‘Digital Eavesdropping’: Unilever Seeks to Capitalise On Vaseline’s Social Media Breakthrough.

As a product discovered more than 150 years ago on a Pennsylvania oilfield, the simple jar of Vaseline might not appear as an natural focus for online content feeds.

However, its rise as a popular subject on TikTok has placed it at the forefront of an promotional upheaval, seeing big businesses investing heavily in content creators and devoting less capital to advertising goods in conventional outlets.

From Oil Rigs to Online Hacks

Originally produced in the 1870s by a chemist, Robert Cheeseborough, who saw laborers using on their skin with a residue from oil extraction. Today, a spree of user-generated videos have documented the product’s widespread use in “life hacks”.

Promoted as a solution for polishing footwear or making fragrance last longer, and also a remedy for squeaky doors. Its use has even extended to combat the nuisance 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 providing creators with the outcome data.

Suggestions that it lessened the sting of chili on the mouth were validated. Similarly supported were ideas it could prolong perfume and restore leather handbags. Suggestions it could whiten teeth or lengthen eyelashes were refuted.

The ‘Social Listening’ Strategy

Outdoor advertising and television commercials would once have formed the bulk of its promotional efforts. However, this online trend has helped convince executives to turbocharge spending on content creators.

This observation of social channels to inform business strategy has been termed “social listening”. Unilever's CEO, recently appointed, has stated the intention is to spend half of its colossal advertising budget on digital creator content.

Evolving With Audience Behavior

A leading Unilever executive, who is leading the online push, said the company was just evolving with contemporary approaches of engaging audiences. She said engaging on social media “without spoiling the atmosphere” was essential.

“How can companies join discussions credibly? This has perpetually been our aim as brands, dating to when neighbors chatted over fences and sharing usage tips.

“There’s this moving away from a broadcast model, where we would just broadcast out … Now it’s many conversations, many communities. Changes in digital feeds means that these communities feel niche, however, they are large.

“Having your brand advocated by other people, recommended by peers, that fosters reliability and pertinence. Content makers are key. We’re really scaling this advocacy model.”

A Revolutionary Change in Media

The approach indicates dramatic transformations occurring in how media is consumed, with Gen Z and millennial audiences allocating more attention to 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 leading TV channels have fallen by more than £600m in actual value since the end of the last decade.

Influencer Marketing Expansion

Additionally, it points to a media convergence as large companies almost become production houses themselves, partnering with a multitude of digital 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 they are dedicating far more hours to Instagram, TikTok and YouTube than they are watching live TV or reading print.

“A lot of brands are telling us audiences believe endorsements from the creators they engage with over traditional advertisements. It's an ongoing shift.”

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.

Such methods are increasing. Promotional expenditure on influencer marketing is increasing four times faster than the broader media sector. In the US, it has increased by over 100% since 2021 and is forecast to attain substantial figures in 2025.

Traditional Media's Continued Place

Even with this transformation, industry figures said they believed broadcast ads retained significant importance to play, as TV channels continued to possess the influence to drive countrywide discourse.

Sykes said: “One of the highest return-on-investment media opportunities is still major broadcast spectacles. It's not a matter of networks declaring: ‘Our relevance has faded.’ It concerns who commands eyeballs … I think there’s 100% a place for them.”