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Branding Islam
16.11.09
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For further information please contact senior brand strategist Svante Lindeburg / svl@kontrapunkt.comSvante Lindeburg guests DR’s (Danish Broadcast Corporation) programme Agenda.
Can Islam be viewed as a brand and in that case what are the challenges that this brand faces? Why for instance are Muslims often portrayed as serious and upset in the Danish media and casted in a specific role? Does Islam have a branding problem?
These are some of the topics that Senior Brand Strategist Svante Lindeburg discus on the radio programme Agenda aired on DR (Danish Broadcast Corporation). Svante grew up in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and knows the Muslim world first hand.
”Of course it doesn’t make sense to reduce Islam to a brand. But if we play along and think of Islam along those terms, there a number of things that come to mind. For instance, Islam “as a brand” has a very unclear brand architecture. For the outsider it is difficult to differentiate between Shia, Sunni and all the other branches of the religion. Therefore we have a tendency to think of all the 1,6 billion Muslims around the world as one thing. And if one of these Muslims misbehave it has a direct consequence on the rest. So if I were to be given Islam as a “brand account”, one of the first things I would do, would be to create a new and more differentiated brand architecture. Learning from organisations like Procter & Gamble and the car industry.”
The radio programme can be heard here:
http://www.dr.dk/P1/Agenda/Udsendelser/2009/1106132841.htm
Can Islam be viewed as a brand and in that case what are the challenges that this brand faces? Why for instance are Muslims often portrayed as serious and upset in the Danish media and casted in a specific role? Does Islam have a branding problem?
These are some of the topics that Senior Brand Strategist Svante Lindeburg discus on the radio programme Agenda aired on DR (Danish Broadcast Corporation). Svante grew up in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and knows the Muslim world first hand.
”Of course it doesn’t make sense to reduce Islam to a brand. But if we play along and think of Islam along those terms, there a number of things that come to mind. For instance, Islam “as a brand” has a very unclear brand architecture. For the outsider it is difficult to differentiate between Shia, Sunni and all the other branches of the religion. Therefore we have a tendency to think of all the 1,6 billion Muslims around the world as one thing. And if one of these Muslims misbehave it has a direct consequence on the rest. So if I were to be given Islam as a “brand account”, one of the first things I would do, would be to create a new and more differentiated brand architecture. Learning from organisations like Procter & Gamble and the car industry.”
The radio programme can be heard here:
http://www.dr.dk/P1/Agenda/Udsendelser/2009/1106132841.htm