🔗 Share this article

As a product discovered over 150 years ago on a Pennsylvania oilfield, the simple jar of Vaseline may not seem like an obvious target for digital platform algorithms.

Nonetheless, its ascent as a viral TikTok topic has positioned it at the vanguard of an marketing transformation, in which large companies are allocating substantial funds to content creators and putting fewer resources into promoting products in legacy broadcasters.

From Oil Rigs to Online Hacks

Originally produced in the 1870s by scientist Robert Cheeseborough, who saw laborers using on their skin with a byproduct of the drilling process. Now, a flood of content from users have recorded its extensive utilization in “practical tricks”.

Promoted as a remedy for cleaning shoes or extending perfume longevity, as well as a fix for creaky hinges. Users have even applied it to stop the scourge of snack dust adhering to hands.

Leveraging the Buzz

Detecting the product’s new life online, strategists within the corporation enhanced the tricks by asking their own scientists to test them and sharing the findings with influencers.

Assertions that it diminished the burn from hot food on the lips were given the thumbs up. So too were ideas it could lengthen scent duration and rejuvenate purses. Suggestions it could brighten smiles or make eyelashes longer were refuted.

The ‘Social Listening’ Strategy

Outdoor advertising and television commercials 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 inform business strategy has been termed “social listening”. Fernando Fernández, recently appointed, has indicated the goal is to spend a full fifty percent of its huge ad budget on social media content.

Evolving With Audience Behavior

A leading Unilever executive, who is leading the online push, said the company was merely adjusting to novel methods of engaging audiences. She said participating on platforms “without dampening the fun” was crucial.

“How can companies join discussions credibly? That’s always what we’ve been trying to do as brands, dating to when neighbors chatted over fences and discussing household products.

“There’s this moving away from a broadcast model, where we would just broadcast out … Currently, it's countless discussions, many communities. The evolution of platform algorithms means that these communities feel niche, yet they are vast.

“If you can make sure your brand is shared by other people, talked about by other people, that is how you can build trust and relevance. Content makers are key. We are expanding this endorsement system.”

A Seismic Media Shift

The approach indicates seismic changes happening in audience habits, with the youth demographic devoting greater hours to apps like TikTok and Instagram than television, magazines or radio.

The transition is visible in falling revenues for traditional media advertising. Within the United Kingdom, ad revenues for major broadcasters have dropped substantially in inflation-adjusted terms since 2019.

The Creator Economy Boom

It also reflects a blurring of media roles as large companies almost become production houses themselves, partnering with a multitude of digital creators to promote their goods.

A commercial director at a major talent agency said: “Obviously there’s a flow of audiences away from some legacy media and they’re spending a lot more time on digital video and image apps than they are watching live TV or reading print.

“Numerous corporations inform us people trust recommendations from the personalities they subscribe to over traditional advertisements. It's an ongoing shift.”

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. Promotional expenditure on the creator economy is growing fourfold quicker than the broader media sector. Stateside, it has over doubled since 2021 and is forecast to attain substantial figures in 2025.

The Enduring Power of Broadcast

Regardless of the massive shift, executives said they believed broadcast ads retained significant importance to play, as TV channels continued to possess the influence to shape the national conversation.

She added: “One of the highest return-on-investment media opportunities is still major broadcast spectacles. It’s not about those broadcasters saying: ‘Our relevance has faded.’ It concerns who commands eyeballs … I think there’s 100% a place for them.”