Marketing During Ramadan

With Ramadan winding down, we thought it would be nice to visit how this time of the year can produce a real opportunity to connect with your audience. Through Increasing consumerism, Ramadan has undoubtedly become more than a spiritual event. It is an excellent time to market your brand, but in order to reap benefit, it is crucially important to approach all marketing attempts with great sensitivity.

This year Ramadan takes place in the UAE from the evening of May 5th, and expected to run until the evening of June 3rd. It is an occasion to reconnect with one’s faith, and spend more time with family and friends. This translates to more downtime, more time to shop and to spend, making Ramadan the perfect stage to generate increased attention towards your brand.

In fact, according to a recent YouGov study, 53 per cent of consumers surveyed in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt will spend more money during the fasting month. Further, 93 per cent of those consumers expect to increase their spending specifically on regular household items such as food, drinks and groceries. YouGov also found that consumers are far less brand loyal when making food and drink purchasing decisions, electing rather, for the best deal. So, introducing your products into new markets or user circles could be very effective.

Marketing in Muslim regions during Ramadan must be tasteful, authentic, and culturally respectful. Marketing should be approached with caution, words and symbols should be carefully selected to ensure they will not cause offence. Taken the wrong way, your message could fundamentally damage your brand identity.

The crescent moon is one of the most iconic symbols of the Islamic faith. The first visible crescent moon is what marks the beginning of each month, including Ramadan and Shawwal—the start of Eid al-Fitr. With this inbuilt connection, the crescent moon is the perfect inclusion for any marketing campaign during Ramadan.

It follows, then, that marketing can originate from any iconic feature of the season; whether that is dates—traditionally used to break fast, lanterns—used both for practical and decorative reasons, teapots—also common at the end of daily fasting, and cannons— a symbolic tradition fired at sunset, to signal the time to break fast.

While some brands simply post friendly Ramadan greetings on social media during this season, there is in fact a lot to be gained from upping your marketing game. With heightened cultural understanding, and the right touch of flair, there is a lot you can achieve.

During Ramadan, the landscape is very chaotic and reaching audiences via traditional means can prove very challenging. However, most brands continue to concentrate their marketing on traditional advertising, which, unsurprisingly, happens to be the most expensive time of the year to advertise via conventional channels. What’s more, this is a time when those advert-types tend to have the least impact.

Google reports that during Ramadan people watch more YouTube, perform more searches and access the internet on their mobile devices more frequently. So, in our exceedingly digital world, opportunities exist to reach your target audience, influence consumer perceptions and shape purchasing decisions, outside of the more conventional approaches. The beauty of digital media is the speed, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness at which you can achieve real impact.

In sum, Ramadan offers a hugely lucrative marketing opportunity—providing it is undertaken with an explicit understanding of the religious significance and sensitivities of the season. When executed properly, aligned with the target audience and in respect of their beliefs, it is more than possible to create campaigns appreciated by the local community.

If it’s too late for you this year, Ramadan 2020 will take place from Thursday April 23rd to Saturday May 23rd, so there is plenty of time to get your ideas into production.