🔗 Share this article

Originally found more than 150 years ago in the oil fields of Pennsylvania, the simple jar of Vaseline might not appear as an obvious target for digital platform algorithms.

Nonetheless, its ascent as a TikTok talking point 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 marketing items in legacy broadcasters.

A Journey from Drilling to Digital

First created commercially in the 1870s by chemist Robert Cheeseborough, who noticed oil rig workers using on their skin with a derivative of drilling. Currently, a wave of user-generated videos have documented the product’s widespread use in “life hacks”.

It has been touted as a remedy for cleaning shoes or extending perfume longevity, and also a remedy for noisy doorways. Its use has even extended to prevent the annoyance of snack dust adhering to hands.

Capitalising on the Conversation

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

Assertions that it diminished the burn from hot food on the lips were confirmed. This was also the case for ideas it could extend fragrance and rejuvenate purses. Proposals that it might bleach teeth or extend lashes were disproven.

A Plan Built on ‘Social Listening’

Billboards and TV ads would once have dominated Unilever’s advertising drive. Yet this viral episode has persuaded leaders to turbocharge spending on content creators.

This monitoring of online platforms to guide corporate planning has been dubbed “social listening”. The company's chief executive, freshly instated, 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

Selina Sykes, who is spearheading the social media effort, said the company was simply adapting to new ways of reaching consumers. She said interacting online “without spoiling the atmosphere” was crucial.

“How can companies join discussions credibly? That’s always what we’ve been trying to do as brands, back to when people were hanging out their laundry and discussing household products.

“There’s this moving away from a one-to-many model, where we would just transmit messages … Now it’s many conversations, diverse communities. The evolution of platform algorithms means that these groups seem specialized, however, they are large.

“Ensuring your product is discussed by other people, mentioned by individuals, this builds credibility and connection. Content makers are key. We are expanding this endorsement system.”

A Fundamental Consumption Turn

The approach indicates seismic changes occurring in how media is consumed, with the youth demographic spending more time on digital networks than traditional TV, print, or radio.

This change is evidenced by declines in TV and print advertising. Across Britain, ad revenues 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 corporations essentially turn into content studios, collaborating with a multitude of digital creators to enhance their items.

An industry expert from a leading agency said: “Clearly, there is a migration of viewers out of certain traditional media outlets and their time is increasingly on digital video and image apps than they are consuming linear broadcasts or printed matter.

“A lot of brands are telling us consumers have more faith in suggestions from the personalities they subscribe to over traditional advertisements. It's an ongoing shift.”

He said brands could also save money by investing in creators over big traditional media campaigns, which also permits simpler message refinement to gauge performance.

This strategy is expanding. Marketing investment on influencer marketing is growing fourfold quicker than total media spending. Stateside, it has increased by over 100% since 2021 and is projected to reach multi-billion dollar sums in 2025.

Traditional Media's Continued Place

Even with this transformation, industry figures said they believed television commercials still played a key part to play, as networks still held the capability to shape the national conversation.

The executive noted: “One of the highest return-on-investment media opportunities is still major broadcast spectacles. The issue isn't broadcasters claiming: ‘Oh, we’re not relevant any more.’ The focus is on who seizes focus … I believe there is absolutely a role for them.”