Shelina Janmohamed is an author and a culture columnist for The National
November 06, 2023
In 2002, a Tunisian-French businessman named Tawfik Mathlouthi launched Mecca-Cola as an alternative to Coca-Cola and other “western” cola brands.
He did this against the backdrop of 9/11 and at a time of widespread prejudice towards Muslims in the West. The stated intention was to provide Muslim consumers with an alternative product. It was also a time when young and increasingly affluent Muslims were realising their consumer power, and Mr Mathlouthi’s idea resonated with many of them.
Muslim consumers also demonstrated their consumer power in 2005, following the publication of the controversial Prophet Mohammed cartoons in Denmark. The subsequent boycott of many Danish brands in the Middle East adversely affected these companies’ sales.
In recent weeks, the Israel-Gaza war has stirred millions of consumers around the world into wielding their purchasing power – boycotting products or brands that they believe are fuelling the conflict.
We live in an era of consumerism where brands have become intrinsic to identities. The choice of brand says something about its consumer. For youngsters in particular, affinity with a brand isn’t limited to just its quality but increasingly also to the causes and behaviours with which it aligns itself, and the role it plays in them. The consumer response to the current conflict, however, has put several brands in paradoxical situations that seem increasingly complex for them to navigate.
Demonstrators at a pro-Palestine rally on October 10, in Melbourne, Australia. Getty
In recent years, there has been a greater push for more diverse workforces, and for staff members to be authentic and to bring their “full selves” to work. This has meant being open about what might be affecting them, creating “safe spaces” and allowing open discussion. This approach was cemented in many companies after the Russian invasion of Ukraine last year, when businesses internally and brands externally made statements and commitments largely in support of Ukraine. The situation in Palestine-Israel is not the same, but a precedent has been set.
For businesses, taking a position is riven with risk. Workplace tensions are to be expected, particularly in diverse settings, but saying nothing exposes companies to misunderstandings. Employees now increasingly expect their organisational leaders to take a stand.
The conflict has also led to some truly Kafkaesque turns of events.
For instance, Starbucks and the union that represents many of its workers sued each other last month in a standoff sparked by a social media post about the Israel-Gaza war. This happened even as the company’s position was said to be alienating Muslim consumers around the world.
This is, perhaps, not as mind-boggling as the situation that McDonald’s finds itself in. A franchise in Israel said it would offer free meals to Israeli soldiers, while another franchise in Oman issued a statement about being Muslim-owned and that it was sending aid to Gaza.
Brands too easily forget the social context that they insert themselves into, something that British retailer Marks and Spencer recently found out the hard way.
The consumer response to the current conflict, however, has put several brands in paradoxical situations that seem increasingly complex for them to navigate
This week, the release of the big brand Christmas advertisements takes place in the UK. Advancing the idea that people should maintain only the Christmas traditions they love and get rid of the ones that put them under pressure, an M&S ad showed an image of paper party hats being burnt on a real fire. The problem? They were coloured green, white and red – the colours of the Palestinian flag.
More than 13,000 complaints later – unsurprising, given that it was released during the ongoing bombardment of Gaza – the ad was withdrawn. M&S sought to explain the controversy away by saying that the promotional film was shot in August.
But to have no mechanism to judge a social media post in the current context is at best sadly incompetent, extremely poor timing and demonstrates a failure of being alert to the context in which an ad is delivered. Brands often forget that consumers are generally not hanging on to their every campaign and are, instead, preoccupied with the world.
But worse is that, rightly or wrongly, the M&S case has now left many people with a lasting sense that the company supports Palestinians being killed. Not my words, but this is what consumers feel, and that is hard for brands to undo.
Such mistakes are often rooted in ignorance, but in some of their subtler forms there are unfortunate traces of Islamophobia and a sense that the democratic consumer experience of Muslims doesn’t matter. There is also a sense that, by serving them, the company might alienate other shoppers who should be prioritised, or that Muslim shoppers can be taken for granted.
For example, the American DIY chain Lowe’s pulled its advertising from a reality TV show depicting Muslim-American families for fear of the “backlash” it thought it was facing. The backlash turned out to be a one-man band under the guise of the “Florida Family Association”, which was spamming them. But the company alienated not just many Muslim Americans, of whom there are millions, but a wider cross-section of American society as well.
But greater brand engagement with Muslim consumers is a way of acknowledging their purchasing power and possibly leads to their integration into mainstream culture and commerce.A Christmas ad, for example, by British supermarket chain Tesco that featured a Muslim family prompted joyful social commentary in the UK about how Muslims were part of the national holiday. Seeing them featured in such a high-profile moment cemented Muslims’ place in the national fabric.
Brands should find better ways to engage with customers. They shouldn’t just ward off the commercial and reputational risks of boycotts; Muslim consumers – and their pounds, dollars and dirhams – matter as much as anyone else. Muslim consumers in many countries could stand to matter even more due to changing demographics and their rising affluence.
Brands have a unique opportunity to encourage dialogue. For protesters from a wide cross-section of society, their buying choices are among the few ways for them to feel heard and believe that they can make a difference. Perhaps, in the brands they support or boycott, customers also feel it is one place they can’t be censored.
In 1824, the British activist Elizabeth Heyrick published a pamphlet calling for the boycott of sugar produced by slaves. Fed up with politicians thought to be appeasing wealthy slaveholders, she urged ordinary Britons, including grocers, to instead buy sugar produced by those who were free. This led to a drop in sugar prices and eventually the abolition of slavery. In short, consumer power was a contributing factor to a significant development in Britain’s history.
There is something resonant of Ms Heyrick’s frustration with the slow pace of change and her need to directly interact with retail brands and consumers. Two hundred years later, consumers continue to exercise their power. Brands should take their cue and engage with them.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Avatar: Fire and Ash
Director: James Cameron
Starring: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana
Rating: 4.5/5
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
Graphene is extracted from graphite and is made up of pure carbon.
It is 200 times more resistant than steel and five times lighter than aluminum.
It conducts electricity better than any other material at room temperature.
It is thought that graphene could boost the useful life of batteries by 10 per cent.
Graphene can also detect cancer cells in the early stages of the disease.
The material was first discovered when Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov were 'playing' with graphite at the University of Manchester in 2004.
Tips for job-seekers
Do not submit your application through the Easy Apply button on LinkedIn. Employers receive between 600 and 800 replies for each job advert on the platform. If you are the right fit for a job, connect to a relevant person in the company on LinkedIn and send them a direct message.
Make sure you are an exact fit for the job advertised. If you are an HR manager with five years’ experience in retail and the job requires a similar candidate with five years’ experience in consumer, you should apply. But if you have no experience in HR, do not apply for the job.
David Mackenzie, founder of recruitment agency Mackenzie Jones Middle East
5pm: Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan Racing Festival Purebred Arabian Cup Conditions (PA); Dh 200,000 (Turf) 1,600m 5.30pm: Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak Cup Conditions (PA); Dh 200,000 (T) 1,600m 6pm: Sheikh Sultan bin Zayed Al Nahyan National Day Cup Listed (TB); Dh 380,000 (T) 1,600m 6.30pm: Sheikh Sultan bin Zayed Al Nahyan National Day Group 3 (PA); Dh 500,000 (T) 1,600m 7pm: Sheikh Sultan bin Zayed Al Nahyan National Day Jewel Crown Group 1 (PA); Dh 5,000,000 (T) 2,200m 7.30pm: Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan Racing Festival Handicap (PA); Dh 150,000 (T) 1,400m 8pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh 100,000 (T); 1,400m
Profile of Bitex UAE
Date of launch: November 2018
Founder: Monark Modi
Based: Business Bay, Dubai
Sector: Financial services
Size: Eight employees
Investors: Self-funded to date with $1m of personal savings
MATCH INFO
Manchester City 4 (Gundogan 8' (P), Bernardo Silva 19', Jesus 72', 75')
Fulham 0
Red cards: Tim Ream (Fulham)
Man of the Match: Gabriel Jesus (Manchester City)
The story in numbers
18
This is how many recognised sects Lebanon is home to, along with about four million citizens
450,000
More than this many Palestinian refugees are registered with UNRWA in Lebanon, with about 45 per cent of them living in the country’s 12 refugee camps
1.5 million
There are just under 1 million Syrian refugees registered with the UN, although the government puts the figure upwards of 1.5m
73
The percentage of stateless people in Lebanon, who are not of Palestinian origin, born to a Lebanese mother, according to a 2012-2013 study by human rights organisation Frontiers Ruwad Association
18,000
The number of marriages recorded between Lebanese women and foreigners between the years 1995 and 2008, according to a 2009 study backed by the UN Development Programme
77,400
The number of people believed to be affected by the current nationality law, according to the 2009 UN study
4,926
This is how many Lebanese-Palestinian households there were in Lebanon in 2016, according to a census by the Lebanese-Palestinian dialogue committee
The biog
Name: Timothy Husband
Nationality: New Zealand
Education: Degree in zoology at The University of Sydney
Favourite book: Lemurs of Madagascar by Russell A Mittermeier
Favourite music: Billy Joel
Weekends and holidays: Talking about animals or visiting his farm in Australia
First Person
Richard Flanagan
Chatto & Windus
RESULTS
Bantamweight: Victor Nunes (BRA) beat Azizbek Satibaldiev (KYG). Round 1 KO
Welterweight: Daniel Skibinski (POL) beat Acoidan Duque (ESP). Round 3 TKO
Lightweight: Martun Mezhlumyan (ARM) beat Attila Korkmaz (TUR). Unanimous decision
Bantamweight: Ray Borg (USA) beat Jesse Arnett (CAN). Unanimous decision
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh117,059
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023 More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
A widely accepted definition was made by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims in 2019: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.” It further defines it as “inciting hatred or violence against Muslims”.
Global Fungi Facts
• Scientists estimate there could be as many as 3 million fungal species globally • Only about 160,000 have been officially described leaving around 90% undiscovered • Fungi account for roughly 90% of Earth's unknown biodiversity • Forest fungi help tackle climate change, absorbing up to 36% of global fossil fuel emissions annually and storing around 5 billion tonnes of carbon in the planet's topsoil
The specs
Engine: 6.2-litre supercharged V8
Power: 712hp at 6,100rpm
Torque: 881Nm at 4,800rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 19.6 l/100km
Price: Dh380,000
On sale: now
Ireland (15-1):
Ireland (15-1): Rob Kearney; Keith Earls, Chris Farrell, Bundee Aki, Jacob Stockdale; Jonathan Sexton, Conor Murray; Jack Conan, Sean O'Brien, Peter O'Mahony; James Ryan, Quinn Roux; Tadhg Furlong, Rory Best (capt), Cian Healy
Replacements: Sean Cronin, Dave Kilcoyne, Andrew Porter, Ultan Dillane, Josh van der Flier, John Cooney, Joey Carbery, Jordan Larmour