To survive a world that is often highly saturated in most fields, many companies have come to believe that creating new and/or upgrading products are the way to go. New colors of lipstick and eyeshadow are developed almost every season from the world’s most popular beauty brands, and small alterations to people’s favorite handbags or other accessories are sold as brand-new products.
This has led to the perception that to keep ahead, you must forge ahead with new products as soon as possible before consumers find something newer and more exciting than your products.
But then how do some of the world’s oldest branded, and basic, products continue to be found on store shelves?
Let’s take Vaseline for example.
Discovered in 1859, Vaseline is the world’s only three-time purified petroleum jelly. It was created with the purpose of helping people heal their wounds, but by 1880s people were finding more and more ways to use the pure petroleum jelly.
Vaseline is a brand that has long conquered how purpose-driven products can do so well, even decades after its invention and release. Creating a purpose-driven product creates a powerful initiative that propels users to experiment, play, and create content (spread word) about their own experiences and uses for the product.
It has helped young men and women around the world in various ways and situations. Through its wide range of Everyday, Beauty, Self-care and Survival hacks that people have found out through experimentation, and trial and error.
Vaseline does not need to market its product because people are already doing it for them. Here are some examples.
Beauty Uses
One of the most popular topics that have expanded Vaseline’s uses over the years since its discovery, has been its beauty uses.
The number of things that people have found out, and you can find dozens of blogs and YouTube videos on each subject, is crazy.
Hundreds of videos can be found that dedicate themselves on ways you can use Vaseline, and around half will have a focus on Beauty.
Vaseline has become well-known for being a great lip and face moisturizer, so much so that after hearing the large amount of consumer affection and online content, the brand has come out with a new range of products specifically for these reasons.
The brand can also be used to lengthen eyelashes, as a cleanser, and to gloss lips or matte lipstick. Dab some Vaseline on your favorite places to perfume, then spray on it for longer-lasting smells as well.
It also helps in protecting your favorite fashion items, such as leather jackets and shoes. Just put the jelly on it, rub it in, and then wipe away to moisturize and lengthen your pieces’ life span.
Self-care Uses
Originally for self-care, and medical purposes, Vaseline’s repertoire has expanded quite a lot over the decades. Here are some of the popular self-care uses for the product.
Many YouTubers are in love with Vaseline’s softening abilities, stating that putting a liberal amount of it and wearing socks or gloves then sleeping will leave hands and feet gorgeously soft. Some bloggers state that you can prolong your favorite moisturizer by adding Vaseline to it.
It can also help with fever and sunburn relief, simply by cooling the jelly in the fridge for 5-10 minutes before applying.
It’s already super popular as a lip-scrub, where you can add sea salt or sugar to the jelly and rubbing it on your lips to make them softer. Some have promised that it can stop chafing and rashes by apply it on the places you get them the most.
Everyday Uses
Vaseline may have started out as the “wonder jelly” that helped seal wounds from infections, which is still a popular method today and is something that many healthcare professionals still use today, but it has grown over its humble beginnings.
Life Hacks have included Vaseline as an easy way to unstick stuck zippers, remove stuck objects such as tight rings, loosen rusty objects such as cabinet doors and etc. You can find many of these hacks on Life Hack videos all over YouTube.
They even help with ants in the summer, dab Vaseline on the bottoms of plates, glasses, pots, and anything else. Ants are not likely to bother your left out food and drinks when they have to climb over sticky Vaseline to get to them.
Some people have even stated that dabbing some of the jelly near your nose, and small quantities inside of it, will protect you from allergies and its symptoms.
Survival Hacks
Other than its ability to protect wounds from dirt and other germs that would infect it, Vaseline has become a prevalent item in many hikers’ and campers’ kits.
It provides relief from poison ivy, lubricates keys and locks that have rusted, can protect from frostbite (where hands and feet can crack open from dryness from the cold), and it is a great fire starter if you have a cotton ball that you can rub the jelly on.
It can even work as an improvised candle for emergencies.
Giving what the public wants
As you can see, Vaseline’s marketing efforts aren’t even from the brand, it comes from its fans.
Vaseline shows us that when we focus our energies on creating products that provide a full solution and with purpose-driven marketing, not product-driven, we can make evangelists from everyday consumers.
Other than content that spreads our brand, this method can also help us create new products such as Vaseline’s new line of moisturizers and lip balms. All we need is to do some social listening, and we can improve our product range and enjoy the love from our consumers.
What are some of the ways you use Vaseline? Let us know your hacks in the comments.
