Ramadan Brand Experience

Like Christmas, Easter and Thanksgiving in the West where commercial interests have long played a big role in defining the occasion and reinforcing only certain aspects of their core meaning and, ultimately evolving the experience of the very occasion, Ramadan is now being subjected to similar branding forces.

Not so long ago Ramadan ads followed a simple formula: “Ramadan Kareem” headline, product shot, twilight backdrop, crescent moon, lantern, a bowl of dates and variations on that theme. Though you still see that today, many brands have taken it a step further and began positioning Ramadan in the context of the product with the statement “bringing us together”, usually centered around food, late night snacking, gatherings and watching TV shows. It’s also true that compared to some 20 odd years ago, when a lavish iftar buffet at Amra Hotel would set you back JD5, people were less social beyond their family and had far fewer options for evening social activities, while today Ramadan has become very much a social affair.

If someone with no knowledge of Ramadan were to reverse engineer commercialized Ramadan ads along with the overall experience of being in Amman during the month, they would be forgiven for concluding the positioning statement as being: “Evening gatherings of mass gluttony with a bit of charity to balance it all out,” as opposed to the essence of the Holy month: patience, empathy and a spiritual connectedness to God.

Ramadan’s core focus is in essence about how you feel and behave before breaking the fast, while almost every aspect of the “brand experience” is about what you do during and after the breakfast. Now there’s nothing wrong with that, but it seems to reinforce the mere technical requirements of fasting, i.e. not drinking, smoking or eating during daylight, because there is little evidence of patience, empathy or any form of spirituality when driving around Amman or engaging in pretty much anything during the day time.

Though Salafists may nod their heads in agreement about the blatant commercialization of Ramadan, my take on the matter is in fact very different to theirs. I spent the first ten days of this year’s Ramadan in Beirut. Even though the opening hours of shops, restaurants, and work places remained largely unchanged, there was still a sense of Ramadan infusing the rhythm of everyday life. This sits in stark contrast to the dry, didactic way Ramadan sometimes seems to be enforced in other parts of the Muslim world which includes jailing non fasters and using the holy month to sanction less productivity, bad manners, and little patience. Reading about a man in Zarqa who was badly beaten by a mob when he tried to sneak a daytime cigarette in public, which is admittedly really bad manners in Ramadan, makes one question people’s understanding of the holy month. Perhaps brands have a part to play in reminding people what Ramadan is really about.

Brands seem to miss a great deal of opportunities to resonate with their audiences while fasting by reinforcing the core purpose of Ramadan. Rather than “Buy one chicken, get a bag of rice” promos, how about “Buy half a chicken and we’ll send the other half to a family in need” or instead of “try all ten varieties of X” how about “experience a day in the life of a Zaatari refugee during Ramadan with our replica tent.” Okay, that last example was extreme, but my point is being relevant while someone is fasting, is bound to be more powerful and ultimately effective than trying to squeeze into the iftar and suhoor table, or encouraging spending more time at a mall; if anything, Ramadan is about reducing consumption of everything…even after iftar.

Ultimately brands and people seem to miss the point of Ramadan and fasting, but digging through some Hadith on the topic, it seems this has been the case for a while since according to Abu Huraira, the Prophet (Peace be upon him) said: Many people who fast get nothing from their fast except hunger and thirst. (Darimi).

(First appeared in Venture Magazine July 2013)