Modest wear brand Naelofar names Azureen Rusdi head of marketing

Former MullenLowe strategist Azureen Rusdi has joined modest wear brand Naelofar as head of marketing, overseeing the Malaysia, Southeast Asia and Europe markets. Azureen (pictured) leads the marketing strategy and execution of marketing programmes for the segments under Naelofar - hijab, ready to wear, sports and merchandise, as well as drive collaboration and cross promotions and leverages internal support.She reports to CEO Mohd Aqief and influencer and entrepreneur Neelofa. 

She is also tasked to establish brand positioning, identify target audiences as well as new opportunities, and develop marketing plans to drive business objectives across different channels and segments. All these are being done with the goal of being the market leader in modest fashion by 2021, she told A+M. Additionally, Azureen is responsible for developing content strategy for social and digital platforms, conceptualising and executing multi-channel campaigns, and ensuring the alignment of communications and messaging across all channels. 

Azureen was previously on the agency side, helming the roles of strategy lead at MullenLowe; director, strategic planning at Entropia; senior planning manager and creative strategist at Leo Burnett; and junior strategist at Naga DDB Tribal, among others, according to her LinkedIn. "Throughout my stint as a Muslim market strategist in my previous roles, I have had the privilege to work with some international brands to build local affinity within our market. This time round, when I received the offer to build a very well-known local brand such as Naelofar to a global level, it is an exhilarating challenge that I did not want to miss," Azureen told A+M.

She added that her time in creative, media and digital agencies has its perks. Having had great mentors, worked on several campaigns and brands at the same time, juggled between pitches has provided Azureen real-life case studies on how she can help build the Naelofar brand and business, while managing the stress in a very fast-paced industry.

Being able to work with one of her role models, Neelofa, is also a plus point. Additionally, she said that entrepreneurship and modest fashion have always been areas that she is passionate about. According to Azureen, Naelofar's brand promise is always to help every woman feel confident with their choice to choose modest wear. Its tagline "Go Far", is all about giving them that affirmation that modest wear should not be the reason for them to feel constrained or limited in any way.

"In fact, we created Naelofar so they can feel their best when they are out to achieve their ambitions and dreams. And that is the exact same vision I aspire to push via this role. People,insights and experience will always be at the forefront of everything we do, of course always with the end goal of taking the Naelofar brand to the next level and bringing value to the customer's life beyond just the product," she explained.

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