich said, “There is guidance from the Quran, the hadith and our forefathers. But in this age of social media and hyperinteraction, things are changing at a speed much faster than before. We have to take that leap forward. When you think of halal, it’s now more than just about meat – it’s a global phenomenon; because the concept is applied to things beyond food.” 

Liow Ren Jan, Founder and CEO for Malaysia's AYS, said that simply marketing halal products to Muslims do not guarantee sales. “I worked with the no. 1 halal brand in Malaysia, and thought it could be transposed to a neighbouring Muslim country, Indonesia,” recalled Liow. “We brought the product there and thought it would be an overnight success – it wasn’t. We missed out because even though it’s a halal product in this specific market, we didn’t apply the fundamental marketing mix.”

Liow pointed out that there are many categories of Muslims. "Do you want to appeal to the conservative Muslim or the mass Muslim? If it is the mass, then apply the basic marketing principles,” he advised.