Canadian Muslims – Another market segment to grow with

Market segmentation is the foundation for developing sound marketing strategies and successfully implementing marketing programs. It is especially vital for marketing in Canada that thrives on diversity, mosaic and multiculturalism. Anecdotally, immigrant groups in Canada retain their identity and likes & dislikes longer than in other countries, like the USA and Australia.  South Asians, East Asians and Afro-Canadians are some of the discrete groups that are pursued and catered by forward-looking organizations.

There is another market segment, Muslim-Canadians, which is sizeable, promising and untapped. It is evident from the highlights and facts provided below that Muslim-Canadians market segment will be highly lucrative for the companies with relevant products and services for this group. For example, meat producers, clothing companies, financial services, restaurants, capital goods, grocery stores and travel and tourism. Highlights of Muslim Canadian market segment are as follows:

Brand vs. Commodity

A discussion on the difference between a brand and a commodity is going on at one of my groups on LinkedIn. This discussion was initiated by Marco Monfils from Hungary. More than 150 comments have been made so far, highlighting marketing and sales professionals love for this topic. It is interesting that respondents presented their own definition and description of a brand and commodity, no author was quoted and the comments varied greatly. I noticed two significant trends as follows: