🔗 Share this article

Originally found over 150 years ago in the oil fields of Pennsylvania, the humble pot of Vaseline might not appear as an clear candidate for social media algorithms.

Yet the brand’s emergence as a viral TikTok topic has thrust it into the lead of an marketing transformation, in which large companies are investing heavily in content creators and reducing expenditure on promoting products in traditional media.

A Journey from Drilling to Digital

Originally produced in the 1870s by scientist Robert Cheeseborough, who observed drillers rubbing their skin with a derivative of drilling. Today, a spree of content from users have chronicled its broad application in “life hacks”.

It has been touted as a remedy for cleaning shoes or prolonging the scent of perfume, and also a remedy for noisy doorways. Its use has even extended to stop the scourge of snack dust adhering to hands.

Harnessing the Hype

Detecting the product’s new life online, marketers at Unilever enhanced the tricks by asking their own scientists to test them and letting the content creators in on the results.

Suggestions that it lessened the sting of chili on the mouth were confirmed. Similarly supported were ideas it could extend fragrance and restore leather handbags. Claims that it would bleach teeth or make eyelashes longer were disproven.

A Plan Built on ‘Social Listening’

Outdoor advertising and television commercials would once have dominated Unilever’s advertising drive. However, this online trend has led decision-makers to turbocharge spending on content creators.

This monitoring of online platforms to inform business strategy has been termed “social listening”. The company's chief executive, freshly instated, has indicated the goal is to spend half of its colossal advertising budget on social media content.

Adapting to New Consumer Habits

A leading Unilever executive, who is heading the digital initiative, said the company was merely adjusting to novel methods of engaging audiences. She said interacting online “without dampening the fun” was essential.

“What is the key to genuine brand integration? This has perpetually been our aim as brands, dating to when neighbors chatted over fences and discussing household products.

“There’s this moving away from a mass communication approach, where we would just transmit messages … Currently, it's countless discussions, various groups. Changes in digital feeds means that these audiences appear specific, however, they are large.

“Having your brand advocated by users, mentioned by individuals, that fosters reliability and pertinence. Influencers are vital for this. We’re really scaling this advocacy model.”

A Revolutionary Change in Media

This plan mirrors seismic changes happening in audience habits, with Gen Z and millennial audiences allocating more attention to apps like TikTok and Instagram than television, magazines or radio.

This change is evidenced by drops in TV and print advertising. In the UK, commercial funding for leading TV channels have fallen by more than £600m in inflation-adjusted terms since 2019.

The Creator Economy Boom

Additionally, it points to a media convergence as brands effectively act as media producers, collaborating with a multitude of digital creators to boost their products.

An industry expert from a leading agency said: “Naturally, an exodus of attention from conventional channels and they are dedicating far more hours to Instagram, TikTok and YouTube than they are viewing scheduled television or reading physical magazines.

“Numerous corporations inform us people trust recommendations from the creators they engage with compared to commercial messages. That’s a consistent trend.”

He noted companies can reduce costs by investing in creators over large-scale legacy ad buys, which also allows them to tweak their content more easily to test effectiveness.

Such methods are increasing. Promotional expenditure on influencer marketing is rising at quadruple the rate than the media industry overall. Stateside, it has more than doubled since 2021 and is expected to hit multi-billion dollar sums in 2025.

The Enduring Power of Broadcast

Despite the huge changes, experts said they believed broadcast ads retained significant importance to play, as networks still held the capability to frame public debate.

The executive noted: “A top-tier ROI marketing event is still the Super Bowl. The issue isn't broadcasters claiming: ‘We are no longer pertinent.’ It concerns who commands eyeballs … I think there’s 100% a place for them.”