🔗 Share this article

First identified over 150 years ago on a Pennsylvania oilfield, the modest tin of Vaseline might not appear as an clear candidate for online content feeds.

Nonetheless, its ascent as a viral TikTok topic has placed it at the forefront of an advertising revolution, seeing big businesses investing heavily in content creators and putting fewer resources into marketing items in conventional outlets.

The Path from Petroleum to Platforms

The petroleum jelly was first manufactured in the 1870s by scientist Robert Cheeseborough, who observed drillers applying to their skin with a derivative of drilling. Today, a spree of user-generated videos have chronicled its broad application in “life hacks”.

Promoted as a fix for dirty sneakers or prolonging the scent of perfume, and also a remedy for noisy doorways. Its use has even extended to stop the scourge of chip seasoning clinging to fingers.

Capitalising on the Conversation

Noticing its viral resurgence, strategists within the corporation amplified the hacks by having their research teams evaluate the claims and providing creators with the outcome data.

Claims that Vaseline reduced the burn from hot food on the lips were confirmed. This was also the case for ideas it could extend fragrance and restore leather handbags. Suggestions it could bleach teeth or lengthen eyelashes were disproven.

A Plan Built on ‘Social Listening’

Print ads and broadcast spots would once have dominated Unilever’s advertising drive. Yet this viral episode has helped convince executives to ramp up funding for content creators.

This observation of social channels to inform business strategy has been dubbed “social listening”. Fernando Fernández, recently appointed, has suggested it is aiming to spend 50% of its massive marketing spend on social media content.

Adapting to New Consumer Habits

The company's social media lead, who is leading the online push, said the company was just evolving with contemporary approaches of reaching consumers. She said engaging on social media “without killing the party” was paramount.

“What is the key to genuine brand integration? This has perpetually been our aim as brands, back to when people were hanging out their laundry and talking about what they used.

“There’s this moving away from a mass communication approach, where we would just transmit messages … Now it’s many conversations, various groups. Changes in digital feeds means that these groups seem specialized, however, they are large.

“Ensuring your product is discussed by consumers, mentioned by individuals, this builds credibility and connection. Content makers are key. We are expanding this endorsement system.”

A Seismic Media Shift

The approach indicates dramatic transformations occurring in how media is consumed, with Gen Z and millennial audiences devoting greater hours to digital networks than television, magazines or radio.

This change is evidenced by declines in broadcast and newspaper ads. Within the United Kingdom, commercial funding for primary networks have dropped substantially in inflation-adjusted terms since 2019.

Influencer Marketing Expansion

It also reflects a blurring of media roles as brands effectively act as media producers, partnering with hundreds of content creators to boost their products.

Leon Harlow said: “Clearly, there is a migration of viewers out of certain traditional media outlets and their time is increasingly on social platforms like Instagram, TikTok and YouTube than they are consuming linear broadcasts or printed matter.

“Many companies report to us consumers have more faith in suggestions from the creators they engage with compared to commercial messages. This is a persistent pattern.”

He added firms may also cut expenditures by investing in creators over large-scale legacy ad buys, which also allows them to tweak their content more easily to see what works.

Such methods are increasing. Advertising spending on digital creator partnerships is rising at quadruple the rate than the broader media sector. In the US, it has over doubled since 2021 and is forecast to attain tens of billions in 2025.

The Enduring Power of Broadcast

Regardless of the massive shift, executives said they believed TV advertising still had a prominent role to play, as broadcasters retained the power to drive countrywide discourse.

She added: “Among the most effective advertising investments is still the Super Bowl. It's not a matter of networks declaring: ‘We are no longer pertinent.’ It concerns who commands eyeballs … I believe there is absolutely a role for them.”