🔗 Share this article

As a product discovered more than 150 years ago on a Pennsylvania oilfield, the modest tin of Vaseline might not appear as an obvious target for digital platform algorithms.

Nonetheless, its ascent as a popular subject on TikTok has positioned it at the vanguard of an marketing transformation, where major corporations are allocating substantial funds to content creators and reducing expenditure on marketing items in legacy broadcasters.

From Oil Rigs to Online Hacks

Originally produced in the 1870s by a chemist, Robert Cheeseborough, who observed drillers using on their skin with a byproduct of the drilling process. Today, a spree of user-generated videos have documented the product’s widespread use in “life hacks”.

Promoted as a fix for dirty sneakers or making fragrance last longer, and also a remedy for squeaky doors. It has even been deployed to stop the scourge of snack dust adhering to hands.

Harnessing the Hype

Noticing its viral resurgence, marketers at Unilever enhanced the tricks by having their research teams evaluate the claims and letting the content creators in on the results.

Claims that Vaseline reduced the burn from hot food on the lips were given the thumbs up. Similarly supported were ideas it could extend fragrance and revive leather bags. Proposals that it might brighten smiles or extend lashes were refuted.

A Plan Built on ‘Social Listening’

Print ads and broadcast spots would once have formed the bulk of its promotional efforts. But the Vaseline phenomenon has helped convince executives to turbocharge spending on content creators.

This monitoring of online platforms to guide corporate planning has been termed “social listening”. Unilever's CEO, newly named, has stated the intention is to spend 50% of its massive marketing spend on digital creator content.

Evolving With Audience Behavior

A leading Unilever executive, who is spearheading the social media effort, said the company was merely adjusting to novel methods of reaching consumers. She said engaging on social media “without killing the party” was paramount.

“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 talking about what they used.

“The trend is shifting from a one-to-many model, where we would just broadcast out … Now it’s many conversations, diverse communities. The shift of the algorithms means that these groups seem specialized, yet they are vast.

“Having your brand advocated by consumers, recommended by peers, this builds credibility and connection. Creators are critical to that. We’re really scaling this advocacy model.”

A Fundamental Consumption Turn

The approach indicates profound shifts occurring in how media is consumed, with younger consumers devoting greater hours to social media platforms than television, magazines or radio.

This change is evidenced by declines in TV and print advertising. Within the United Kingdom, commercial funding for leading TV channels have declined by over six hundred million pounds 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, linking up with hundreds of content creators to boost their products.

Leon Harlow said: “Clearly, there is a migration of viewers away from some legacy media and they are dedicating far more hours to social platforms like Instagram, TikTok and YouTube than they are consuming linear broadcasts or printed matter.

“Many companies report to 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 big traditional media campaigns, which also enables easier content adjustment to see what works.

Such methods are increasing. Advertising spending on digital creator partnerships is growing fourfold quicker than total media spending. Stateside, it has over doubled since 2021 and is projected to reach tens of billions in 2025.

TV's Lasting Role

Regardless of the massive shift, industry figures said they believed broadcast ads retained significant importance to play, as broadcasters retained the power to drive countrywide discourse.

Sykes said: “Among the most effective advertising investments is still major broadcast spectacles. The issue isn't broadcasters claiming: ‘We are no longer pertinent.’ It’s about who’s capturing attention … I think there’s 100% a place for them.”