🔗 Share this article

Originally found more than 150 years ago in the oil fields of Pennsylvania, the modest tin of Vaseline may not seem like an obvious target for social media algorithms.

Yet the brand’s emergence as a popular subject on TikTok has placed it at the forefront of an advertising revolution, where major corporations are spending big on content creators and reducing expenditure on marketing items in conventional outlets.

From Oil Rigs to Online Hacks

The petroleum jelly was first manufactured in the 1870s by chemist Robert Cheeseborough, who observed drillers using on their skin with a byproduct of the drilling process. Now, a flood of content from users have documented the product’s widespread use in “life hacks”.

It has been touted as a solution for polishing footwear or making fragrance last longer, as well as a fix for squeaky doors. It has even been deployed to prevent the annoyance of chip seasoning clinging to fingers.

Harnessing the Hype

Detecting the product’s new life online, executives at the multinational amplified the hacks by asking their own scientists to test them and providing creators with the outcome data.

Claims that Vaseline reduced the sensation of spicy food on lips were given the thumbs up. Similarly supported were ideas it could extend fragrance and revive leather bags. Proposals that it might whiten teeth or lengthen eyelashes were refuted.

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 ramp up funding for content creators.

This observation of social channels to inform business strategy has been dubbed “social listening”. The company's chief executive, newly named, has suggested it is aiming to spend half of its colossal advertising budget on platform-based material.

Adapting to New Consumer Habits

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 participating on platforms “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 discussing household products.

“There’s this moving away from a mass communication approach, where we would just send out ads … Currently, it's countless discussions, diverse communities. The evolution of platform algorithms means that these groups seem specialized, but they’re not.

“Having your brand advocated by other people, talked about by other people, that fosters reliability and pertinence. Creators are critical to that. This word-of-mouth strategy is being amplified.”

A Fundamental Consumption Turn

This plan mirrors profound shifts taking place in media consumption, with younger consumers spending more time on apps like TikTok and Instagram than legacy broadcast and print media.

This change is evidenced by drops in broadcast and newspaper ads. Across Britain, advertising income for leading TV channels have declined by over six hundred million pounds in inflation-adjusted terms since 2019.

Influencer Marketing Expansion

It also reflects a media convergence as brands effectively act as media producers, linking up with a multitude of digital creators to boost their products.

A commercial director at a major talent agency said: “Naturally, an exodus of attention away from some legacy media and their time is increasingly on digital video and image apps than they are watching live TV or reading print.

“A lot of brands are telling us consumers have more faith in suggestions from the individuals they follow over traditional advertisements. This is a persistent pattern.”

He noted companies can reduce costs by investing in creators over expensive broadcast campaigns, which also allows them to tweak their content more easily to see what works.

This strategy is expanding. Marketing investment on influencer marketing is rising at quadruple the rate than total media spending. Across the United States, it has increased by over 100% since 2021 and is forecast to attain substantial figures in 2025.

TV's Lasting Role

Even with this transformation, industry figures said they believed TV advertising still had a prominent role to play, as TV channels continued to possess the influence to drive countrywide discourse.

Sykes said: “A top-tier ROI marketing event is still events like the Super Bowl. It's not a matter of networks declaring: ‘We are no longer pertinent.’ It’s about who’s capturing attention … I believe there is absolutely a role for them.”