In Pakistan, protesters again targeted the Golden Arches, as well as two KFC franchises, prompting Manhattan Leo Burnett clients to initially adopt a wait-and-see attitude to advertising and marketing efforts. While franchise owners of KFC and McDonald's launched campaigns to disassociate themselves with symbols of America, foreign brands in Pakistan reported a 50 per cent decline in sales post 9/11, says the agency's managing director, Anis Khan, who believes weakening sales could also be attributed to the economic recession and the ongoing India-Pakistan conflict. Leo Burnett clients in Indonesia, meanwhile, pulled billboards and cut back on television spend, according to the agency's managing director Berndt Soderbom. "There was a precaution not to go full steam on campaigns until we really understood the impact of these events."
If fact, actual reports of unrest post 9/11 have been few and far between - contrary to media hype - and the condemnation hasn't reduced demand for McDonald's hamburgers. Neither has the media shown demonstrators burning their Levi's in protest. However, recent events have served as a reminder to companies that it is imperative for global marketers to recognise that Muslim populations exist not only in the Middle East, but also throughout much of Asia. Indeed, the stakes are high as Muslims account for almost one-fifth of the world's population; a sizeable segment no marketer can afford to ignore.
For most marketers, religion by itself does not provide a basis for segmentation.
Yet time and time again, advertisers have found, often at the company's commercial cost, that brands have been blind to the traditions of other cultures. Ken Mandel, chief executive officer at CCG.XM, believes most marketers naturally shy away from any creative concepts that focus on or around religion, which "has traditionally been a taboo area for marketers as it is very easy to mess things up and offend people".
Nike knows that only too well. Back in 1997, the company recalled 38,000 basketball shoes after its flame-design logo drew protests from Muslims because it was said to resemble the Arabic word for god, Allah. Yet, Nike was not the first US brand to make such a blunder. A riot in Muslim Bangladesh was said to have been a result of the resemblance of US-brand Thom McAn's shoe logo to the word Allah.
Neither Nike nor Thom McAn intended to put the word Allah on their products; they simply failed to recognise how their graphics resembled the word for god. Nike responded to outraged Muslims by fixing the problem before the shoes went to market. But the damage was done. The incident was not Nike's first brush with Muslim anger: a few years earlier, a copywriter put the slogan 'They call him Allah' on a Nike billboard showing an evidently god-like basketball player. Needless to say, the Muslim community was not amused.
While meeting the demands of various religions and cultural traditions may seem a burden to marketers, as Nike discovered, even when a community is a minority, it still has the capacity to tarnish a brand's image, not to mention its bottomline. Patrick Seow, managing director of Batey Retail, says the question foreign brands face is one of culture. "You must be sensitive to the culture and be mindful of certain things you cannot touch upon.
But for most Muslims, cultural values are shaped by religious practices.
Certainly, the Islam practised in Southeast Asia is of a different form to the fiery brand in evidence in parts of the Middle East. And often determining what's acceptable and what's not is a fine line, spanning restrictions on certain products and images, type of media used, social forces and government regulations.
There are obvious taboos, such as alcohol and sex, for marketers targeting Muslim communities. There is also the need for restaurants, fast food chains and packaged goods to be certified halal, and therefore accepted by the Muslim community, and this is usually acceptable on a one-off basis.
While some products may not be perceived as controversial and have no restrictions on how they are sold, there are general restrictions on the type of images that can be used in advertising.
While nudity, anti-social behaviour and sexually-charged images may be used in other cultures, they are taboo in the Muslim community. "There have been cases where an agency has taken and translated a headline and then wondered why it doesn't work,
says Soderbom. "You sometimes get a hotshot creative coming over, who has no understanding of the market, and who bangs out a campaign in two weeks, then wonders why it failed."
But Bob Smith, president and chief executive of Grey Worldwide: Indonesia, warns it's all too easy to taint a brand, particularly through the web.
The agency's client Wrigley's recently faced an ominous email claiming the brand was using pig extract in its product. "Wrigley's has seen an email going round which suggests that the company uses some sort of pig extract in its chewing gum. That misinformation has the potential to destroy a brand completely. If anyone wants to attack a brand, they just have to mention that pig was used in the production and people are quick to believe this."
Japanese brand Ajinomoto also came under immense pressure and scrutiny for reportedly using pig enzymes in the production of one of its products.
US-brand Hush Puppies, meanwhile, lost substantial market share after consumers in Malaysia discovered its shoes contained pigskin.
While most Muslim consumers are likely to shrug off such 'cultural' mistakes, which evidently is due to ignorance on the part of the marketer, there is also some argument that anti-US and anti-corporate feelings have grown since 9/11, even among consumers who have not felt that the terrorism attacks and war have had a direct impact on their lives or local economies.
In the UK, British consumers have apparently become more distrustful of overtly American brands, according to a Euro RSCG report, which found that more than two-thirds of British consumers were concerned that the world was becoming too Americanised, while 72 per cent agreed that "multinational corporations have grown too powerful".
On some level it seems support for all things American is waning. However, a number of US brands, such as Coca-Cola, have made themselves so deeply entrenched in the local culture in which they do business that they are largely perceived as local brands by consumers.
Consider McDonald's which - along with its burgers and fries - also serves rice and chilli in some Asian markets. Helping the localisation case, major multinationals such as Procter & Gamble, McDonald's and Dunkin' Donuts tend to leave marketing and advertising decisions up to the local franchise.
"US brands have a long history in Pakistan. Levi's has been here since the late '40s and the feeling is that this is not an international brand.
Coke and Pepsi are also old entrants into Pakistan,
says Jamal Mir, chief executive, Prestige Communications. "McDonald's is a relatively new entrant here and has been in the market for three years, so consumers may see it as a US invasion. And the local KFC in Pakistan did have to take out an ad campaign to show consumers it is backed by a Belgium and not an American company due to the troubles."
The move away from so-called American brands is driving global companies to increasingly localise their acts. Successful brands have made it difficult for consumers to separate a local player from a multinational. For consumers in Asia, that means purchasing a product, which may have foreign roots, but is considered as helping the local retailer and the local economy.
That, Mir says, is why some locally-owned franchises of American companies have managed to avoid negative American association by adapting effectively to the local culture.
"One of our clients, BAT (British American Tobacco) is known as Pakistan Tobacco Company here. There was a debate a while back when the client wanted to know what the backlash would be of adopting the BAT name in Pakistan. We told the client that it would make little difference and that it was a small issue to the consumer,
Mir adds.
He believes that Coca-Cola and Pepsi have succeeded in portraying their brands as locally relevant through sponsorships of events, including cricket matches, and campaigns to celebrate Muslim festivals. In Indonesia, Ray Dempsey, managing director, McCann-Erickson, says Coca-Cola launched a campaign for the Muslim fasting month. "The brand produced two TV spots to celebrate Ramadan with Coke. The spots didn't show people breaking their fast with Coke, but just associated the brand with the occasion, so Coke was part of it. During the last economic crisis here (in Indonesia), Coke launched its 'get recharged' ads. The point is that its campaigns are relevant to the market -- it's not running American ads,
says Dempsey.
But Shafri Mohamad, president of Bates Malaysia Group, believes the majority of agencies and clients are paying lip service to the 'think global, act local' maxim. "It's crucial to maintain the branding image globally, but in terms of the execution for tone and manner, advertisers have to be aware of local sensitivities. Brands need to practise what they preach.
Some have very little knowledge of the local culture. The creative of a marketing campaign should have its roots in the culture. That's when marketers will know they are pushing the right buttons,
says Mohamad.
Now more than ever, consumers want to hear brand messages that are consistent.
Marketers targeting the Muslim community should focus on campaigns that are clear and well-targeted, with consistent messages that are effectively integrated across disciplines. Many Muslim consumers want the opportunity to choose foreign products - from burgers to cosmetics - but don't want a foreign culture forced upon them. That many are fearful of Western influences dominating rather than enhancing their lives is something companies need to be particularly sensitive to. And it is this sensitivity to the Muslim culture that will create a place for foreign brands in consumers' lives.
