🔗 Share this article

As a product discovered more than 150 years ago within a Pennsylvania drilling site, the modest tin of Vaseline may not seem like an clear candidate for online content feeds.

However, its rise as a TikTok talking point has positioned it at the vanguard of an promotional upheaval, seeing big businesses allocating substantial funds to content creators and devoting less capital to promoting products in legacy broadcasters.

From Oil Rigs to Online Hacks

The petroleum jelly was first manufactured in the 1870s by a chemist, Robert Cheeseborough, who observed drillers using on their skin with a byproduct of the drilling process. Today, a spree of content from users have chronicled its broad application in “life hacks”.

Hailed as a solution for polishing footwear or extending perfume longevity, along with a cure for creaky hinges. It has even been deployed to combat the nuisance of crisp flavouring sticking to fingers.

Capitalising on the Conversation

Detecting the product’s new life online, marketers at Unilever boosted the tips by asking their own scientists to test them 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 rejuvenate purses. Proposals that it might whiten teeth or extend lashes were disproven.

A Plan Built on ‘Social Listening’

Billboards and TV ads would once have formed the bulk of its promotional efforts. Yet this viral episode has helped convince executives to ramp up funding for content creators.

This observation of social channels to guide corporate planning has been labeled “social listening”. The company's chief executive, newly named, has suggested it is aiming to spend a full fifty percent of its huge ad budget on social media content.

Shifting to Modern Engagement

Selina Sykes, who is heading the digital initiative, said the company was just evolving with contemporary approaches of engaging audiences. She said engaging on social media “without dampening the fun” was crucial.

“How do brands authentically become part of the conversation? That’s always what we’ve been trying to do as brands, back to when people were hanging out their laundry and discussing household products.

“We are witnessing a departure from a broadcast model, where we would just transmit messages … Currently, it's countless discussions, various groups. The shift of the algorithms means that these audiences appear specific, however, they are large.

“Ensuring your product is discussed by other people, mentioned by individuals, that fosters reliability and pertinence. Content makers are key. This word-of-mouth strategy is being amplified.”

A Revolutionary Change in Media

The strategy reflects profound shifts taking place in media consumption, with Gen Z and millennial audiences devoting greater hours to digital networks than legacy broadcast and print media.

The transition is visible in declines in broadcast and newspaper ads. In the UK, commercial funding for leading TV channels have dropped substantially in real terms since 2019.

The Creator Economy Boom

This further signifies a media convergence 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: “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 individuals they follow over traditional advertisements. It's an ongoing shift.”

He said brands could also save money by targeting content creators over large-scale legacy ad buys, which also permits simpler message refinement to gauge performance.

The approach is growing. Marketing investment on the creator economy is increasing four times faster than total media spending. In the US, it has over doubled since 2021 and is projected to reach tens of billions in 2025.

Traditional Media's Continued Place

Even with this transformation, executives said they believed television commercials still played a key part to play, as TV channels continued to possess the influence to frame public debate.

The executive noted: “A top-tier ROI marketing event is still major broadcast spectacles. It’s not about those broadcasters saying: ‘We are no longer pertinent.’ It concerns who commands eyeballs … I believe there is absolutely a role for them.”