New Ad Agency Caters To The Muslim-American Consumer And Their Spending Power

Heads up to Adeel, whose FB posted items I stalk and then steal as my own.

Read the original article here

(or just scroll down! It's like magic (or plagiarism)!)

The Muslim Ad Network, an online association that concentrates on the Muslim Market in North America, has partnered with advertising strategy firm, Desedo, to create a new advertising agency. Though we don't know what the agency will be called (Desedo is not giving up the goods to us) we are very excited about this new shop.

For starters, the Muslim American market has been valued at $170B according to The New York Times. The Economist also has said that "Two-thirds of Muslim households make more than $50,000 a year and a quarter earn over $100,000." Those are some attractive numbers. Still, it's basically an untouched marketplace. What American brands have seriously tried to engender their loyalty? And yes, in an age where advertising messages can be segmented, an online communities serve every need, a Muslim-American ad agency sounds like the right move to make. Plus, with our first minority President getting ready to be the new leader of the free world, the conversation about race is only going to get louder. Brands would be wise to listen up.

More from this second article, American-Muslims And The Advertising Agency Dilemma

I'm curious to see if those who invest along the lines of Sharia (Islamic principles) better weather the recession. Having more disposable income in these times could accelerate this process.

Hey, I'm interested in that as well!

In your research paper, you cite one person as saying: "part of the problem is that it is difficult for ad execs to create an advertising profile for Muslims as a whole, because [they] come from many diverse backgrounds and believe many different things." Question: isn't that true for Asians and Blacks living in America? Why do you think the ad industry still does not have a grasp on identifying and marketing to various ethnic identities?

"Wow, there are many answers to that question, here is one thought:

Outside of humor, advertising is a generally risk-adverse platform. So if you're attempting to 'reach' a demo via broadcast, it's a massive investment and agencies/brands play it safe. So the same tropes get trotted out. Blacks get 'soul', Latinos gets 'family', Asians get 'sedulous', etc...

While agencies may intuitively understand that a black guy can love both Jay-Z and Modest Mouse, you're not (yet) gonna see that multiplicity reflected in traditional advertising. Luckily, the authorship space of new media and rise of transmedia planning is slowly changing this..."