The Islamic brand is a new trend the world is seeing today. Miles Young, chairman of advertising giant Ogilvy & Mather Asia Pacific, recently presented a session on the subject at the World Islamic Economic Forum in Kuala Lumpur to a full house. This witty, tie-loving Englishman took a break from his sessions at Putra World Trade Centre to tell ANANDHI GOPINATH what an Islamic brand is, and how the marketing world is about to change because of it.

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About the Author

Miles Young’s career in advertising has spanned Lintas, Allen Brady & Marsh and Ogilvy & Mather, which he joined in 1983. He was educated at Bedford School and also at New College, Oxford, where he took a first class degree in Modern History.

Miles was appointed to the Board of O&M Advertising in London in 1986 and Client Services Director in 1988. In February 1990, he became Managing Director of Ogilvy & Mather Direct in London, Chairman of O&M Dataconsult, and O&M Teleservices. In May 1992, he became Deputy Chairman and in 1993, Chairman. He was a Regional Director of O&M Direct Europe from 1990 to 1995.

From 1994 to 1995, he had the additional responsibility of bedding in and running the IBM account in Europe which had previously been held by some 40 separate agencies. This included setting up a dedicated service centre in Paris for both advertising and direct marketing; and Miles has lectured and written widely on the subject of integrated marketing, a special interest.

In September 1995, he moved to Hong Kong to take up the position of Chairman of Ogilvy & Mather Asia/Pacific, and serves on Board and the Executive Committee of Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide. During this period, Ogilvy & Mather has grown significantly in size and marketshare, and has been repeatedly acknowledged as “Agency of the Year” by Media Magazine.

He represents WPP’s corporate interests in Asia, in addition to his Ogilvy responsibilities.

In his private life, he has been active in the London Government, and in a variety of work in the voluntary sector. He lives in Hong Kong, and is a collector of Chinese contemporary sculpture.

He is a visiting Professor of Xiamen University, and of the Zhejiang Wanli University. He is also co-founder of the Ogilvy-Tsinghua Programme for Public Branding, a joint venture with Tsinghua University, Beijing.