Commentary # 2

“Coca Cola and Schwarzkopf’s Advertising for Muslim Market”

By

Pitcha Sakmangkorn

Multi-cultural Marketing Communications

Dr. M. Schiller

April 4, 2015

The world consists of many diverse markets that are different from aspect to aspect,

such as culture, belief, and trend. To success in reaching one specific market, the company cannot

apply the same approach into every market. To get people, showing that the brand “understands”

you by conveying effective communication, is needed.

Two print ads above belong to the Coca Cola Company that were launched in the

mid 2014 regarding to one of the most important festival of Muslims, “Ramadan”. The ads and the

campaign attempted to reach Muslims who believe and follow the rule of holy Quran-Sharif and

Ramadan during one-month period of fasting that was June 29th- July 27th 2014. Fasting during

Ramadan is one of the Five Pillars of Islam; in other words, five primary obligations or pillars of

faith that each Muslim must fulfill in his or her lifetime (The five pillars of Isam, 2015). The ads

relevant themselves with Muslims by connecting the brand with their cultural beliefs and Islamic

religion in which it brings emotional appeal of consumers to the ads. This is related to value appeal

for devout/spiritual people who are traditional, respectful, modest, and obedient whom they have

strong underlying beliefs about priorities in their lives and morality. Also, the ads portray an appeal

of psychological needs; the need to eat and drink. It implies that Coca Cola is a drink for you after

you break the fast.

As we can see from the ads, the brand uses the moon and Arabic alphabets in the

visuals. This is related to Islam religion, specifically Ramadan as mentioned. Ramadan is a month

that Muslims all over the world will “fast” or abstain from food, drink, and other physical needs

such as sexual activities, including evil actions, thoughts, and words, from dawn until sunset. The

underlying assumption of this tradition is for Muslims to purify the soul from impurities, practice

self-sacrifice/restraint, have time to re-focus attention on the worship of God (El-Ashi, A., Fasting

in Islam). They communicate by using the moon in ad visual that refers to a new moon sighting,

marking the start of the ninth month in the Islamic calendar, in other words, Ramadan begins

(Ramadan starts in United States, 1995). Another visual appears Arabic alphabets shaping to be

Coca Cola bottle. It can be implied as a refreshing bottle that Muslims can enjoy drinking once they

break the fast.

These two ads are well executed since they show that the brand is “one of them”,

they value what Muslims value, they believe what Muslims believe, and they want to be part of

important thing in their lives. Muslims value religion so much and prioritize it, therefore if the

brand shows that they value and understand Islamic religion, consumers are likely to trust the brand

and recognize the brand easily. Consequently, the brand can embed in consumers’ brain for long,

which results in brand loyalty, and eventually the brand can make the high volume of sales from the

product being advertised.

By mid-2014, the German hair care brand Schwarzkopf that is under giant consumer-goods

maker like Henkel AG & Company launched the ads and the campaign to please hidden market of

Muslim women who have veiled hair (Schlusse, D., 2014).

The ad visuals show the product images and the Muslim models wearing “Hijab”, a veil

that covers the head and chest, which is daily worn by Muslim women beyond the age of

adolescence. This kind of attire is a symbol of modesty and privacy. Muslims are taught to believe

that women’s physical beauty is not something to be commoditized or to be shown in public sphere,

especially to men. Wearing it also means to show respect to their God and to show that they obey and

recognize the immense wisdom behind his commandment (Why do Muslim women veil themselves,

2011).

The Glorious Qur’an, Islamic bible says “Say to the believing women that they should lower

their gaze and guard their modesty; and that they should not display their beauty and ornaments

except what must ordinarily appear thereof; that they should draw their veils over their bosoms and

not display their beauty except to their husbands…” (Al-Qur'an 24:30-31)

Hair is considered part of a woman’s physical attractiveness. Therefore, for Muslim women,

hair covering is an essential thing to do to express their sincere and modesty of attire. Also, hijab is

not merely about covering the beauty but it is a sign for Muslims to restrain behavior, manners,

speech and appearance in public (Why do Muslim women veil themselves, 2011).

Now we know that all Muslim women have to wear it. One thing we can assume is not all of

them will be pleased wearing it, especially new generation who tends to care more about their

physical appearance and materials. One possible problem of Muslim women is if they suffocate their

hair under hijab all day, their hair will be stinky, has split ends, and the scalp will be itchy. The brand

acts like they understand these problems by claiming that the shampoo can refresh hair, more

importantly they act like they understand the need of the women to follow the path of Islamic. It

looks like they were trying to “help female Muslim out” to have pleasant feeling with hair while they

still can maintain their value of religion at the same time.

The appeal shown in the ads is “need for aesthetic sensations”, by using beautiful models

and the sea background that give us a sense of beauty and relaxation. This gives an idea that the

product will help fulfill the need of having beautiful hair even its under the veil.

Again these ads connect to cultural belief and Islamic religion. They show that they are

helpful and be the answer that solves irritated issues in their minds. Therefore these ads are well

executed.

However, to make the ads more effective, I would suggest Schwarzkopf to connect to female

Muslims more in terms of the ad visuals. These two ads just simply show the product images and the

models without the real and powerful stories behind them. For example, the visuals should include a

woman in the veil surrounded by people in an outdoor area. She smiles and laughs happily showing

the confidence that the shampoo itself gives her happiness. Or it could be a woman in the veil

standing elegantly with the blurred background of prominent Islamic sacred/holy place.

Reference

Fasting in Islam. Retrieved from http://www.eden.rutgers.edu/~muslims/fasting.htm

Hijab. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hijab

Quran. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quran

Ramadan. Retreieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramadan

Ramadan starts in United States. Retrieved from http://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/us/ramadan-begins

Shampoo Jihad: Major Companies Marketing Shampoo for “Veiled [Muslim] Women”; HAMAS Ad

Campaign Comin’ Soon. Retrieved from http://www.debbieschlussel.com/71592/absurd-sad-companies-

marketing-shampoo-for-veiled-muslim-women/

The five pillars of Islam. Retrieved from http://www.saudiembassy.net/about/country-

information/Islam/five_pillars_of_Islam.aspx

Why do Muslim women veil themselves?. Retrieved from http://www.whyislam.org/faqs/islam-and-gender-

issues/why-do-muslim-women-veil-themselves/