🔗 Share this article

First identified over 150 years ago within a Pennsylvania drilling site, the humble pot of Vaseline might not appear as an natural focus for social media algorithms.

Yet the brand’s emergence as a TikTok talking point has placed it at the forefront of an advertising revolution, where major corporations are allocating substantial funds to content creators and devoting less capital to promoting products in conventional outlets.

The Path from Petroleum to Platforms

The petroleum jelly was first manufactured in the 1870s by scientist Robert Cheeseborough, who saw laborers applying to their skin with a byproduct of the drilling process. Now, a flood of user-generated videos have chronicled its broad application in “practical tricks”.

It has been touted as a solution for polishing footwear or prolonging the scent of perfume, and also a remedy for noisy doorways. Its use has even extended to stop the scourge of crisp flavouring sticking to fingers.

Leveraging the Buzz

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

Claims that Vaseline reduced the sensation of spicy food on lips were validated. So too were ideas it could prolong perfume and rejuvenate purses. Suggestions it could brighten smiles or extend lashes were disproven.

The ‘Social Listening’ Strategy

Billboards and TV ads would once have formed the bulk of its promotional efforts. Yet this viral episode has helped convince executives to turbocharge spending on content creators.

This observation of social channels to inform business strategy has been dubbed “social listening”. Unilever's CEO, freshly instated, has stated the intention is to spend half of its colossal advertising budget on platform-based material.

Shifting to Modern Engagement

The company's social media lead, who is leading the online push, said the company was just evolving with contemporary approaches of engaging audiences. She said participating on platforms “without spoiling the atmosphere” was crucial.

“How do brands authentically become part of the conversation? This remains our core objective as brands, since the era of community gossip and talking about what they used.

“There’s this moving away from a mass communication approach, where we would just broadcast out … Currently, it's countless discussions, many communities. The evolution of platform algorithms means that these audiences appear specific, but they’re not.

“If you can make sure your brand is shared by other people, recommended by peers, that fosters reliability and pertinence. Influencers are vital for this. We are expanding this endorsement system.”

A Seismic Media Shift

The approach indicates seismic changes happening in audience habits, with Gen Z and millennial audiences allocating more attention to digital networks than television, magazines or radio.

The transition is visible in declines in traditional media advertising. Within the United Kingdom, advertising income for leading TV channels have dropped substantially in real terms since 2019.

The Rise of the Creator Economy

It also reflects a blurring of media roles as corporations essentially turn into content studios, linking up with numerous influencers to boost their products.

An industry expert from a leading agency said: “Obviously there’s a flow of audiences out of certain traditional media outlets and they’re spending a lot more time on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube than they are viewing scheduled television or reading physical magazines.

“A lot of brands are telling us people trust recommendations from the creators they engage with over traditional advertisements. It's an ongoing shift.”

He added firms may also cut expenditures by targeting content creators over large-scale legacy ad buys, which also permits simpler message refinement to see what works.

The approach is growing. Marketing investment on digital creator partnerships is growing fourfold quicker than the media industry overall. In the US, it has more than doubled since 2021 and is expected to hit tens of billions in 2025.

TV's Lasting Role

Despite the huge changes, executives said they believed TV advertising still had a prominent role to play, as networks still held the capability to shape the national conversation.

The executive noted: “Among the most effective advertising investments is still the Super Bowl. It’s not about those broadcasters saying: ‘Oh, we’re not relevant any more.’ It concerns who commands eyeballs … I believe there is absolutely a role for them.”