🔗 Share this article

First identified more than 150 years ago in the oil fields of Pennsylvania, the humble pot of Vaseline might not appear as an clear candidate for online content feeds.

Yet the brand’s emergence as a popular subject on TikTok 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.

A Journey from Drilling to Digital

First created commercially in the 1870s by chemist Robert Cheeseborough, who noticed oil rig workers rubbing their skin with a derivative of drilling. Today, a spree of amateur-created clips have recorded its extensive utilization in “practical tricks”.

Promoted as a remedy for cleaning shoes or making fragrance last longer, and also a remedy for creaky hinges. Its use has even extended to stop the scourge of snack dust adhering to hands.

Leveraging the Buzz

Detecting the product’s new life online, strategists within the corporation amplified the hacks by asking their own scientists to test them and letting the content creators in on the results.

Suggestions that it lessened the sting of chili on the mouth were confirmed. So too were ideas it could prolong perfume and restore leather handbags. Suggestions it could whiten teeth or make eyelashes longer were disproven.

The ‘Social Listening’ Strategy

Outdoor advertising and television commercials would once have dominated Unilever’s advertising drive. However, this online trend has led decision-makers to dramatically increase investment in content creators.

This observation of social channels to inform business strategy has been termed “social listening”. Unilever's CEO, newly named, has suggested it is aiming to spend a full fifty percent of its huge ad budget on social media content.

Shifting to Modern Engagement

A leading Unilever executive, who is leading the online push, said the company was simply adapting to new ways of engaging audiences. She said interacting online “without killing the party” was paramount.

“What is the key to genuine brand integration? That’s always what we’ve been trying to do as brands, dating to when neighbors chatted over fences and talking about what they used.

“The trend is shifting from a mass communication approach, where we would just transmit messages … Currently, it's countless discussions, various groups. The shift of the algorithms means that these groups seem specialized, however, they are large.

“Having your brand advocated by users, mentioned by individuals, that fosters reliability and pertinence. Creators are critical to that. This word-of-mouth strategy is being amplified.”

A Seismic Media Shift

The strategy reflects profound shifts taking place in media consumption, with Gen Z and millennial audiences spending more time on digital networks than television, magazines or radio.

The transition is visible in declines in traditional media advertising. In the UK, commercial funding for major broadcasters have declined by over six hundred million pounds in actual value since the end of the last decade.

The Creator Economy Boom

It also reflects a blurring of media roles as large companies almost become production houses themselves, linking up with hundreds of content creators to enhance their items.

Leon Harlow said: “Clearly, there is a migration of viewers out of certain traditional media outlets and their time is increasingly on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube than they are watching live TV or reading print.

“Numerous corporations inform us audiences believe endorsements from the personalities they subscribe to over traditional advertisements. It's an ongoing shift.”

He noted companies can reduce costs by focusing on influencers over large-scale legacy ad buys, which also allows them to tweak their content more easily to gauge performance.

Such methods are increasing. Promotional expenditure on influencer marketing is increasing four times faster than the broader media sector. Across the United States, 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, executives said they believed broadcast ads retained significant importance to play, as broadcasters retained the power to frame public debate.

Sykes said: “Among the most effective advertising investments 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 believe there is absolutely a role for them.”