🔗 Share this article

As a product discovered more than 150 years ago on a Pennsylvania oilfield, the humble pot of Vaseline may not seem like 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 marketing transformation, seeing big businesses allocating substantial funds to content creators and putting fewer resources into advertising goods in traditional media.

A Journey from Drilling to Digital

First created commercially in the 1870s by scientist Robert Cheeseborough, who saw laborers applying to their skin with a derivative of drilling. Today, a spree of amateur-created clips have documented the product’s widespread use in “life hacks”.

Hailed as a fix for dirty sneakers or extending perfume longevity, as well as a fix for creaky hinges. It has even been deployed to combat the nuisance of chip seasoning clinging to fingers.

Leveraging the Buzz

Noticing its viral resurgence, marketers at Unilever boosted the tips by tasking their in-house experts with verification and sharing the findings with influencers.

Claims that Vaseline reduced the burn from hot food on the lips were given the thumbs up. This was also the case for ideas it could lengthen scent duration and restore leather handbags. Proposals that it might 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. But the Vaseline phenomenon has led decision-makers to ramp up funding for content creators.

This monitoring of online platforms to shape commercial tactics has been termed “social listening”. Fernando Fernández, freshly instated, has indicated the goal is to spend a full fifty percent of its huge ad budget on platform-based material.

Evolving With Audience Behavior

The company's social media lead, who is heading the digital initiative, said the company was simply adapting to new ways of connecting with customers. She said engaging on social media “without killing the party” was crucial.

“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 sharing usage tips.

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

“Ensuring your product is discussed by consumers, talked about by other people, that is how you can build trust and relevance. Creators are critical to that. This word-of-mouth strategy is being amplified.”

A Seismic Media Shift

The approach indicates dramatic transformations occurring in how media is consumed, with younger consumers spending more time on digital networks than legacy broadcast and print media.

This change is evidenced by falling revenues for traditional media advertising. Within the United Kingdom, commercial funding for leading TV channels have dropped substantially in inflation-adjusted terms since 2019.

The Creator Economy Boom

This further signifies a blurring of media roles as brands effectively act as media producers, linking up with numerous influencers to promote their goods.

Leon Harlow said: “Obviously there’s a flow of audiences from conventional channels and they are dedicating far more hours to social platforms like Instagram, TikTok and YouTube than they are consuming linear broadcasts or printed matter.

“A lot of brands are telling us audiences believe endorsements from the individuals they follow compared to commercial messages. It's an ongoing shift.”

He said brands could also save money by targeting content creators over expensive broadcast campaigns, which also permits simpler message refinement to see what works.

This strategy is expanding. Marketing investment on digital creator partnerships is growing fourfold quicker than total media spending. In the US, it has more than doubled since 2021 and is forecast to attain substantial figures in 2025.

The Enduring Power of Broadcast

Even with this transformation, industry figures said they believed broadcast ads retained significant importance to play, as TV channels continued to possess the influence to drive countrywide discourse.

The executive noted: “Among the most effective advertising investments is still major broadcast spectacles. The issue isn't broadcasters claiming: ‘Oh, we’re not relevant any more.’ It’s about who’s capturing attention … I believe there is absolutely a role for them.”