Muslims: the audience brands can't afford to ignore

Presented by – Arif Miah, Creative Strategy Director, & Ala Uddin, Executive Creative Director, mud orange

Arif is creative strategy director at a London creative shop, mud orange. After making the transition from consultancy at EY, Arif went on to join Ogilvy and then later ODD, to work on some of the biggest brands in the country including Vodafone, Boots, and Tesco.

Alongside his Creative Strategy, Arif has written two national reports, ‘The Great British Ramadan’ and ‘Modest Fashion: The Industry’s Best kept Secret’, to help brands understand and engage with the burgeoning Muslim consumer. At mud orange, he now works across lifestyle and tech brands while providing a strategic specialism in Muslim audiences. Away from work, he is a failed rapper in denial. 

Ala is executive creative director at a London creative shop, mud orange. He spent the first few years of his creative career across different design studios and agencies; where he worked as a designer on brands such as Marks & Spencer, Network Rail and Somerset House. Ala then went on to join Dorling Kindersley at Penguin Randomhouse, where he specialised in web and book design, to help engage a young contemporary audience. After his stint in publishing, he went on to set up his own design practice where he focused on projects that resonate with BAME audiences, such as Nikesh Shukla’s “The Good Journal”. At mud orange, he brings effective creative direction to much-needed areas for brands.

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Kristian is a senior communications professional, specialising in insights & analytics who also has experience leading PR, content marketing and social media programmes.  An award-winning consultant, Kristian has worked for global brands such as Lenovo, Cisco, Coca-Cola, Alipay, Vodafone and Zebra Technologies. He was also named in PRWeek’s 30 Under 30 list in 2018. Kristian currently also serves as an Advisory Board Member for BME PR Pros’ Blueprint initiative.

Having ties to three very different countries has given Julian a keen interest in issues around identity, multiculturalism and diversity. His passion for these topics led him to head up the Diversity and Equality department at Manifest London, the comms agency he has worked at for nearly eight years. In 2017, Julian was named in PR Week’s prestigious 30 Under 30, an annual list of thirty young stars of UK PR.

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