🔗 Share this article

Originally found over 150 years ago in the oil fields of Pennsylvania, the humble pot of Vaseline could hardly be considered an natural focus for social media algorithms.

Yet the brand’s emergence as a TikTok talking point has positioned it at the vanguard of an marketing transformation, seeing big businesses investing heavily in content creators and devoting less capital to marketing items in conventional outlets.

From Oil Rigs to Online Hacks

First created commercially in the 1870s by a chemist, Robert Cheeseborough, who observed drillers rubbing their skin with a byproduct of the drilling process. Currently, a wave of user-generated videos have recorded its extensive utilization in “practical tricks”.

It has been touted as a solution for polishing footwear or prolonging the scent of perfume, along with a cure for noisy doorways. It has even been deployed to prevent the annoyance of chip seasoning clinging to fingers.

Leveraging the Buzz

Noticing its viral resurgence, strategists within the corporation enhanced the tricks by asking their own scientists to test them and letting the content creators in on the results.

Assertions that it diminished the sting of chili on the mouth were confirmed. This was also the case for ideas it could extend fragrance and revive leather bags. Proposals that it might bleach teeth or lengthen eyelashes were debunked.

A Plan Built on ‘Social Listening’

Billboards and TV ads would once have dominated Unilever’s advertising drive. But the Vaseline phenomenon has led decision-makers to turbocharge spending on content creators.

This observation of social channels to shape commercial tactics has been labeled “social listening”. Fernando Fernández, recently appointed, has indicated the goal is to spend a full fifty percent of its huge ad budget on platform-based material.

Evolving With Audience Behavior

The company's social media lead, who is leading the online push, said the company was simply adapting to new ways of reaching consumers. She said interacting online “without killing the party” was essential.

“What is the key to genuine brand integration? That’s always what we’ve been trying to do as brands, back to when people were hanging out their laundry and talking about what they used.

“We are witnessing a departure from a mass communication approach, where we would just broadcast out … Now it’s many conversations, diverse communities. The evolution of platform algorithms means that these audiences appear specific, yet they are vast.

“If you can make sure your brand is shared by users, recommended by peers, that fosters reliability and pertinence. Content makers are key. We are expanding this endorsement system.”

A Revolutionary Change in Media

The approach indicates seismic changes taking place in media consumption, with younger consumers devoting greater hours to apps like TikTok and Instagram than legacy broadcast and print media.

The shift is reflected in declines in traditional media advertising. Across Britain, ad revenues for leading TV channels have fallen by more than £600m in inflation-adjusted terms since 2019.

The Rise of the Creator Economy

This further signifies a merging of functions as large companies almost become production houses themselves, collaborating with a multitude of digital creators to boost their products.

An industry expert from a leading agency said: “Naturally, an exodus of attention away from some legacy media and they’re spending a lot more time on digital video and image apps than they are consuming linear broadcasts or printed matter.

“A lot of brands are telling us consumers have more faith in suggestions from the creators they engage with over traditional advertisements. That’s a consistent trend.”

He said brands could also save money by focusing on influencers over expensive broadcast campaigns, which also enables easier content adjustment to gauge performance.

This strategy is expanding. Promotional expenditure on influencer marketing is growing fourfold quicker than total media spending. In the US, it has increased by over 100% since 2021 and is projected to reach multi-billion dollar sums in 2025.

Traditional Media's Continued Place

Regardless of the massive shift, experts said they believed broadcast ads retained significant importance to play, as broadcasters retained the power to drive countrywide discourse.

Sykes said: “One of the highest return-on-investment media opportunities is still events like the Super Bowl. The issue isn't broadcasters claiming: ‘Oh, we’re not relevant any more.’ It concerns who commands eyeballs … There is undoubtedly a future for traditional media.”