Dr Jonathan A.J. Wilson’s August column in the Marketeers Magazine http://marketeers.com/ on: Ramadan, how marketing comms is like a game of squash or volleyball, DKNY and Uniqlo Muslim fashion, KIN Global, and ISIS.

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Jonathan (Bilal)
A.J. Wilson
Academic Programme
Director, Postgraduate
suite in Marketing
University of Greenwich,
London UK
Editor: Journal of Islamic
Marketing
Ramadan
Reflections
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I write this piece as we’re into the last ten days of
Ramadan. It’s a time for reflection, and reorientation.
Ramadan does that to you. Nineteen hour a day fasts
in London, with no food or drink during these hours,
really do make you focus on the bigger picture. You
feel connected with people around the world; and it’s
amazing how no matter how old or young you are, or
even how religious you think you are, for this month
there’s a sense of “we can all do this, and we’re one
big happy family”.
It’s also the halfway stage in the year and that al-
ways makes me think about what I’ve done, and what
else I have to pack into this year to make it a suc-
cess. I’m also writing this off the back of a lot of trips
abroad. I made it there and back to Chicago, Doha,
Dubai, Istanbul, Kuala Lumpur, and Manila.
One thing that seems to be trending lies at the in-
tersection between Branding, Public Relations, Social
Media, Reputation and Image Management. Every-
one is communicating more than ever before. A smart
phone, smart thumbs, smart mind, and smart mouth
can do a lot to make or break your marketing activi-
ties. Challenges that we face are: how much do we
actually say and share; and how important is that per-
sonal touch within all of this? These are pulling every-
one towards the age of personal branding.
The old style of Marketing and Communications
was very much about broadcasting and staying ‘on
topic’. Now it’s about sharing information and insight,
in any field, and claiming that space.
Brand building is very much now about storytell-
ing, associating and linking your identity within net-
works and communities; and then allowing people to
respond. Think of it like this: before marketers were
archers, firing arrows towards targets; or in even more
competitive markets, hunters. Now it’s more like a
game of volleyball or squash. It takes several moves,
deflections, and willing opponents if you want to win

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DKNY
Donna Karan has recently stepped down as designer
of her namesake company. DKNY, also founded by
Karan, launched a Ramadan 2014 Summer collection;
which was styled by Yada Golsharifi, fashion editor
of Styles Magazine, and Dubai fashion designer Ta-
mara Al Gabbani [shown in the photo]. This grabbed
worldwide headlines and was well received. But hang
on - the collection was only available in the Middle
East. I raised this point when I was sat next to world
champion Ibtihaj Muhammad, Member, of the U.S.
National Fencing Team, and Founder of the fashion
label Louella; when we were on a panel session at
the American Muslim Consumer Conference, held in
New Jersey last Fall. Ibtihaj commented on how her
and New Yorker friends loved the clothes, but were
frustrated by the fact that they couldn’t get hold of
them on home soil. So I asked whether her and the
audience thought that this was a case of ‘not in my
back yard’? Are companies still afraid about showing
open support for Muslims in non-Muslim countries?
Uniqlo
Well this year welcome Japanese company Uniqlo
and their July launch of the exclusive Hana Tajima
LifeWear collection in Kuala Lumpur. Hana Tajima is
a UK-born fashion designer and vlogger of Japanese
heritage, who converted to Islam. This is maybe the
first collection hosted by a mainstream brand that goes
all out to celebrate Muslim dress. Where DNKY went
as far as offering loose clothes and designs that cov-
ered arms and legs, Hana’s collection delivers all of
this and more.
Other labels produce what they market as dresses.
Here Uniqlo have been brave enough to also stick with
Muslim cultural terms such as kebaya. Even bolder
still is the move to sell hijabs. They have innovated
on the classical design of the hijab scarf, producing
unique inner hood-type items, headbands, turbans –
points, and hopefully the game, set and match. These
reactions, deflections, hits and rallies are important.
If we stick with the squash and volleyball analo-
gies, think about how much more fun and engaging
the game is when there is a rally. Sure, you sweat
more, but you learn more, grow stronger, and it draws
in the crowds. People remember those rallies and they
become the theatre where people get to show their
personalities and emotions more. Brands have to be
immersive and experience-driven. They need to ooze
charisma, cool, and grace under pressure.
So who’s doing it for me at the moment?
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all with Uniqlo’s AIRism breathable, quick-drying,
heat-releasing, and odor-minimising fabric.
Uniqlo are smart and I am a big fan. As brand guru
David Aaker has also pointed out: 2013 Uniqlo be-
came the exclusive, multi-year sponsor of the New
York Museum of Modern Art’s Friday night program,
which offers free admission in the evenings. Almost a
year later in March of 2014, Uniqlo launched SPRZ
NY (Surprise New York) in partnership with MoMA.
Under SPRZ NY, Uniqlo puts artwork inspired by top
contemporary artists such as Andy Warhol, Jean-Mi-
chel Basquiat, and Keith Haring on some 200 items
that will sell from $6 to $50. Some of the artists, in-
cluding Ryan McGinness, will personally design
clothing items based on their works hanging in the
museum. It’s “the place where art and clothing meet.”
Hana Tajima is an obvious fit, and she’s been bol-
stered by the appearance of Malaysian singer/song-
writer Yuna, singer/songwriter Elizabeth Tan, and
model Yaya. This is a big step forward. It’s definitely a
movement away from the ‘not in my back yard’ senti-
ments I expressed before and more about connecting
with communities locally and celebrating that glob-
ally. But let’s see if Uniqlo can go all out and extend
these offerings further West to the millions of eagerly
awaiting Muslims.
Also, amongst all of this you’ve gotta feel sorry for
us brothers. Sure, beards might be in fashion, and peo-
ple are rocking them with bright coloured chinos. Also
designers like Tom Ford have now launched luxury
conditioning beard oil, retailing at $50 USD – but I
think the world is still afraid of us Muslim beardies,
or using them as brand ambassadors… okay, with the
exception of ultra cool Hip-hop emcee Mos Def, also
known as Yasiin Bey.
ISIS
Because we’ve got this Islamic State (IS)/Islamic
State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS)/Islamic State of Iraq and
the Levant (ISIL) thing going on – whatever you want
to call them. For the past two years that I have attend-
ed the KIN Global Kellogg Innovation Network con-
ference in Illinois, USA; and the ‘brand’ [which we
can probably judge it as such] that has been mentioned
the most has been ISIS. Commentators have dissected
their social media strategy, their ideology and narra-
tive, and how they are affecting markets. UK Prime
01.
New York Hip-hop emcee Mos
Def / Yasiin Bey
02.
MarkPlus’s Iwan Setiawan,
me, and Professor Philip
Kotler on his 84th birthday at
KIN Global 2015
03.
Yada and Tamara modelling
the DKNY 2014 Ramadan
collection
04.
Yuna outside the Uniqlo Kuala
Lumpur store
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Hana styling Yaya with a hijab
from the Uniqlo collection
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Kebaya and Dress from the
Uniqlo Lifewear collection
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“WELOOKFORWARDTOTHETIMEWHEN
THEPOWEROFLOVEWILLREPLACETHE
LOVEOFPOWER.THENWILLOURWORLD
KNOWTHEBLESSINGSOFPEACE”
William Gladstone (1809-1898) &
Jimi Hendrix (1942-1970)
Minister David Cameron has even proposed, what is
essentially a rebranding exercise, referring to them by
the Arabic acronym, DAESH.
Think about this for one minute in marketing terms:
stakeholders outside of the organization are calling
for the rebrand of that organization, and the name
that they are suggesting is in a language which is un-
derstood locally, rather than globally. This perfectly
highlights the challenges and paradoxes of modern
marketing.
Similarly, there are debates surrounding the contin-
ued use of the US Confederate flag, in light of recent
civil unrest and murders, which CNN covered last
month with headlines dubbing them as Racial Terror-
ism, according to some commentators.
People are fighting for identities and searching to be
heard in a globalized and hyperconnect world, where
brands, nationalities and flags, through association,
are being drawn in. Race, religion and politics are no
longer no-go areas for marketers - we have to grasp
the nettle and tackle these issues. I spoke about these
issues at KIN Global last year and this year the discus-
sions continued. It’s easy to have them at a conference
full of some of the greatest, most hard-working and
innovative minds, and not to mention the most kind-
spirited people I have met in one space. However the
challenge remains how to action the themes of these
two conferences: Change at Scale, and Growth for
Good.
If that isn’t enough of a challenge, reading in Al
Jazeera News about how ISIS are using selfies as a
marketing tool; then read about how the Russian po-
lice have launched an infographic campaign urging
people to take safer selfies; after over 100 were injured
and dozens died this year in gruesome accidents while
striking high-risk poses.
With that I’ll end with a quote from William Glad-
stone (1809-1898) that was resurrected by Jimi Hen-
drix: “We look forward to the time when the Power
of Love will replace the Love of Power. Then will our
world know the blessings of peace”.
I hope you had an amazing Ramadan and a fantastic
Eid.
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