🔗 Share this article

As a product discovered more than 150 years ago in the oil fields of Pennsylvania, the modest tin of Vaseline could hardly be considered an clear candidate for online content feeds.

Nonetheless, its ascent as a popular subject on TikTok has placed it at the forefront of an advertising revolution, seeing big businesses spending big on content creators and reducing expenditure on advertising goods in legacy broadcasters.

A Journey from Drilling to Digital

First created commercially in the 1870s by a chemist, Robert Cheeseborough, who noticed oil rig workers using on their skin with a derivative of drilling. Today, a spree of user-generated videos have chronicled its broad application in “life hacks”.

It has been touted as a remedy for cleaning shoes or extending perfume longevity, along with a cure for squeaky doors. It has even been deployed to prevent the annoyance of crisp flavouring sticking to fingers.

Harnessing the Hype

Detecting the product’s new life online, executives at the multinational boosted the tips by asking their own scientists to test them and providing creators with the outcome data.

Claims that Vaseline reduced the burn from hot food on the lips were confirmed. So too were ideas it could prolong perfume and restore leather handbags. Suggestions it could whiten teeth or lengthen eyelashes were debunked.

A Plan Built on ‘Social Listening’

Outdoor advertising and television commercials would once have dominated Unilever’s advertising drive. However, this online trend has persuaded leaders to turbocharge spending on content creators.

This tracking of digital spaces to shape commercial tactics has been termed “social listening”. Fernando Fernández, freshly instated, has suggested it is aiming to spend 50% of its massive marketing spend on digital creator content.

Shifting to Modern Engagement

Selina Sykes, who is heading the digital initiative, said the company was merely adjusting to novel methods of connecting with customers. She said participating on platforms “without spoiling the atmosphere” was crucial.

“How can companies join discussions credibly? That’s always what we’ve been trying to do as brands, since the era of community gossip and discussing household products.

“The trend is shifting from a one-to-many model, where we would just broadcast out … Now it’s many conversations, diverse communities. Changes in digital feeds means that these communities feel niche, but they’re not.

“Ensuring your product is discussed by users, mentioned by individuals, that is how you can build trust and relevance. Creators are critical to that. We are expanding this endorsement system.”

A Fundamental Consumption Turn

This plan mirrors profound shifts happening in audience habits, with the youth demographic allocating more attention to social media platforms than television, magazines or radio.

The transition is visible in falling revenues for traditional media advertising. Across Britain, advertising income for primary networks have fallen by more than £600m in inflation-adjusted terms since 2019.

The Creator Economy Boom

It also reflects a merging of functions as corporations essentially turn into content studios, linking up with numerous influencers to enhance their items.

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 social platforms like Instagram, TikTok and YouTube than they are watching live TV or reading print.

“Numerous corporations inform us people trust recommendations from the personalities they subscribe to more than they trust ads. This is a persistent pattern.”

He added firms may also cut expenditures by focusing on influencers over expensive broadcast campaigns, which also permits simpler message refinement to gauge performance.

This strategy is expanding. Marketing investment on digital creator partnerships is growing fourfold quicker than the media industry overall. Across the United States, it has increased by over 100% since 2021 and is projected to reach multi-billion dollar sums in 2025.

TV's Lasting Role

Regardless of the massive shift, industry figures said they believed broadcast ads retained significant importance to play, as broadcasters retained the power to drive countrywide discourse.

Sykes said: “A top-tier ROI marketing event is still the Super Bowl. The issue isn't broadcasters claiming: ‘We are no longer pertinent.’ The focus is on who seizes focus … I believe there is absolutely a role for them.”