🔗 Share this article

First identified more than 150 years ago on a Pennsylvania oilfield, the humble pot of Vaseline may not seem like an clear candidate for online content feeds.

Nonetheless, its ascent as a viral TikTok topic has positioned it at the vanguard of an promotional upheaval, seeing big businesses spending big on content creators and reducing expenditure on marketing items in legacy broadcasters.

The Path from Petroleum to Platforms

The petroleum jelly was first manufactured in the 1870s by a chemist, Robert Cheeseborough, who noticed oil rig workers using on their skin with a residue from oil extraction. Now, a flood of content from users have chronicled its broad application in “practical tricks”.

Hailed as a remedy for cleaning shoes or prolonging the scent of perfume, as well as a fix for creaky hinges. 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, executives at the multinational amplified the hacks by having their research teams evaluate the claims and sharing the findings with influencers.

Suggestions that it lessened the burn from hot food on the lips were validated. So too were ideas it could extend fragrance and restore leather handbags. Suggestions it could brighten smiles or extend lashes were refuted.

The ‘Social Listening’ Strategy

Print ads and broadcast spots would once have formed the bulk of its promotional efforts. But the Vaseline phenomenon has helped convince executives to ramp up funding for content creators.

This tracking of digital spaces to inform business strategy has been dubbed “social listening”. Unilever's CEO, newly named, has indicated the goal is 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 heading the digital initiative, said the company was just evolving with contemporary approaches of connecting with customers. She said interacting online “without killing the party” was paramount.

“How can companies join discussions credibly? That’s always what we’ve been trying to do as brands, since the era of community gossip and talking about what they used.

“The trend is shifting from a one-to-many model, where we would just send out ads … Currently, it's countless discussions, diverse communities. The shift of the algorithms means that these groups seem specialized, but they’re not.

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

A Revolutionary Change in Media

This plan mirrors profound shifts happening in audience habits, with the youth demographic devoting greater hours to apps like TikTok and Instagram than television, magazines or radio.

This change is evidenced by falling revenues for traditional media advertising. Across Britain, advertising income for major broadcasters have declined by over six hundred million pounds in actual value since the end of the last decade.

Influencer Marketing Expansion

Additionally, it points to a blurring of media roles as large companies almost become production houses themselves, linking up with hundreds of content creators to promote their goods.

A commercial director at a major talent agency said: “Obviously there’s a flow of audiences away from some legacy media and their time is increasingly on digital video and image apps than they are watching live TV or reading print.

“A lot of brands are telling 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 targeting content creators over large-scale legacy ad buys, which also enables easier content adjustment to test effectiveness.

Such methods are increasing. Promotional expenditure on influencer marketing is growing fourfold quicker than total media spending. Stateside, it has more than doubled since 2021 and is expected to hit multi-billion dollar sums in 2025.

Traditional Media's Continued Place

Regardless of the massive shift, executives 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: “One of the highest return-on-investment media opportunities 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.”