KUALA LUMPUR: Decades-old skin ointment, touted as an excellent pimple-fighting agent, has seen a revival in Malaysia, defying the pandemic-era depression that has hit other businesses.
And this is all thanks to social media app TikTok.
Nisolab, which owns the licensing rights to Nixoderm in Malaysia and Singapore, saw retail sale of the ointment rise by up to 40%. Sale on online store Shopee has doubled.
The sudden boost in sale caught Prime Group, which owns Nisolab, by surprise, managing director Tan Sri M. Ariffin Yusuf told Bernama.
“At first we didn’t know why the sale was suddenly doing so well. After all, the economy is not been good.”
He said his staff eventually found videos showcasing the effectiveness of Nixoderm in fighting acne.
The trend began with a video by Amir Aqram Azizi on the @thedancedoc Tik Tok account on Dec 16 last year, explaining how the ointment can combat acne.
It racked up over 208,100 views with almost 14,000 likes.
Other videos soon followed, racking up more than half a million views and almost 48,000 likes, documenting the users’ journey towards a blemish-free skin.
Several TikTok users have since posted videos of themselves purchasing the product.
Dr Suhaimee Saahar, who teaches digital marketing and social media at Universiti Teknologi Mara, said many companies strive for virality on social media but only a few succeed.
“It’s a dream come true for any company – for consumers and followers to generate content for
free and have everyone join in,” he said.
However, going viral can turn out badly too.
In December 2019, Peloton, a high-end interactive exercise equipment company, released an ad featuring a woman who charted her efforts to lose weight using an exercise bike her husband gave her for Christmas.
Social media users took issue with the storyline and the ad, which depicted an already thin woman struggling to lose more weight, accusing the company of sexism. The viral ad and the backlash wiped out US$1.5 billion (RM6 billion) of its market value within three days.
