Marketing Dans Un Environnement Islamique

Citation

Nestorovic, C. (2010), "Marketing Dans Un Environnement Islamique", Journal of Islamic Marketing, Vol. 1 No. 2, pp. 191-192. https://doi.org/10.1108/jima.2010.1.2.191.1

Reviewer: Cedomir Nestorovic

The book Marketing Dans Un Environnement Islamique is the first book of its kind in France. It has been published by Dunod in June 2009. It is the continuation of a course called “Islam and marketing” offered by the author at the ESSEC Business School.

The book is divided in two parts. The first one deals with the environment and the Halal way of life while the second part focuses on the five pillars of Islam and marketing. Finally, there is a case study about Islamic fashion.

In the first part the author points out why the Islamic world is so important today for marketing, beginning with demographic and economic indicators and ending with the overwhelming importance of religion in consumer behaviour. The Halal business is singled out because the author has a strong experience and competence in this field and also because this business today represents more than US$660 billion worldwide. The different aspects of Halal are discussed, from identification what is Halal and what is Haram to problems linked with the harmonization of Halal certification agencies.

The second part is listing the five pillars of Islam and their marketing opportunities. For some of them (shahadah and Salat for instance) the relationship with business is not obvious even if products and services emerge such as blue jeans for praying or pocket prayer rugs with incorporated compass. For the other pillars, business opportunities are obvious. The author reports that for instance Ramadan spending are much higher compared to ordinary months, France alone sends 35,000 pilgrims to Mecca every year spending on average €3,500 and Zakat is the theatre of fierce competition among charitable organizations using marketing techniques in order to attract donors.

In the field of Islamic fashion, all the elements of the marketing mix are used in order to present how dynamic this sector is in Islamic and non‐Islamic countries.

The book helps Western companies operating in an Islamic environment because this kind of environment represents a set of challenges these companies are not used to face. It was expected that resistance to change would be very high due to the implications of Islam in the everyday life, including business, but the author points out numerous examples where imagination and accommodation with religion are giving birth to innovative and successful offers. The book is full of examples of companies and richly illustrated.

About the author

Cedomir Nestorovic is a well‐known contributor to the field of Islamic marketing. He is a lecturer of one of the very first courses on Islamic marketing, his book on Islamic Marketing has been available in three languages; English, French, and Italian. He lectured on the issue in France, Malaysia, Iran, Singapore, Thailand, Pakistan, Senegal, and the United Arab Emirates. He is also a speaker at the World Halal Forum and an Associate Director for the First International Conference on Islamic Marketing and Branding.