🔗 Share this article

As a product discovered over 150 years ago on a Pennsylvania oilfield, the humble pot of Vaseline might not appear as an natural focus for digital platform algorithms.

Nonetheless, its ascent as a viral TikTok topic has positioned it at the vanguard of an marketing transformation, where major corporations are allocating substantial funds to content creators and putting fewer resources into advertising goods in conventional outlets.

A Journey from Drilling to Digital

The petroleum jelly was first manufactured in the 1870s by a chemist, Robert Cheeseborough, who saw laborers applying to their skin with a residue from oil extraction. Today, a spree of amateur-created clips have chronicled its broad application in “everyday tips”.

Hailed as a remedy for cleaning shoes or making fragrance last longer, as well as a fix for creaky hinges. Users have even applied it to stop the scourge of crisp flavouring sticking to fingers.

Harnessing the Hype

Detecting the product’s new life online, marketers at Unilever boosted the tips by asking their own scientists to test them and sharing the findings with influencers.

Assertions that it diminished the sensation of spicy food on lips were validated. Similarly supported were ideas it could prolong perfume and rejuvenate purses. Suggestions it could brighten smiles or lengthen eyelashes were refuted.

A Plan Built on ‘Social Listening’

Billboards and TV ads would once have dominated Unilever’s advertising drive. But the Vaseline phenomenon has helped convince executives to dramatically increase investment in content creators.

This monitoring of online platforms to guide corporate planning has been dubbed “social listening”. Fernando Fernández, freshly instated, has suggested it is aiming to spend half of its colossal advertising budget on digital creator content.

Evolving With Audience Behavior

Selina Sykes, who is spearheading the social media effort, said the company was merely adjusting to novel methods of engaging audiences. She said interacting online “without spoiling the atmosphere” 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.

“We are witnessing a departure from a mass communication approach, where we would just send out ads … Currently, it's countless discussions, various groups. 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 consumers, talked about by other people, this builds credibility and connection. Influencers are vital for this. We’re really scaling this advocacy model.”

A Revolutionary Change in Media

The strategy reflects seismic changes taking place in media consumption, with Gen Z and millennial audiences allocating more attention to digital networks than traditional TV, print, or radio.

The transition is visible in drops in traditional media advertising. Across Britain, commercial funding for leading TV channels have fallen by more than £600m in inflation-adjusted terms since 2019.

The Creator Economy Boom

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

Leon Harlow said: “Clearly, there is a migration of viewers from conventional channels and their time is increasingly on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube than they are viewing scheduled television or reading physical magazines.

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

He noted companies can reduce costs by focusing on influencers over large-scale legacy ad buys, which also permits simpler message refinement to see what works.

The approach is growing. Advertising spending on the creator economy is rising at quadruple the rate than the broader media sector. In the US, it has more than doubled since 2021 and is forecast to attain substantial figures in 2025.

The Enduring Power of Broadcast

Despite the huge changes, industry figures said they believed television commercials still played a key part to play, as TV channels continued to possess the influence to frame public debate.

She added: “One of the highest return-on-investment media opportunities is still events like the Super Bowl. It's not a matter of networks declaring: ‘Oh, we’re not relevant any more.’ It’s about who’s capturing attention … I believe there is absolutely a role for them.”