News From : DagangHalal.com (06 Jan 2010)
KUALA LUMPUR – Ample business and market opportunities await Islamic companies in Muslim and non-Muslim countries if they can execute effective branding strategy, according to a branding expert from Oxford University.
Dr Paul Temporal, associate fellow at the British university’s business school, said the Islamic values like honesty and cleanliness could provide strong fundamentals for companies to build their brands not only for Muslim but also non-Muslim markets.
“Local companies should be supported by the government in terms of encouragement and financial assistance,” he told reporters at the Business Jihad Lecturer Series on “Global Islamic Branding and Marketing” here Tuesday.
“The company must also be more innovative and really have to understand the market that they are going into,” he said.
Temporal said with the world’s Muslim population at 1.58 billion, including about 35 million Muslims in Europe, there was a big opportunity for businesses to provide them with the products needed.
However, he said companies should be careful in developing their marketing and brands as well as the right strategies, values and people to gain accessibility to markets which the Western businesses have already occupied.
“As Muslims become more prosperous, they want a certain lifestyle and products to suit their beliefs and values,” he said, adding that Muslim population is young and growing fast.
According to Temporal, Malaysia has done a good job by encouraging home branding among local companies like Petronas and Johor Corporation (JCorp).
“Most Malaysian companies are moving ahead like JCorp, which is really putting Islamic values into practice and creating very strong business brands,” he said.
Temporal is a leading global expert on brand creation, development and management with 25 years of experience in consulting and training.
At Oxford University, he is currently responsible for directing a research and education development project on Islamic branding and marketing.