Podcast pioneer

It takes a lot to stand out in the crowded financial sector. Industry giants offer near-identical promises alongside cliché visuals of customers moving into new homes and enjoying family life.

Hejaz Financial Services takes a different approach, not only by specializing in Islamic financial services, but also through its approach to marketing and community building.

Inspired by Red Bull’s world-famous approach to branding, Ali Ozyon, Chief Marketing Officer of Hejaz Financial Services, wanted to create something that would differentiate his company from its competitors.

“I realized this would be a great way to entertain our customers while building our network and subtly promoting our brand, ensuring we’ll always be front of mind.”

“I love the way Red Bull does their promotions,” Ozyon says. “They’re almost like an entertainment company rather than a drinks company, and they use their platform to sell their product. Obviously, the financial services sector is different, we can’t do stunts with airplanes (although I’d love to try). But we needed something that would get people’s attention, something more professional.”

After considering his options, Ozyon saw an opportunity in podcasting. At the time, two years ago, there were few popular Australian podcasts and even fewer about the Muslim community.

“I realized this would be a great way to entertain our customers while building our network and subtly promoting our brand, ensuring we’ll always be front of mind,” Ozyon says.

Overcoming obstacles

Having prepared his podcasting plans, Ozyon had to win over the rest of the business, most importantly his father, the CEO.

“It took a lot of back-and-forth with Dad,” Ozyon says. “He didn’t believe in it at first, a lot of people didn’t believe in it. It took a long time, but eventually I convinced him to give it a try.”

With the initial green light, the next big question was who would host the podcast.

“The team came up to me and said, ‘We want you to do it,’” Ozyon says. “At first, I said ‘No, I’m an introvert, I like being quiet and keeping to myself’, but the team insisted. They wanted me to build my skills and help my personality come out.”

“The day I stopped looking at my competition is the day we started annihilating the competition.”

Fortunately, Ozyon overcame his reservations and the first episode of the Out of Interest podcast launched on 23 November 2022, featuring Australian runner and Olympian Peter Bol.

“The first episode did really well, especially on YouTube,” Ozyon says. “From that moment on, everyone was sold on the idea. Everyone was like ‘All right, we’re doing this.’”

Since then, the podcast has grown a devoted following and featured famous guests including Islamic scholar Nouman Ali Khan, heavy-weight boxing champion Tyson Fury and comedian Tahir Bilgiç.

“At the start it was really tough, but as time went on, I started getting the hang of it and the real Ali came out,” he says. “Over time, people started reaching out to me to emcee events. I never used to do that sort of thing, but now I love going on stage, talking to people and making them laugh. I get so much satisfaction out of it.”

Benefiting the business

A common challenge faced by marketing departments is attributing branding activities to the bottom line, but Ozyon is confident his podcast is a winning strategy.

“My brand has personally grown quite a bit in the last couple of years, but the goal is not to become famous,” he says. “The goal is to help the company, and if that means that I’ve got to build my networks, I’ve got to be out there more.”

One of the ways Ozyon has built on the popularity of the podcast is by creating invite-only live events, bringing together influencers and well-known figures in the community.

“We did this in Sydney with special guest, former UFC Featherweight Champion Alexander Volkanovski,” Ozyon says. “Guests loved it, and this enabled me to create personal relationships with the influencers.”

This has proven its worth at a recent event in Melbourne, where several of the influencers attended and promoted Hejaz and the event via their channels for free.

“Now every time we want to do a promotion, I can reach out and ask them to promote us and they’ll deliver,” Ozyon says. “They’ll all do it just purely because I gave them an experience no-one else is going to give them.”

“I want to create an environment where you can talk about finance and have fun at the same time.”

Beyond just networking, Ozyon believes customer success depends on making business and finance fun.

“If you’re going on stage in a suit talking about financial products, it’s boring, you’re not going to fill up a room with that. I want to create an environment where you can talk about finance and have fun at the same time. It doesn’t always have to be a serious talk, that’s what we’ve got to keep aiming for.”

Case in point, when Hejaz launched Australia’s first sharia-compliant exchange-traded fund, a comedian kicked off the event with a half-hour set which brought several audience members onstage for a fashion catwalk competition.

As a result, Hejaz has gained a reputation for hosting entertaining events featuring similar guests as the podcast, all while subtly promoting its brand and financial products. It’s an approach that would never have been possible without Ozyon’s vision, determination and willingness to take risks.

“The day I stopped looking at my competition is the day we started annihilating the competition,” he says. “Why? Because they started looking at us. They started mimicking us. You’ve got to keep thinking outside the box. It’s your world, your destiny. If someone copies you, you shouldn’t even know about it. Just keep looking ahead.”