🔗 Share this article

First identified more than 150 years ago on a Pennsylvania oilfield, the modest tin of Vaseline might not appear as an clear candidate for online content feeds.

However, its rise as a viral TikTok topic has placed it at the forefront of an marketing transformation, where major corporations are spending big on content creators and reducing expenditure on advertising goods in conventional outlets.

From Oil Rigs to Online Hacks

Originally produced in the 1870s by scientist Robert Cheeseborough, who saw laborers rubbing their skin with a derivative of drilling. Now, a flood of amateur-created clips have documented the product’s widespread use in “everyday tips”.

Promoted as a remedy for cleaning shoes or prolonging the scent of perfume, along with a cure for squeaky doors. Users have even applied it to stop the scourge of crisp flavouring sticking to fingers.

Capitalising on the Conversation

Detecting the product’s new life online, marketers at Unilever enhanced the tricks by asking their own scientists to test them and providing creators with the outcome data.

Assertions that it diminished the sting of chili on the mouth were validated. Similarly supported were ideas it could prolong perfume and restore leather handbags. Suggestions it could bleach teeth or make eyelashes longer were debunked.

The ‘Social Listening’ Strategy

Print ads and broadcast spots would once have formed the bulk of its promotional efforts. Yet this viral episode has persuaded leaders to ramp up funding for content creators.

This tracking of digital spaces to inform business strategy has been dubbed “social listening”. Unilever's CEO, recently appointed, has suggested it is aiming to spend a full fifty percent of its huge ad budget on platform-based material.

Evolving With Audience Behavior

A leading Unilever executive, who is heading the digital initiative, said the company was simply adapting to new ways of engaging audiences. She said interacting online “without spoiling the atmosphere” was essential.

“How can companies join discussions credibly? This remains our core objective as brands, back to when people were hanging out their laundry and talking about what they used.

“The trend is shifting from a broadcast model, where we would just transmit messages … Currently, it's countless discussions, diverse communities. Changes in digital feeds means that these audiences appear specific, yet they are vast.

“Ensuring your product is discussed by consumers, talked about by other people, that fosters reliability and pertinence. Creators are critical to that. We are expanding this endorsement system.”

A Fundamental Consumption Turn

The strategy reflects seismic changes taking place in media consumption, with Gen Z and millennial audiences spending more time on apps like TikTok and Instagram than traditional TV, print, or radio.

The shift is reflected in drops in traditional media advertising. In the UK, commercial funding for leading TV channels have fallen by more than £600m in real terms since 2019.

The Rise of the Creator Economy

This further signifies a merging of functions as large companies almost become production houses themselves, collaborating with numerous influencers to boost their products.

Leon Harlow said: “Clearly, there is a migration of viewers from conventional channels and they are dedicating far more hours to Instagram, TikTok and YouTube than they are consuming linear broadcasts or printed matter.

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

He noted companies can reduce costs by investing in creators over large-scale legacy ad buys, which also permits simpler message refinement to test effectiveness.

This strategy is expanding. 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 forecast to attain multi-billion dollar sums in 2025.

The Enduring Power of Broadcast

Regardless of the massive shift, executives said they believed TV advertising still had a prominent role to play, as TV channels continued to possess the influence to frame public debate.

The executive noted: “One of the highest return-on-investment media opportunities is still events like the Super Bowl. It’s not about those broadcasters saying: ‘Oh, we’re not relevant any more.’ It’s about who’s capturing attention … I think there’s 100% a place for them.”