Outside of Christmas, we so rarely see mainstream brands celebrate religious occasions. As a Muslim, I don’t celebrate Christmas, but it’s hard to ignore the festive season. Christmas is everywhere - holly garlands in shop windows, jumpers with sequins and baubles on them - and it does feel magical. So, when I first started noticing brands introducing Eid and Ramadan campaigns too, it was exciting and refreshing. To be honest, I was ecstatic. More than just feeling seen, or represented, it brought alive the occasion. It felt like there was an opening up of the joys of Ramadan and Eid to the world.
Slowly, more and more brands began implementing strategies for Ramadan and Eid. What I hadn't quite anticipated was how wrong some brands could get it. From modest collections featuring non-Hijabi in wearing head coverings, using South Asian traditional clothing to represent all Muslims, advent calendars counting down the days to Eid rather than savouring the importance of Ramadan, through to a campaign depicting a Muslim woman swearing to show she was cool and fun, even though, during Ramadan, we don't just fast from food and drink, but from unkind acts and 'evil' speech too.
My joy at finally seeing inclusivity, was quickly undermined by misrepresentation, obvious ignorance and the grouping together of Muslims as a monolithic group, excluding the different Muslim identities.
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For people like me, the target audience, the campaigns come across as hollow. Yes, we were finally noticing some version of a Muslim woman in mainstream fashion and beauty campaigns, but I didn't see myself or any of the particularities of my Muslim community reflected back at me. When brands misrepresent a whole community or reduce a group to one particular stereotype, it’s damaging.
In the U.K. alone, Muslims comprise a consumer group with £20bn in spending power, as estimated by the Muslim Council of Britain. However, relatively few brands have developed specific strategies for attracting this market. For the estimated 1.8 billion Muslims in the world, and for the Muslims witnessing Ramadan and Eid marketing done badly, it has now become a source of intense frustration.
The biggest challenge arises from insensitivity around the nuances of the holy occasions and the individuals celebrating. The core foundations of Eid and Ramadan are the same in all Muslim denominations, but traditions are observed differently across communities. Of course I understand that a single campaign can't possibly represent all of these, sometimes subtle, distinctions, but not conflating two contrasting rituals is imperative. Or even just something as simple as understanding that there are two Eids annually and the different reasons Muslims celebrate, would show the duty of care you'd expect. It would make for a better campaign.
Founders of Amaliah, an online publication for and by Muslim voices, ran a poll discovering that 60% of Muslims didn’t want to be represented in ads and campaigns, because of fears about misrepresentation of their faith and community. 'There is still a lack of knowledge of the basics about Islam and Muslims. [If brands are to create campaigns focussed on holy occasions] there must be Muslim voices involved in the creation and from the beginning, not just a prop at the end,' says Nafisa Bakkar CEO and co-founder at Amaliah.
There's proof too that misrepresentation can do more damage than no representation. A study by the Lloyds Banking Group reported that there was a necessity for a more nuanced understanding of how ethnic groups and characters are portrayed in ads and marketing campaigns. Consumers don’t respond well to tokenistic representations and appreciate brands that take the time to understand the individual and their culture. 42% of Black individuals believed brands weren't doing enough to recognise their culture. While 30% of Asian individuals felt they were inaccurately portrayed. 'A truly representative campaign includes having Muslims in front of and behind the camera and involved in planning. Consultation with communities like ours are vital, too often I am found sitting in front of agency marketing execs who have googled their way through to understanding Muslim audiences,' Nafisa explains.
There are some success stories too, of course, and these are a great indicator that getting it right is entirely possible.
'One of my favourite ads last year was the FIFA midnight league campaign, because it focused on a story rather than just the character being Muslim, and that's what the best marketing does, focus on personal stories,' Nafisa tells me.
For myself, I've seen brilliant campaigns in the Middle East which brands hoping to attract the UK's Muslim communities would do well to study. Pizza2Go developed 'The 3/4 Pizza Box'. Food wastage was the hot topic this last Ramadan – with roughly 25% of food wastage generated during Iftars (the evening meal which breaks the fast) in the Middle East, inspiring Emirates Red Crescent and Pizza2Go to launch their own food waste campaign.
Introducing the ¾ version of Pizza2Go’s classic pizzas allowed consumers to feel they were helping to reduce waste. automatically prevent 25% of natural Iftar waste. The campaign also donated to Emirates Red Crescent - a humanitarian organisation - and thus took into consideration two important aspects of Ramadan: food and charity.
Creating successful advertising strategies to appeal to Muslims might be just within reach, if only a few extra steps were taken in the planning. It could really be as simple as involving Muslims in the campaign ideation process. Or not relying on the internet to teach you all you need to know. Other ideas include considering charitable donations as Ramadan places such emphasis on self-reflection, intention setting and benevolence.
Sometimes, small efforts can have big impacts. For brands entering this space, an attempt to learn the traditions of Ramadan or why Muslims celebrate Eid will make for a much more inclusive campaign. I await eagerly the time when I will regularly see UK ads that resonate with and illustrate the complexity of the Muslim consumer.
