Academic Journalism and Dissemination Diversity – a new approach to Scholarship

If you’re looking for new ideas of how to approach scholarship, then here’s a working case study in practice

Subject Discipline Challenges

Launched in 2010, Journal of Islamic Marketing (JIMA) was the first journal dedicated to investigating Marketing’s relationship with Islam, in theory and practice, across Muslim majority and minority geographies. JIMA tackles the nuances associated with Muslim consumption patterns, doing business in Muslim markets, and targeting Muslim consumers.

However, this is a relatively new area. People need some more insight into what this area is, what it covers, and why it’s relevant to them?

Background Thinking

When I considered the acronyms for the emerging economies to watch: in 2001 it was BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, and China); and more recently in 2013 MINT (Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria, Turkey), and CIVETS (Columbia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Egypt, Turkey and South Africa) – then it became apparent to me that economies with large Muslim populations are growing in importance.

One quarter of the world’s population are Muslim, with well over half of Muslims today under the age of 25 – which prompted Miles Young, Global CEO of Ogilvy, to assert that  Muslims are the “third one billion”, following interest in Indian and Chinese billions, in terms of market opportunities.

Approach

I think a new approach to scholarship is needed, which harnesses the power of social media. Something which I call Academic Journalism.

This is because people search – they are information rich and time poor. It’s important to capture audiences who are increasingly reading on smartphones and tablets – they click and they share. Journal articles perhaps suffer in this arena. Plus, it’s really important to get ideas out there and to claim that space – especially when there is a lag between having a journal manuscript under review and the speed at which industry moves. An added benefit is that constantly thinking, writing, and sharing builds your network, and helps to improve your ability to express key points, to diverse audiences.

The following diagram summarises my approach:

Execution

A series of articles and talks designed to engage business audiences and the wider public – linked to current trends and news stories. It’s about switching hats from scholar to journalist – in order to navigate your work through the noise, and hand it to end-users and gatekeepers. Each piece is written with the objective of pulling out an aspect tackled in my journal papers. This is something that requires a proactive approach – you have to go out there and present your findings, because they won’t shout for you and not everyone is aware of when you publish a new paper. What this does is raise a flag to media news sources, other scholars, and industry. I’ve found that this is a better way than simply forwarding my papers or press releases. From this, I’ve picked up coverage from trade press, newspapers, television, and radio.

I concede that this is a big investment of time and such activities may not fit squarely into how many business schools currently assess academics or encourage them to spend their time. Most of this work falls outside of the whole journal rankings mindset and metrics. However, I strongly believe that things are going to change in the near future… or at least they have to, if we are to keep students and industry happy, right?!

Case Examples in Practice

In these pieces of work I cite my journal papers in JIMA, with embedded links where appropriate…

Covering an Economics conference

Covering a Marketing conference

Guardian article for marketers

Huffington Post article on consumer trends

Zawya Thomson Reuters concept whitepaper

SlideShare infographics

Aquila lifestyle article on cultural patterns

Aquila lifestyle article on cultural influences

Public Lecture at Bank Negara, Malaysia

Amilin TV Thomson Reuters interview

Putting it all on Google+

…then it’s all about broadcasting them through LinkedIn and hoping that people share them.

The papers being plugged

Wilson, J.A.J., Belk, R.W., Bamossy, G.J., Sandikci, O., Kartajaya, H., Sobh, R., Liu, J. & Scott, L. (2013), “Crescent Marketing, Muslim Geographies and Brand Islam: Reflections from the JIMA Senior Advisory Board”, Journal of Islamic Marketing, Vol.4 Iss.1, pp.22-50.

Wilson, J.A.J. & Grant, J. (2013), “Islamic Marketing – a challenger to the classical marketing canon?”, Journal of Islamic Marketing, Vol.4 Iss.1, pp.7-21.

Wilson, J.A.J. & Liu, J. (2011), “The Challenges of Islamic Branding: navigating Emotions and Halal”, Journal of Islamic Marketing, Vol.2 Iss.1, pp.28-42.

Wilson, J.A.J & Liu, J. (2010), “Shaping the Halal into a brand?”, Journal of Islamic Marketing, Vol.1 Iss.2., pp.107-123.