Popeyes in fight over Halal chicken

Published On Wed Nov 02 2011

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Iman Yusuf Badat said he made a presentation to Popeyes about the importance of Halal meat.

COLIN MCCONNELL/TORONTO STAR

Laura StoneStaff Reporter

A group of Muslim restaurant franchisees is fighting fast-food chain Popeyes Louisiana Chicken in court over the right to sell hand-slaughtered Halal meat for religious reasons.

The battle in Ontario Superior Court comes after the Atlanta-based franchise moved to replace the chicken supply with machine-killed birds in 14 Toronto restaurants. The company says it’s still Halal-certified; the franchisees claim the machine method is against the beliefs of a majority of Muslims.

“If I begin selling machine-slaughtered chicken, I will immediately lose an enormous segment of my customers,” reads the sworn affidavit from Abdul Haffejee, who owns eight Popeyes in the GTA.

Haffejee, who donates Popeyes chicken to mosques and sponsored Muslim Day at Canada’s Wonderland, said between 50 and 80 per cent of his customers are Muslim.

“All of the members of the Muslim community that I have worked so hard to attract will be gone instantly. They cannot be replaced,” he said in his affidavit, claiming tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of dollars at stake.

Halal is a term used to denote if something is lawful in the Islamic faith.

There are specific requirements for killing animals: a slaughterer who is Muslim or a believer, a blessing, and certain arteries cut before the slaughter.

For over 25 years, Popeyes sold hand-slaughtered Halal meat in all of its 59 southern Ontario stores, according to court documents. This occurred without major incident until January this year, when the long-time supplier announced it would be getting out of the hand-slaughtered chicken business because it was moving on to larger birds, an industry trend.

Thus began an 11-month saga that continues today.

The real trouble, the franchisees claim, began in August when the old supplier stopped shipping the hand-slaughtered chicken to Popeyes. The group of six owners – with stores in Scarborough, east end Toronto, Markham and Vaughan – secured a hand-slaughtered supplier while the other Popeyes stores would use machines. They continue to serve the hand-slaughtered chicken to date.

But according to court documents filed by the franchisees, throughout September and October, Popeyes stopped or threatened to discontinue the hand-slaughtered supply – which they are responsible for arranging – only to reinstate it later due to complaints and legal action.

“Throughout 2011, Popeyes has shown increasing bad faith toward the franchisees. Its actions clearly demonstrate a disregard for their commercial and religious interests,” reads the franchisees’ court motion.

The Toronto lawyer representing Popeyes said he could not comment without consent from the company. In a statement, the company said it is in discussions with all franchisees in the GTA to resolve the situation and it is company policy not to comment on pending litigation. The company also said the two Canadian poultry suppliers currently used by Popeyes are Halal-certified, but didn’t specify if it is hand or machine-slaughtered.

In a court affidavit, a Popeyes representative said the problem stems from the current hand-slaughtered Halal supplier, which uses birds larger than Popeyes’ specification and also has “quality” and quantity problems.

Alice LeBlanc, chief of supply chain management, said that selling hand-slaughtered meat to only a few store owners would amount to discrimination against the other franchisees. She also argued the meaning of Halal is fluid, and Muslims may accept a certified machine-slaughter bird.

“Having multiple suppliers would undermine the advantages of bulk purchasing,” said LeBlanc.

Now, lawyers on both sides have reached a tentative agreement by court order to continue the Halal supply until a resolution can be reached. A commercial trial is tentatively scheduled for February during which the franchisees hope to compel Popeyes to continue supplying hand-slaughtered Halal chicken for their restaurants.

“Both sides have common interest in working together towards a resolution,” said Jonathan Lisus, lawyer for the franchisees. Counsel from both sides released a joint statement to the Star that said the hope is “that the matter will be resolved amicably in the near future.”

But a Toronto Imam, who has consulted with the restaurant owners and also made a presentation to Popeyes’ executives in Toronto, said the only solution is to keep Halal chicken supply as is.

“It seems that (Popeyes) is just not ready to comply or compromise,” said Imam Yusuf Badat at the Islamic Foundation of Toronto.

“I believe it’s all about the bottom line. It’s about the money.”

He explained that for many Muslims, machine-slaughtering cannot be considered Halal because it’s impossible to bless each bird at such a high speed and there are questions surrounding who turns on the machine if he or she is not a believer.

حوافز ماليزية للتمويل الإسلامي

حوافز ماليزية للتمويل الإسلامي

البرلمان الماليزي أقر موازنة تضم مزايا ودعم لقطاع التمويل الإسلامي (الجزيرة-أرشيف) محمود العدم-كوالالمبور قدمت الموازنة العامة لماليزيا -التي أقرها البرلمان أمس بعد 45 يوما من المداولات- عددا من الحوافز لصناعة التمويل الإسلامي، في سياق سعي الحكومة لجعل البلاد مركزا عالميا لهذا التمويل المستند للشريعة الإسلامية. وكان رئيس الوزراء الماليزي نجيب عبد الرزاق قال في خطاب تقديم الموازنة أمام البرلمان في 7 أكتوبر/تشرين الأول الماضي "إن صناعة التمويل الإسلامي نمت بشكل مطرد في العقد الماضي", مشيرا إلى أن بلاده لا تزال تسيطر على نحو ثلثي سوق السندات والصكوك الإسلامية في العالم. وبيّن نجيب أن أصول صناعة التمويل الإسلامي شكل نحو 22% من الأصول المالية الإجمالية الماليزية في 2011، مقابل 6.9% في العام 2000, وهو ما يسهم بنحو 11% من إجمالي التوظيف في القطاع المالي العام. وشملت الحوافز التي قدمتها الدولة للتمويل الإسلامي خصم كل الضرائب على الاستثمارات العالمية التي تعتمد الصكوك الإسلامية لثلاثة أعوام مقبلة، كما مددت الإعفاء من ضريبة الدخل على إصدار الصكوك بالعملة المحلية حتى 2014، وخصصت دعما منفصلا وعلاوات للمنتجات الجديدة في هذه الصناعة. محمد أكرم لالدين: ماليزيا تسعى لتعزيز موقعها مركزا عالميا للتمويل الإسلامي(رويترز) جلب الاستثمار ويرى محمد أكرم لالدين المدير التنفيذي للأكاديمية العالمية للبحوث الشرعية "إسرا" أن الحكومة تهدف من هذه الحوافز إلى جلب مزيد من الاستثمارات للبلاد، خاصة من البلاد العربية والإسلامية وتحديدا تركيا ودول الخليج، مشيرا إلى أن عددا من الوفود الاقتصادية الماليزية التي توجهت في الآونة الأخيرة إلى هذه الدول. وقال في حديث للجزيرة نت إنه في ظل الطلب المتزايد على منتجات التمويل الإسلامي فإن ماليزيا تسعى لتعزيز موقعها مركزا عالميا في هذا المجال، حيث رفعت حصة التمويل الإسلامي من إجمالي الأصول المالية في البلاد إلى نحو 20% في العقد الماضي. كما شجعت السلطات التعامل بالصكوك الإسلامية، وأنعشت سوقها بنحو مليار دولار تتعلق بصكوك لأجل عشرة أعوام بدلا خمسة، وذلك لفتح الباب أمام فئات أخرى من المستثمرين. وتوقع لالدين أن تشهد السنوات القادمة تدفقا متزايدا لاستثمارات التمويل الإسلامي على ماليزيا، خاصة أن مجمل التوقعات العالمية للمحللين ترجح أن تحافظ الأصول المالية الإسلامية على وتيرة نموها الحالية في مدة تتراوح بين 5 و10 سنوات مقبلة، ما لم يحدث تراجعا عالميا حادا للاقتصاد عامة. " وزارة المالية الماليزية تسعى لترسيخ ثقة المستثمرين بقطاع التمويل الإسلامي من خلال تطوير سبل الأمان وتقليل المخاطر والمحافظة على الاستقرار المؤسسي والمالي " تطوير القطاع وتسعى وزارة المالية الماليزية إلى تطوير المنتجات والخدمات المتوافقة مع الشريعة الإسلامية، وفق خطة تعزز دور مجالس الإدارة واللجان الشرعية وإدارة مؤسسات التمويل الإسلامي في الرقابة والسلطة والمسؤولية. وقالت الوزارة في تقريرها السنوي 2011/2012 الذي نشر أمس إنها ستقوم بترسيخ ثقة المستثمرين في قطاع التمويل الإسلامي من خلال تطوير سبل الأمان وتقليل المخاطر والمحافظة على الاستقرار المؤسسي والمالي، كما أقرت متطلبات تنظيمية للحفاظ على معدل العائد أو سعر الفائدة على الودائع التنافسية. وكان مجلس الخدمات المالية الإسلامية ومقره كوالالمبور قد ذكر في تقرير له الشهر الماضي أن هناك آفاقا واعدة في آسيا والشرق الأوسط وأفريقيا لقطاع التمويل الإسلامي الذي تبلغ قيمته تريليون دولار بفضل النمو السكاني والموارد الطبيعية والسياسات التي تشجع على التوسع. وحسب تقديرات المجلس فإن قطاع التمويل الإسلامي ينمو بـ15% إلى 20%سنويا, ومعظم النشاط في هذا القطاع يأتي من الأسواق التقليدية، وهي ماليزيا والشرق الأوسط.

Islamic televangelists

Islamic televangelists

Holy smoke

Islamic preachers are drawing on a Christian tradition

Oct 29th 2011 | from the print edition

SCREAMING hordes of teenage girls are a common sight at pop concerts and film premières. They are less usual when waiting to hear a religious preacher. But such girls—one gasping “I can see him, I can see him” through the folds of her niqab—awaited Moez Masoud, an Egyptian televangelist, recently in Cairo. He is part of a growing band of Islamic preachers who are true celebrities, says Yasmin Moll, a researcher at New York University, who attended Mr Masoud’s talk.

They draw on a Christian tradition pioneered in the 1950s by such preachers as Billy Graham. For the past ten years Amr Khaled, an Egyptian one-time accountant turned televangelist star, has led the way. Previously television preachers fitted the stereotype of white-haired, bearded sheikhs in white robes, monotonously exhorting the faithful, in classical Arabic, to follow the strictures of Islam more exactly.

In 2001 Mr Khaled burst onto screens with his show “Words from the Heart” and his brand of modern, moderate piety. Sharp-suited, mustachioed and speaking colloquial Egyptian, Mr Khaled and his audience (of men and women) discussed the concerns of young Muslims, such as whether Islam forbids cinema-going.

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Others have followed in his footsteps. Egyptians dominate, including Mr Masoud and Mustafa Hosny. In Indonesia Abdullah Gymnastiar, known as “Elder Brother Gym”, attracted millions of viewers to his television shows and seminars—until his decision to take a second wife in 2006 outraged his many female fans.

The new breed of televangelist has proved hugely popular with young viewers uninterested in traditional religious programming. But the Muslim religious and political establishment is uncomfortable with these new celebrities: none boasts traditional training as a cleric. In an odd alliance, secularists are also chary, worried that the brand of moderate Islam they peddle could prove to be the gateway to a more extreme version. But stuffy religious authorities are now being forced to acknowledge these stars’ pulling power. In January Ahmed al-Tayeb, the head al-Azhar, the Cairo-based font of Islamic orthodoxy, met Mr Khaled to discuss how to renew religious discourse in Islam.

The appeal of such preachers lies in large part in their very lack of official religious credentials. They present themselves as ordinary Muslims who have overcome personal struggles to discover their faith. Many say they were not religious when they were younger. Ahmad al-Shugairi, a Saudi preacher, describes a misspent youth in California, going to clubs with women and even drinking alcohol, before he returned to Saudi Arabia and Allah. Mr Masoud lost friends to a car accident, a drug overdose and cancer and he endured surgery and his own car crash before deciding to commit his life to God. The disappointment among Mr Gymnastiar’s followers at his second marriage—legal but widely frowned on in Indonesia—lay in the fact that it was at odds with his image as a devoted husband and family man, to many of his female followers at least. Sincerity and personal integrity are crucial to their appeal.

Messrs Khaled, Masoud and Hosny all got their start on Iqraa TV, a Saudi-based religious satellite channel. At one point, about 80% of Iqraa TV’s advertising was reportedly generated by Mr Khaled’s programmes. Mr Khaled has since broken away from Iqraa TV and his programmes are broadcast on a variety of networks, including secular ones such as MBC, a satellite channel based in Dubai.

Until now most of these preachers have resolutely avoided getting involved in politics. But this may be changing. Since Egypt’s revolution, Mr Khaled, for instance, has become more political. In the run up to the constitutional referendum in March he and Mr Masoud joined the “no” campaign along with secular liberals. He has yet to declare any political intentions but if he does, the power of Islamic televangelists could reach a new level.

Fighting freedom with fire

France and Islam

Fighting freedom with fire

Nov 2nd 2011 

WHEN the French satirical weekly,Charlie Hebdo, reprinted controversial Danish cartoons of the Prophet, Muhammad, five years ago, French political leaders were ambivalent. Jacques Chirac, then the president, called it a “manifest provocation”. “Anything that can wound the convictions of others should be avoided,” he declared. Today’s political reactions to a fresh controversy surrounding Charlie Hebdo and Islam have been far more robust.

The paper’s issue dated November 2nd and entitled "Charia Hebdo" (a play on the French word for sharia), is “edited” by Muhammad, who threatens in a front-page cartoon “100 lashes if you don’t die of laughter!” Inside are dozens of satirical stories and cartoons depicting Muhammad, as well as caricatures featuring women wearing the burqa, the face-covering veil. The idea was to “celebrate” the victory of Islamists at Tunisia’s recent election, and the introduction of sharia law in Libya. Late last night, the publication’s offices in the 20th arrondissement of Paris were firebombed.

This time, French politicians have been unequivocal. François Fillon, the centre-right prime minister, not only denounced the attack, but declared that “freedom of expression is an inalienable value”. Bertrand Delanoë, the Socialist mayor of Paris, deplored the “act of violence against the freedom of expression”. 

In some ways, this is a straightforward issue of the right to free speech. France outlaws holocaust-denial, but otherwise protects free speech. Controversial cases often end up in court. Since it was founded 19 years ago, Charlie Hebdo’s editor told Le Monde, his paper has been sued 13 times by various Catholic organisations, offended by the depiction of Christianity—but only once by Muslim groups, which went after Charlie Hebdo over the 2006 caricature issue and lost the case.

Yet the controversy comes at a delicate time for France’s efforts to reconcile its secular tradition with the demands of its Muslim minority of some 5m, which is Europe’s biggest. France has banned the wearing of the burqa in public. It recently cracked down on Friday prayers in the streets of Paris. A permit to build a big new mosque in Marseilles has just been refused on technical grounds. Any pretext can be used these days to spread (and amplify via social media) outrage at the mere hint of Islamophobia.

Hence, presumably, the more cautious reaction today of French Muslim leaders. Mohammed Moussaoui, leader of the French Council of the Muslim Faith, an official body, condemned the attack, and stated his “profound attachment” to freedom of expression. But he also “strongly deplored the very caricatural tone” of the newspaper towards Islam.

Many Muslims will indeed find the cartoons offensive, not least because they breach a convention in Islam that the Prophet should not be depicted. But Nicolas Sarkozy, the current French president who was then interior minister, put it well in 2006 during the previous controversy: he preferred, he said, “an excess of caricature to an excess of censorship”.

Video: Adnan Durrani, Food and Beverage Investment Specialist

Video: Adnan Durrani, Food and Beverage Investment Specialist

On October 3, 2010, in 2010 Conference, Videos, by Faisal Masood

Adnan Durrani speaks about the next Trillion dollar market with mind numbing facts. He has successfully 3 times taken a startup idea from zero to tens / hundreds of millions of dollars within a very short span. He holds a 100% track record of successfully identifying early trends in Food and Beverage industry to benefit from it.

Adnan Durrani founded Vermont Pure in 1991. Today, Vermont Pure/Crystal Rock is the 2nd largest bottled water company in the Northeast U.S. As a principal investor and financial partner inStonyfield Farms, Inc, he helped build it from $25 million in sales in 1994 to over $70 million and led its sale to Groupe Danone in 2001. Stonyfield today generates over $300 million in sales annually. Adnan Durrani was also a principal of Delicious Brands, Inc, which he scaled, with the financial backing of Carl Icahn, to become the 5th largest cookie brand in the U.S.

What does he think of the halal food market in the US? Play the video below to hear his views on the largely untapped Muslim Market as he quotes facts from Europe and America based on the extensive research undertaken by his invest firm. Adnan Durrani, is a very well known figure in the venture capitalist / investment circles in the Northeast and regularly attends meetings to evaluate investment ideas at Harvard, MIT and other renowned institutions within the US.

Adnan Durrani is leading the panel who will evaluate Entrepreneur Presentation at the American Muslim Consumer Conference this year (Oct 30, 2010 in Hyatt Regency – New Brunswick, NJ) and will provide brutal and open feedback to the Entrepreneurs looking for infusion of large capital into their business.

If you haven’t bought ticket, now is the time to take advantage of meeting Adnan Durrani and many such executives who will be attending the American Muslim Consumer Conference. Hurry, before the tickets are sold out.

Adnan Durrani currently is the Chief Halal Officer at the American Halal Co., Inc. who have launched the Saffron Road brand of halal cuisine at national supermarkets and food stores, such as Whole Foods.

http://www.wpp.com/wpp/marketing/branding/islamic-branding.htm

A market of 1.6 billion people that has scarcely been tapped, Muslim
consumers offer enormous potential to Western marketers - but only if
their values are fully understood, says Miles Young

Islamic branding:
the next big thing?

THERE is a sense of the arrival of a new "big thing" in the world of marketing - and it is coloured green; not the familiar grass green of the environment, but the deeper green of Islam. 

For the first time, it is a topic which is receiving serious public attention; and the future of Islamic branding was in the spotlight at the last World Islamic Economic Forum in Kuala Lumpur. 

Meanwhile, in the West, recent research (by JWT) amongst Muslim consumers has highlighted their importance as an attractive market segment. Already in the US, they are being described as the "new Hispanics". While recognition of this new "target" for primarily Western marketers is timely, simply leaving it there is probably not enough. There is a bigger angle; what is the role of Islam in the growing multi-literalism of the global economy itself? 

The pure arithmetic, of course, is persuasive at one level, and all the more so outside of the UK and the US. There are 1.6 billion Muslims worldwide, rising fast. Of these, only 20 per cent belong to the Arab world, the majority being located in south and east Asia. The rub, however, is that the Islamic world still only accounts for 5 per cent of the world's GDP. The issues of the Islamic world tend, therefore, to be those of the developing world. Brands which compete in the global market place are the necessary weapons for avoiding long term economic marginalization. It is as simple as that. 

Strong values
This looming one quarter of the world's population shares in Islam a set of values which are immensely strong - and woefully misunderstood in the West. Islam equates identity; and defines behaviour in a way which makes how you do things as important as the things you do. The "ummah" is premised on a view of what is lawful (halal) and unlawful (haram), so the gap between belief and behaviour is remarkably narrow. 

"A strong sense of community and welfare underpins all activity, informing business ethics"

A strong sense of community and welfare underpins all activity, informing business ethics. Islam has little space for imagery and heavy reliance on verbal communication. In varying degrees, Sharia compliance recognizes these requirements, and to some degree, perhaps unsurprisingly, "Sharia compliant" has become a synonym for "Islamic brand." 

But Islamic branding is actually more complex than this, and exists at three levels. At the most exclusive level, overtly Islamic brands place their appeal strictly on Sharia principles. These are especially concentrated in the finance and food sectors. Beyond that, there are brands created by Islamic-rooted organizations informed by Islamic belief but which are pluralist in their appeal (airlines or telcos would be an example). And, further still, there are brands which emanate from Islamic countries but which are not specifically religious in character; many Turkish brands fall into this category. Confusingly, the distinction is not often made: but what all three should have is a common purpose, which is to re-balance the importerexporter relationships between the Islamic and non-Islamic world. 

Beyond Sharia compliance
To do so effectively means harnessing the language and concepts of branding in each of these categories. So it is just becoming clear, for instance, that Sharia compliance in itself is not differentiating. Brand choice requires emotional cues as well. And, at every level, the competition is against "foreign" brands - which means beating their emotional preference: because compliance, ultimately, is a generic benefit. 

My feeling after the Kuala Lumpur discussions is that Islamic branding is at something of a cross-roads: if it recognizes that there is a difference to be bridged between Islamic products and Islamic brands, then it should be the "next big thing"; and something which helps, incidentally, bridge the cultural and economic chasm which separates the "globalized" and the Islamic worlds. 

Targeting non-Muslims
In doing so, Islamic branding can still be unique, and can offer the world a different angle on value maximization. 

The concept of halal in foods, for instance, seems to capture a craving for purity which goes well beyond a religious franchise. Up to 60 per cent of the consumer base for Islamic financial products in Malaysia can be non-Muslim. The Islamic importance of community welfare gives new life to the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility and relates it much more tightly to the brand in the West. 

And the opportunity to create a new Islamic design ethic which could be analogous to a design tradition which values intrinsic worth - such as Scandinavian design - also presents itself. 

In the West, "Islamic" is so readily and so unfairly equated with the obscurantist. Anyone who touches an advertising business in those countries where moderate Islam is the prevailing voice will know that they are highly creative, highly charged workplaces, certainly more than capable of ultimately redressing the one way flow of global ideas. 

Islamic Branding – Brands, Islam and the New Muslim Consumer

13.07.2010

Built on a bank of rigorous bespoke research conducted in key Muslim markets by TNS

Built on a bank of rigorous bespoke research conducted in key Muslim markets by TNS, this study offers detailed branding recommendations on how to forge stronger bonds with the new generation of Muslim consumers, through every aspect of branding, from business practice and philosophy to visual identity and customer service.

The ‘Brands, Islam and the New Muslim Consumers’ Report serves as the launch pad for Ogilvy Noor, a multidisciplinary global Islamic Branding practice that aims to help brands better engage with Muslim consumers worldwide. The Muslim market is viewed as a critically important playground for marketers, with the halal segment alone worth $2.1 trillion, and growing by $500 billion annually.

Research conducted in four key Muslim markets – Malaysia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, has identified the New Muslim Consumer as a critically important development for brands hoping to build successful relationships with the Islamic world. In doing so, the report debunks many of the stereotypes that surround Muslim consumer attitudes towards brands and their marketing communications. For example, halal stickers, while important to showcase certification, are no longer sufficient to persuade the New Muslim Consumer of a brand’s belief in Islamic values.

The research revealed that core Shariah values resonate with all Muslims - values such as honesty, accountability, community, peacefulness, respect and humility. We argue that any brand based on these values builds a strong ethical foundation for the future.

This report is based on up-to-the-minute facts and figures, with most of the research having been conducted in early 2010. With most businesses looking to regenerate themselves and their practices after the global economic crisis, there can be no timelier moment to look at the world of tomorrow’s consumers through this fresh lens.

The report is on sale for $9,450/-, plus shipping and handling. It can be purchased through the Ogilvy Noor website - www.ogilvynoor.com

Why Islamic Branding?

The Muslim consumer market, at 1.8bn people, is undeniably the next important (and largely untapped) global opportunity. The halal market alone is worth a staggering US$2.1 trillion a year and is growing at US$500bn a year due to the growth of the global Muslim population.

As China and India have captured the attention of the world's marketers in recent years, a quiet but enormous business potential lies largely untapped in the global Muslim consumer market today, justifying a shift in focus to what Vali Nasr in Forces of Fortune calls the '3rd one billion'. In recent years global marketers have started to enthuse over the size of this prize and ruminate on the importance of cracking it - but we believe the challenge is in managing it knowledgeably, sensitively, and profitably for the long term.

‘Islamic Branding’ is a relatively new concept, and at the birth of this new field of learning, Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide announced the launch of Ogilvy Noor, a pioneering consulting service for marketers seeking to appeal to Muslim consumers.

This Report has enabled Ogilvy Noor to formulate an effective definition for Islamic branding: ‘Branding that is empathetic to Shariah values in order to appeal to the Muslim consumer, ranging from basic Shariah-friendliness to full Shariah-compliance in all aspects of the brand’s identity, behaviour and communications.’

Brand, Islam and the New Muslim Consumer’ report provides invaluable insight into Shariah values, from the perspective of consumers and marketers, clearly explaining how businesses should navigate this area. Significantly, it finds that Shariah practices are closely aligned with the existing universal ideals of good business practice.

The study analyses the factors that drive beneficial relationships with Muslim consumers, distilling the findings into an eight-step toolkit for branding success and an invaluable list of do’s and don’ts.

1. A brand’s role in the community: including all aspects of a company’s corporate citizenship
2. Product: including both the range of offering, ingredients and manufacturing processes
3. The brand story and its PR strategy: focusing on the tactics brands can employ when talking about themselves, to better appeal to the New Muslin Consumer
4. Corporate business practice: every aspect of how the business is run internally
5. Visual Identity: the specific needs of the Muslim consumer when it comes to visual information and appeal
6. Brand communication: a success guide built on decades of Ogilvy experience in Muslim markets
7. External endorsement: who to partner with and who to avoid
8. Customer service and delivery: why getting this right is so important and how to do so.

Noor Brand Index

The groundbreaking Noor Brand Index benchmarks the appeal of specific brands to Muslim consumers, by ranking consumer perceptions of their Shariah-compliance. Chief among its findings are that global brands can forge highly successful relationships with Muslim consumers if they approach the task in a sensitive, honest fashion that is consistent with the core values of Islamic Branding.

The first Noor Global Brand Index throws up some fascinating questions. Why do Nestle, Lipton and Kraft all appear among the top five ranked brands? And why is Emirates, the flagship airline and pride and joy of the United Arab Emirates, in the bottom ten? Answers are to be found in sensitive analysis that starts from an understanding that Islamic Branding is not like any other kind of branding. The report reveals that branding success is less about provenance, and is instead based on whether brands can fundamentally empathize with the needs of the new Muslim consumer through tailored offerings and communications.

The Noor Category Index provides a similar analysis of category appeal to Muslim consumers, including such important areas as food and finance.

About the Research

Given the intricacies and varied interpretations of Islamic branding, we took a holistic approach to ensure we explored all possible angles. We started with extensive desk research to explore existing knowledge, hypothesis and interpretations on Islamic branding. Using these broad hypothesis and themes, we designed the primary research program which included qualitative and quantitative modules.

The qualitative module included 24 focus groups, 24 consumer safaris and 14 expert interviews across four key markets - Malaysia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.

The quantitative module focused on validating some of the qualitative hypothesis while identifying additional elements crucial for the success of Islamic branding. The quantitative sample size comprised 2,644 face to face interviews, conducted in key centers across the four markets listed above. Within this module, we were able to explore a total of 62 categories – consumption as well as service categories – to understand the different nuances and levels of importance in terms of Sharia compliance. We further tested a comprehensive list of local and international brands across those markets and measured their degree of Sharia compliance. This was used to develop Noor Brand Index and Noor Category Index.

The sample included Muslim consumers from different life stages, ranging from young individuals at 18 years to older families at 65 years, across different socio-economic backgrounds.