Keywords

Integrated, Tahfizpreneurship, Marketing Platform, Malaysia

Introduction

Marketing refers to activities performed by companies to promote the purchase or sale of products, services or goods Twin, (2020). involving the production process, communication, delivery and exchange of offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners and the wider community (AMA, 2017). According to Fifield (2012)., there are four interrelated aspects in marketing namely (i) An attitude of mind, (ii) A way of organizing the business, (iii) A range of activities and (iv) The producer of profits, which prioritize the needs, wants and desires of customers grounded by the concept of ‘Customer is King’ (Baker, 2014). Based on the aforementioned concept, marketing of entrepreneurial products has to be customer-based by providing adequate means, so as to enable these customers to successfully and efficiently access needed information, subsequently boosting the company’s sales revenue.

Digital marketing has evolved in accordance with time by way of digital channels to gain customers, present them with options, promote brands, and retain their loyalty as well as to increase sales revenue (Kannan, 2017). Changes in customers’ behavior in line with ICT 4.0 marketing approach Vassileva (2017). prompted companies to consider new strategies using digital domains in product marketing Tiago and Veríssimo (2014). in pursuance to stay competitive nationally and globally. Bala and Verma (2018) claimed that digital marketing can be profitable to a company if it optimizes utilization of digital channels as the main marketing medium in consequence of increased use of social media such as WhatsApp and Facebook which save cost, yet have commercial value. On that account, it is critical that digital platform as a new marketing era of media centralization to be exploited, for the sake of both parties (companies and customers) Figure 1.

Objectives of the study: (i) To identify PTIs product marketing concept in Malaysia and (ii) To introduce the P-MyTahfiz portal as an integrated digital marketing platform for PTIs products in Malaysia.

Methodology

The study began with a semi -structured interview process with selected entrepreneurs/administrators/founders of Private Tahfiz Institutions (PTIs) in Malaysia to identify the product marketing concept of PTIs products in Malaysia. Purposive sampling was employed in the sample selection involving 6 out of 22 PTIs that operate entrepreneurship in Malaysia. Findings of the interview were analyzed using content analysis methods comprising of data transcription process, reading and review of data, followed by the coding process and analysis of coded data, summarized in appropriate form (Mayring, 2014). Then, the P-MyTahfiz portal was presented starting with its current achievements where it competed in several innovation competitions, along with the criteria and uniqueness of the portal that made it highly competent to be utilized as an integrated digital marketing platform for PTIs products in Malaysia.

Discussion and Conclusion

Problem Solving: From Ideas to Reality

The scenario in Malaysia has displayed a steady growth in number of Private Tahfiz Institutions (PTIs) every year due to great demand from parents who want their children to become huffaz (memorizers of the Quran). Nevertheless, the infrastructure and management standards of tahfiz were discovered to be non-uniform since the background of establishment for each institution varies especially PITs, not to mention poor management of tahfiz institutions Ridza et al. (2017), lack of planned and organized work Nawi et al. (2017; 2014) and inadequate government funding assistance as well as wakaf (Kamal & Seman, 2017; Azha et al., 2013). Apart from that, the issue of PTIs accountability also becomes apparent incorporating illegal fundraising and mismanagement Bani et al. (2017; 2014) on the grounds of critical financial resource constraints (Ismail et al., 2017). Accountability is the keystone in an organization that comes forth as an image of transparency and integrity to strengthen public trust and confidence in the organization (Aziz & Ahmad, 2019). Consequently, the goal to generate 125,000 professional huffaz by year 2050 through the National Tahfiz Education Policy (DPTN) has shown to be affected. Hence, PTIs were recommended to be active in entrepreneurial activities as an alternative to generate their own income and finance for the survival of their respective institutions. This is supported by Yusopa et al. (2020), who stated that entrepreneurship is one of the sources of PITs’ income in addition to school fees, donations, zakat, wakaf and government fund assistance as a catalyst for the sustainability of PTIs in Malaysia.

Tahfizpreneurship is a contemporary term that merged the word tahfiz with entrepreneurship; in reference to entrepreneurial activities implemented in Private Tahfiz Institutions (PTIs) either in the form of products or services or both. According to Anas et al., (2019), the development of tahfizpreneurship model should emphasizes three important aspects namely (i) Identify the problems and challenges faced by PTIs, (ii) Application of entrepreneurial knowledge to PTIs’ management and administrators and (iii) Effective marketing strategy of PTIs’ products. It is essential for these three elements to be incorporated to produce a sustainable tahfiz model resulting from income generation, savings and optimal utilization of resource (Anas et al., 2020). Thus, entrepreneurship -related parties such as the Ministry of Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives (KPUK) and the National Entrepreneurship Institute (INSKEN) can channel information, training and appropriate entrepreneur assistance funds to increase PTIs’ entrepreneurial activities throughout Malaysia. Despite that, preliminary findings indicate that tahfizpreneurship products have been privately marketed by their respective PTIs either online or direct sales to consumers, through non-integrated platforms, limited to the population around PTIs and led to product dumping due to inefficient marketing (Table 1) Source: Based on the study’s interviews.

Table 1 Marketing Methods Of Selected Ptis’ Products/Services
PTIs	Products	Duration Of Entrepreneurship	Primary Marketing	Challenges
1	Livestock & Agriculture	4 years	Direct sales to customers	Capital constraints
			Printed	Existing concepts such as aqiqah and fresh meat are concentrated only in local area
	Goat/Cattle			High cost of frozen meat
			Paid newspaper advertising
	Vegetables
			Sales agent
			Acquaintances
			Electronics
			WhatsApp
			Facebook
2	Sunnah food products	8 years	Direct sales to customers	The absence of product marketers
				Inconsistent products
	Honey		Electronics	Capital constraints for advertising in printed & electronic media
	Habbatus sauda’		Facebook
	Olive oil
	Calligraphy frame
	Islamic treatment services
3	Vocational services	8 years	Direct sales to customers	More viable agricultural expertise
			Electronics
	Fertigation of vegetables
			Yezza
	Ruminant livestock
			Whatapps
	Aquaculture, food and beverage
			EQ2U
4	Mineral water	1 year	Direct sales to customers	Online marketing is unsatisfactory
	Home appliances		Manually to restaurants, workshops, suraus and mosques
	Water filter
	Air filter
	Vehicles
5	Livestock	3 years	Direct sales to customers	Supply of products solely for local areas
			Trading concept
	Cattle		Agent
			Printed
	Chicken
			Flyers
	Goat
			Electronics
	Food products
			Fb ads
	Banana chips
			WhatsApp blaster
	Coffee
	Cooking oil
	Dates
6	Hajj & Umrah Services	14 years	Promotion given directly to customers	Online marketing is unsatisfactory
	Takaful insurance services		Printed
	Halal chicken processing
			Brochures
			Electronics
			Facebook
			Website
			Instagram
			YouTube
			WhatsApp
Source: Based on the study’s interviews

The study’s outcome found that the PTIs selected for this study have conducted entrepreneurial activities between the duration of 1 to 14 years in the category of products and services involving livestock, agriculture, aquaculture, food and beverage based products, Islamic calligraphy products, Islamic treatment services, hajj and umrah services, takaful insurance and halal chicken processing. Furthermore, those PTIs also administered direct sales to customers, together with the use of print media such as paid advertisements in newspapers, flyers and brochures, including employment of agents from close acquaintances to sell their products.

On top of that, even marketing by means of electronic media has been utilized to enhance promotions and sales revenue such as through Facebook (FB ads included), WhatsApp (WhatsApp blaster included), Instagram, websites and EQ2U. The EQ2U platform developed by the 3rd PTI was identified to be in accordance with the objective of this study which is to produce an integrated platform for PTIs products as a ‘one stop center’ to facilitate customers when they access products/services. Be that as it may, the aforementioned platform is not used to its full potential since it only reaches the local community and its access is limited to certain products. Therefore, the attempt to set up an integrated digital marketing platform particularly for PTIs’ products/services throughout Malaysia is consider as a necessity for self-generated revenues and to further boost the sustainability of PTIs to achieve the target of producing 125,000 huffaz by year 2050 as stipulated in the National Tahfiz Education Policy (DPTN).

P-MyTahfiz Portal: Achievements and Uniqueness

The development of the portal began in year 2018 with its first participation in the 7th International Innovation, Invention & Design Competition (INDES, 2018) entitled 'Tahfizpreneurship Model (MT): Transformation of Private Tahfiz Governance in Malaysia' which then won two awards, Gold Medal Award and Best in Theme Entrepreneurship Category A (Professional/Academician), along with approval of the Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS) 2018 fund by the Ministry of Education Malaysia (MOE), worth RM 71,200 for 24 months (01/01/2019-31/12/2020) entitled 'Tahfizpreneurship Model of Private Tahfiz Governance in Malaysia '. In year 2019, P-Mytahfiz portal had competed in three international innovation competitions such as (i) The 2019 Inventors' Hall of Fame, International Competition of Ideas, Inventions & Innovations (i-fame 2019), (ii) Invention, Innovation and Design Exposition (iidex 2019) and (iii) 8th International Innovation, Invention & Design Competition (INDES 2019) where it won gold (INDES 2019), smart silver (i-fame 2019) and bronze (iidex 2019) medals

According to Pandya (2019), there are 6 integrated features that can make a business portal successful and able to attract users:

i. Interactive dashboards: Dashboards are the first thing noticed by users. Thus, they need to be interactive, simple, compact and easily accessible with plain visual representation to give a neat and clean appearance.

ii. Tracking: Organized tracking system that facilitates customers to communicate with portals related to product updates and orders that leads users to feel they are given priority in the sale and purchase of products.

iii. Self Service: Ensure the availability of brief and concise information for customers who face product-related problems before they contact the consumer complaints centre for their unresolved concerns.

iv. Multi-Device Accessibility: The developed portal must be backed by various devices such as smartphones, laptops, tablets, iPads and etc., to secure communication and interaction with users without restriction of time and space.

v. Business Logic: The development of an integrated portal must take into account the type of business and products to be marketed, besides being in accord with the needs of users.

vi. Reporting: Allow space for consumers to report product satisfaction and dissatisfaction to improve business dealings between the two parties from time to time.

P-MyTahfiz portal has four (4) unique traits that are consistent with the integrated features specified by Pandya (2019):

i. Integrated Platform: P-MyTahfiz Portal is developed as an integrated marketing platform for PTIs’ products/services to facilitate customers/users, enabling them to access them easily with the concept of ‘one stop center’.

ii. Product Category: The division of entrepreneurship category into products, services and states in Malaysia as primary basis of portal development.

iii. Non-Profit Platform: The portal plays the role of a non-profit platform, a mediator in marketing PTIs’ products/services throughout Malaysia funded by public/private research funds.

iv. Multi-Device Accessibility: It can be accessed across various devices and modern gadgets such as smartphones, tablets, computers and etc.

In conclusion, it is critical that the marketing of PTIs Malaysia’s products to be supported by various parties such as the Prime Minister's Department (JPM), Ministry of Entrepreneur and Cooperative Development (MEDAC), National Entrepreneurship Institute (INSKEN) and private tahfiz associations in order to magnify their respective institutions’ self-generated revenues by means of entrepreneurial activities. Hence, lessen the government's pressure in the distribution of aid funds each year to finance the administrative costs of PTIs in Malaysia, as well as preventing illegal public fundraising activities which in turn affect the accountability of PTIs themselves and increase their viability from time to time (Figure 2).

Acknowledgement

The study was funded by the Ministry of Education (MOE) under FRGS grant research funds with reference code FRGS/1/2018/SSI03/UITM/03/1 entitled ‘Tahfizpreneurship Model of Private Tahfiz Governance in Malaysia.

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