🔗 Share this article

As a product discovered over 150 years ago on a Pennsylvania oilfield, the humble pot of Vaseline could hardly be considered an clear candidate for digital platform algorithms.

Yet the brand’s emergence as a popular subject on TikTok has positioned it at the vanguard of an promotional upheaval, where major corporations are allocating substantial funds to content creators and putting fewer resources into promoting products in conventional outlets.

From Oil Rigs to Online Hacks

First created commercially in the 1870s by chemist Robert Cheeseborough, who saw laborers using on their skin with a derivative of drilling. Today, a spree of user-generated videos have documented the product’s widespread use in “life hacks”.

It has been touted as a remedy for cleaning shoes or extending perfume longevity, and also a remedy for squeaky doors. It has even been deployed to stop the scourge of snack dust adhering to hands.

Harnessing the Hype

Detecting the product’s new life online, strategists within the corporation amplified the hacks by asking their own scientists to test them and sharing the findings with influencers.

Claims that Vaseline reduced the sting of chili on the mouth were confirmed. So too were ideas it could prolong perfume and rejuvenate purses. Suggestions it could bleach teeth or lengthen eyelashes were refuted.

A Plan Built on ‘Social Listening’

Print ads and broadcast spots would once have dominated Unilever’s advertising drive. However, this online trend has persuaded leaders to turbocharge spending on content creators.

This tracking of digital spaces to guide corporate planning has been termed “social listening”. Fernando Fernández, recently appointed, has suggested it is aiming to spend a full fifty percent of its huge ad budget on social media content.

Adapting to New Consumer Habits

A leading Unilever executive, who is spearheading the social media effort, said the company was merely adjusting to novel methods of reaching consumers. She said interacting online “without spoiling the atmosphere” was crucial.

“What is the key to genuine brand integration? This has perpetually been our aim as brands, since the era of community gossip and talking about what they used.

“We are witnessing a departure from a broadcast model, where we would just broadcast out … Currently, it's countless discussions, many communities. Changes in digital feeds means that these groups seem specialized, however, they are large.

“If you can make sure your brand is shared by users, mentioned by individuals, this builds credibility and connection. Influencers are vital for this. We’re really scaling this advocacy model.”

A Seismic Media Shift

The strategy reflects profound shifts happening in audience habits, with Gen Z and millennial audiences devoting greater hours to digital networks than legacy broadcast and print media.

The shift is reflected in declines in traditional media advertising. Within the United Kingdom, ad revenues for major broadcasters have dropped substantially in real terms since 2019.

The Rise of the Creator Economy

Additionally, it points to a merging of functions as corporations essentially turn into content studios, partnering with hundreds of content creators to promote their goods.

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 watching live TV or reading print.

“Numerous corporations inform us consumers have more faith in suggestions from the personalities they subscribe to more than they trust ads. That’s a consistent trend.”

He said brands could also save money by targeting content creators over expensive broadcast campaigns, which also allows them to tweak their content more easily to gauge performance.

Such methods are increasing. Marketing investment on digital creator partnerships is growing fourfold quicker than the broader media sector. Stateside, it has more than doubled since 2021 and is projected to reach tens of billions in 2025.

Traditional Media's Continued Place

Even with this transformation, industry figures said they believed television commercials still played a key part to play, as networks still held the capability to shape the national conversation.

She added: “Among the most effective advertising investments is still the Super Bowl. It’s not about those broadcasters saying: ‘Our relevance has faded.’ The focus is on who seizes focus … I think there’s 100% a place for them.”