Turning a religious component to a new fashion item? H&M’s refreshing marketing strategy of adding hijab into its new advertising campaign has attracted a lot of attention. This is a perfect example of adapting a customer-driven marketing strategy¹ where firms develop products targeting certain groups and offer unique attributes meeting customers’ special needs, thus gain comparative advantages.

Evidently, huge benefit can be obtained after the strategy update. Muslim community, a tremendous potential consumer group, has always been forgotten by the fashion industry. There are more than 1.6 million Muslim consumers around the world and the group is constantly expanding which is expected to hit 3 billion by 2050, estimated by the Pew Research Centre². Advertising cultural clothing will broaden H&M’s customer base enormously and stimulate the company’s expansion. Due to the uniqueness of the product, H&M easily outscores the big rivals by its innovative design concepts and “milestone-ish” combination of modern fashion and religious wear.

From my perspective, religious items are often stereotyped and misinterpreted by the mainstream media, and the public has failed to appreciate the aesthetic value of religious outfits. H&M’s action catalyzes the breakdown of the inaccurate stereotypes and leads the new fashion trend by adding special fashion elements. It’s hard to determine whether the sales will surge in a short term, but the positive reputation and unique brand culture H&M builds as being open to diversity are of much higher value.

H&M’s example gives us a deeper insight of the effectiveness of creative business ideas and showcases a great strategy that helps develop customer base. Reaching out to the Muslim community, H&M has found the undiscovered gold mine.

 

 

Works Cited

1. Customer-Driven Marketing Strategy
2. H&M Muslim Ad Campaign With Hijab Model Signals Future Diversity In Fashion Advertisements
3. Image