🔗 Share this article

Originally found over 150 years ago in the oil fields of Pennsylvania, the modest tin of Vaseline may not seem like an natural focus for digital platform algorithms.

However, its rise as a popular subject on TikTok has thrust it into the lead of an marketing transformation, where major corporations are investing heavily in content creators and putting fewer resources into marketing items in traditional media.

A Journey from Drilling to Digital

First created commercially in the 1870s by scientist Robert Cheeseborough, who noticed oil rig workers applying to their skin with a residue from oil extraction. Now, a flood of user-generated videos have documented the product’s widespread use in “practical tricks”.

It has been touted as a fix for dirty sneakers 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.

Harnessing the Hype

Spotting its digital renaissance, marketers at Unilever amplified the hacks by tasking their in-house experts with verification and providing creators with the outcome data.

Claims that Vaseline reduced the sensation of spicy food on lips were validated. Similarly supported were ideas it could prolong perfume and rejuvenate purses. Proposals that it might bleach teeth or extend lashes were debunked.

A Plan Built on ‘Social Listening’

Billboards and TV ads would once have been the cornerstone of its marketing push. However, this online trend has helped convince executives to dramatically increase investment in content creators.

This monitoring of online platforms to shape commercial tactics has been dubbed “social listening”. Unilever's CEO, newly named, has indicated the goal is to spend half of its colossal advertising budget on social media content.

Evolving With Audience Behavior

A leading Unilever executive, who is heading the digital initiative, said the company was merely adjusting to novel methods of connecting with customers. She said participating on platforms “without dampening the fun” was paramount.

“What is the key to genuine brand integration? That’s always what we’ve been trying to do as brands, since the era of community gossip and talking about what they used.

“There’s this moving away from a one-to-many model, where we would just broadcast out … Currently, it's countless discussions, various groups. The evolution of platform algorithms means that these groups seem specialized, yet they are vast.

“If you can make sure your brand is shared by users, talked about by other people, that fosters reliability and pertinence. Creators are critical to that. We’re really scaling this advocacy model.”

A Revolutionary Change in Media

The strategy reflects dramatic transformations happening in audience habits, with Gen Z and millennial audiences allocating more attention to digital networks than legacy broadcast and print media.

The transition is visible in falling revenues for TV and print advertising. Across Britain, advertising income 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

This further signifies a blurring of media roles as large companies almost become production houses themselves, linking up with a multitude of digital creators to boost their products.

An industry expert from a leading agency said: “Obviously there’s a flow of audiences away from some legacy media and they are dedicating far more hours to social platforms like Instagram, TikTok and YouTube than they are viewing scheduled television or reading physical magazines.

“Many companies report to us people trust recommendations from the personalities they subscribe to compared to commercial messages. That’s a consistent trend.”

He added firms may also cut expenditures by investing in creators over expensive broadcast campaigns, which also allows them to tweak their content more easily to test effectiveness.

This strategy is expanding. Promotional expenditure on digital creator partnerships is growing fourfold quicker than the broader media sector. In the US, it has over doubled since 2021 and is expected to hit multi-billion dollar sums in 2025.

Traditional Media's Continued Place

Despite the huge changes, executives said they believed television commercials still played a key part to play, as TV channels continued to possess the influence to drive countrywide discourse.

The executive noted: “A top-tier ROI marketing event is still the Super Bowl. It’s not about those broadcasters saying: ‘Our relevance has faded.’ It concerns who commands eyeballs … I believe there is absolutely a role for them.”