April 30, 2007	Monday	Rabi-us-Sani 12, 1428

NEW YORK, April 29: Consumer companies and advertising executives in the United States are seriously exploring ways to use the cultural aspects of the Islamic religion to help big companies sell their products to the Muslims who until now were largely being ignored.

In the post-9/11 world in the United States, Britain and other western where inherent prejudices against the Muslims are endemic , the grocers and consumer product companies are considering ways to adapt their goods to Muslim rules, which forbid among other things, gelatin and pig fat, which is often used in cosmetics and cleaning products.

According to a report in the New York Times, the retailers are looking into providing more conservative skirts, even during the summer months, and mainstream advertisers are planning to place some commercials on the satellite channels that Muslims often watch.

Noting that marketing to Muslims carries some risks, the report said advertising executives, used to dividing American consumers into every sort of category, say that ignoring this group — estimated to be about five million to eight million people, and growing fast — would be like missing the Hispanic market in the 1990s.

“I think Muslims have had to draw into themselves,” Marian Salzman, executive vice president and chief marketing officer of JWT, told the newspaper. “It puts an increased burden on a marketer post-9/11 to say, ‘Look, we understand.’”

Companies in the Detroit area, where there is a dense population of

Muslims, are leading the change — a McDonald’s outlet there serves halal chicken McNuggets; Walgreens — the drug store, has Arabic signs in its aisles; and now, Ikea, which recently opened a store in the suburb of Canton, Mich., has been touring local homes and talking to Muslims to figure out their needs.

The store there plans to sell decorations for Ramadan next autumn and is adding halal meat to its restaurant menu. Catalogues in Arabic are being planned, and female Muslim employees are expected to be given an Ikea-branded hijab, to wear over their head if they wish.

Because the Census Bureau does not ask about religion, there is no authoritative count of Muslims in America. Some Muslim organisations provide estimates as high as 10 million. Others say it could be as low as three million.

Whatever the number, many Muslims have clustered in areas that include Orange County, Calif.; Houston; the state of Georgia; northern Virginia; New York City and Long Island; and the Detroit area.

Over the last few months, JWT conducted a large study of Muslims in the United States and Britain to determine whether they would be receptive to specialised advertising. Muslim Americans spend about $170 billion on consumer products, JWT estimates; this figure is expected to grow rapidly as the population expands and younger Muslims build careers.

Ms Salzman said the study found that Muslims were buying many standard products but that they felt excluded from mainstream advertising. In particular, she said, they wanted companies to recognise their holidays.

Over the next few weeks, JWT plans to reach out to the chief executives of all of its major clients, including JetBlue, the Ford Motor Company and HSBC, to encourage them to market to Muslims in the United States and Britain.

Almas Abbasi, a radiologist in Long Island who was one of the people interviewed by JWT, said she would be grateful for advertising that included Muslims.

“If Ramazan starts, and you see an ad in the newspaper saying, ‘Happy Ramazan, here’s a special in our store,’ everyone will run to that store,” she told the Times.