🔗 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 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 marketing transformation, in which large companies are investing heavily in content creators and putting fewer resources into promoting products in traditional media.

A Journey from Drilling to Digital

Originally produced in the 1870s by a chemist, Robert Cheeseborough, who observed drillers applying to their skin with a residue from oil extraction. Currently, a wave of amateur-created clips have chronicled its broad application in “practical tricks”.

Hailed as a remedy for cleaning shoes or prolonging the scent of perfume, along with a cure for creaky hinges. Users have even applied it to combat the nuisance of crisp flavouring sticking to fingers.

Harnessing the Hype

Detecting the product’s new life online, strategists within the corporation amplified the hacks by tasking their in-house experts with verification and providing creators with the outcome data.

Suggestions that it lessened the sting of chili on the mouth were given the thumbs up. Similarly supported were ideas it could prolong perfume and rejuvenate purses. Suggestions it could brighten smiles or make eyelashes longer were debunked.

The ‘Digital Ear’ Approach

Billboards and TV ads would once have been the cornerstone of its marketing push. But the Vaseline phenomenon has helped convince executives to turbocharge spending on content creators.

This monitoring of online platforms to shape commercial tactics has been termed “social listening”. Unilever's CEO, freshly instated, has stated the intention is to spend half of its colossal advertising budget on digital creator content.

Adapting to New Consumer Habits

A leading Unilever executive, who is spearheading the social media effort, said the company was simply adapting to new ways of engaging audiences. She said engaging on social media “without spoiling the atmosphere” was crucial.

“What is the key to genuine brand integration? This remains our core objective as brands, back to when people were hanging out their laundry and sharing usage tips.

“The trend is shifting from a broadcast model, where we would just transmit messages … Today, it's numerous dialogues, various groups. The shift of the algorithms means that these communities feel niche, yet they are vast.

“Ensuring your product is discussed by users, mentioned by individuals, that fosters reliability and pertinence. Content makers are key. This word-of-mouth strategy is being amplified.”

A Fundamental Consumption Turn

The approach indicates seismic changes occurring in how media is consumed, with Gen Z and millennial audiences spending more time on digital networks than legacy broadcast and print media.

This change is evidenced by drops in TV and print advertising. In the UK, ad revenues for major broadcasters have declined by over six hundred million pounds in real terms since 2019.

Influencer Marketing Expansion

This further signifies a merging of functions as brands effectively act as media producers, linking up with hundreds of content creators to enhance their items.

A commercial director at a major talent agency said: “Clearly, there is a migration of viewers away from some legacy media and their time is increasingly on social platforms like Instagram, TikTok and YouTube than they are watching live TV or reading print.

“Many companies report to us people trust recommendations from the creators they engage with compared to commercial messages. This is a persistent pattern.”

He added firms may also cut expenditures by investing in creators over big traditional media campaigns, which also allows them to tweak their content more easily to see what works.

Such methods are increasing. Advertising spending on digital creator partnerships is rising at quadruple the rate than the media industry overall. Stateside, it has more than doubled since 2021 and is expected to hit substantial figures in 2025.

The Enduring Power of Broadcast

Regardless of the massive shift, executives said they believed television commercials still played a key part to play, as broadcasters retained the power to drive countrywide discourse.

She added: “One of the highest return-on-investment media opportunities is still major broadcast spectacles. It's not a matter of networks declaring: ‘We are no longer pertinent.’ The focus is on who seizes focus … There is undoubtedly a future for traditional media.”