🔗 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 digital platform algorithms.

Nonetheless, its ascent as a viral TikTok topic has placed it at the forefront of an promotional upheaval, in which large companies are spending big on content creators and putting fewer resources into marketing items in traditional media.

A Journey from Drilling to Digital

The petroleum jelly was first manufactured in the 1870s by a chemist, Robert Cheeseborough, who saw laborers applying to their skin with a byproduct of the drilling process. Now, a flood of content from users have recorded its extensive utilization in “practical tricks”.

It has been touted as a solution for polishing footwear or extending perfume longevity, and also a remedy for noisy doorways. It has even been deployed to stop the scourge of crisp flavouring sticking to fingers.

Leveraging the Buzz

Spotting its digital renaissance, strategists within the corporation enhanced the tricks by having their research teams evaluate the claims and sharing the findings with influencers.

Suggestions that it lessened the burn from hot food on the lips were confirmed. So too were ideas it could extend fragrance and revive leather bags. Claims that it would brighten smiles or extend lashes were refuted.

A Plan Built on ‘Social Listening’

Print ads and broadcast spots would once have been the cornerstone of its marketing push. But the Vaseline phenomenon has persuaded leaders to turbocharge spending on content creators.

This observation of social channels to guide corporate planning has been labeled “social listening”. Unilever's CEO, freshly instated, has suggested it is aiming to spend half of its colossal advertising budget on digital creator content.

Evolving With Audience Behavior

Selina Sykes, who is spearheading the social media effort, said the company was just evolving with contemporary approaches of reaching consumers. She said participating on platforms “without spoiling the atmosphere” was paramount.

“What is the key to genuine brand integration? That’s always what we’ve been trying to do as brands, dating to when neighbors chatted over fences and talking about what they used.

“There’s this moving away from a mass communication approach, where we would just send out ads … Currently, it's countless discussions, diverse communities. Changes in digital feeds means that these groups seem specialized, however, they are large.

“If you can make sure your brand is shared by other people, recommended by peers, that is how you can build trust and relevance. Creators are critical to that. This word-of-mouth strategy is being amplified.”

A Fundamental Consumption Turn

The strategy reflects dramatic transformations occurring in how media is consumed, with younger consumers spending more time on apps like TikTok and Instagram than television, magazines or radio.

The transition is visible in falling revenues for TV and print advertising. In the UK, ad revenues for primary networks have dropped substantially in inflation-adjusted terms since 2019.

The Rise of the Creator Economy

Additionally, it points to a merging of functions as corporations essentially turn into content studios, collaborating with a multitude of digital creators to boost their products.

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 social platforms like Instagram, TikTok and YouTube than they are viewing scheduled television or reading physical magazines.

“Numerous corporations inform us people trust recommendations from the creators they engage with 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 gauge performance.

This strategy is expanding. Promotional expenditure on influencer marketing is growing fourfold quicker than total media spending. Across the United States, it has more than doubled since 2021 and is expected to hit multi-billion dollar sums in 2025.

TV's Lasting Role

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.

She added: “A top-tier ROI marketing event is still events like the Super Bowl. It's not a matter of networks declaring: ‘Our relevance has faded.’ The focus is on who seizes focus … I believe there is absolutely a role for them.”