🔗 Share this article

First identified more than 150 years ago within a Pennsylvania drilling site, the humble pot of Vaseline could hardly be considered an clear candidate for online content feeds.

Nonetheless, its ascent as a TikTok talking point has placed it at the forefront of an marketing transformation, seeing big businesses allocating substantial funds to content creators and devoting less capital to marketing items in legacy broadcasters.

A Journey from Drilling to Digital

Originally produced in the 1870s by scientist Robert Cheeseborough, who observed drillers rubbing their skin with a byproduct of the drilling process. Today, a spree of amateur-created clips have documented the product’s widespread use in “life hacks”.

Hailed as a remedy for cleaning shoes or extending perfume longevity, as well as a fix for noisy doorways. Users have even applied it to prevent the annoyance of snack dust adhering to hands.

Capitalising on the Conversation

Noticing its viral resurgence, strategists within the corporation amplified the hacks by having their research teams evaluate the claims and letting the content creators in on the results.

Suggestions that it lessened 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 whiten teeth or lengthen eyelashes were disproven.

The ‘Social Listening’ Strategy

Outdoor advertising and television commercials would once have dominated Unilever’s advertising drive. Yet this viral episode has helped convince executives to ramp up funding for content creators.

This observation of social channels to inform business strategy has been termed “social listening”. The company's chief executive, recently appointed, has stated the intention is to spend 50% of its massive marketing spend on social media content.

Evolving With Audience Behavior

The company's social media lead, who is heading the digital initiative, said the company was merely adjusting to novel methods of engaging audiences. She said interacting online “without dampening the fun” was crucial.

“What is the key to genuine brand integration? That’s always what we’ve been trying to do as brands, back to when people were hanging out their laundry and sharing usage tips.

“The trend is shifting from a one-to-many model, where we would just send out ads … Currently, it's countless discussions, diverse communities. The shift of the algorithms means that these groups seem specialized, but they’re not.

“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. Influencers are vital for this. We are expanding this endorsement system.”

A Fundamental Consumption Turn

This plan mirrors profound shifts taking place in media consumption, with younger consumers allocating more attention to apps like TikTok and Instagram than television, magazines or radio.

This change is evidenced by falling revenues for broadcast and newspaper ads. Within the United Kingdom, advertising income for primary networks have dropped substantially in real terms since 2019.

The Creator Economy Boom

This further signifies a blurring of media roles as brands effectively act as media producers, partnering with numerous influencers to enhance their items.

An industry expert from a leading agency said: “Naturally, an exodus of attention out of certain traditional media outlets and they’re spending a lot more time on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube than they are watching live TV or reading print.

“Numerous corporations inform us consumers have more faith in suggestions from the creators they engage with compared to commercial messages. That’s a consistent trend.”

He added firms may also cut expenditures by targeting content creators over big traditional media campaigns, which also enables easier content adjustment to gauge performance.

Such methods are increasing. Advertising spending on digital creator partnerships is growing fourfold quicker than the broader media sector. Stateside, it has increased by over 100% since 2021 and is forecast to attain tens of billions in 2025.

The Enduring Power of Broadcast

Even with this transformation, executives said they believed television commercials still played a key part to play, as networks still held the capability to shape the national conversation.

Sykes said: “One of the highest return-on-investment media opportunities is still the Super Bowl. It's not a matter of networks declaring: ‘We are no longer pertinent.’ The focus is on who seizes focus … I think there’s 100% a place for them.”