Creators have made 155-year-old Vaseline one of Unilever’s fastest growing brands, says CMO Leandro Barreto

Vaseline is a 155-year-old brand that has been “reinvented through the hands of creators,” said Leandro Barreto, chief marketing officer at Unilever.

Barreto said brand leaders thought Vaseline was a straightforward beauty brand, but they learned that customers use the product in many different ways — like on their dog’s noses or in their shoes.

“We started understanding we should give the brand back to the communities and let them do with it what was more relevant for them,” Barreto said. “It’s a proof for us of consistency of meaning, flexibility of the execution and culture.”