'The vegetarian is halaal, Mr Lakhani' says the PR person

There appears be an absolute lack of understanding of the Asian community in South Africa. Marketers insist on reinforcing the stereotypes (like Musica, Autopage Cellular and 5FM, to name a few) in the media. The most recent is the Diner's Club radio commercial with a waiter with the "Peter Sellers" accent - yet again! The slap in the face seems to be little or no attempt to understand this lucrative, viable market which is worth about R26 billion a year! And I am not even talking about PC-ness or holding up the race card and calling foul... but an understanding of a segment of the market which are generally loyal brand consumers.

The irony is that the Asian market provides additional opportunities for marketing and sales - just ask Woolworths which embraced the festivals of Diwali (Hindu Festival of Lights) and Eid (Muslim Festival), creating full page adverts in the relevant media and creating opportunity for profit. Sales of baking products, for example, soar during these festivals.

Ask MTN and Vodacom about the take up of cell numbers which have 786 in its sequence - an auspicious number for the Muslim community or iTOUCH which provided cellphone rings in the tunes of Bollywood (yes, that's the correct spelling) to be downloaded. Ask American Swiss who now retail 'Mangal Sutras' (a piece of jewellery worn by married Hindu women). Even Yahoo provides Diwali and Eid cards.

Marketers and communicators who take a little effort to understand the Asian community, especially in KZN, reap the rewards. Ster Kinekor recently screened "Kuch Kuch Hota Hai"(Something is happening), a Bollywood flick which outsold Titanic in South Africa and is still playing over a year later in Rustenburg!

Now if only Kellogg's could understand that its cornflakes are used in a spicy snack called "Chevra", or Tasty Wheat Cereal knew that it is used to create a hot dessert called "Soji", a common sweet dish at Indian weddings, and the reason "Marmite" does not perform well in these communities is as a result of an old brand association with beef... something Hindus, in the main, do not consume.

Unlike other Asian communities in the world, the South African one considers this country as home and sees themselves as South African in lifestyle while still holding on to cultural values. But sometimes this valuable market is neglected... and by the way, it's not MANOSH, MANJO or MONAJ, it's pronounced "MAN-ORJ"!