‘Digital Eavesdropping’: Unilever Aims to Harness Vaseline’s TikTok Moment.

As a product discovered over 150 years ago on a Pennsylvania oilfield, the simple jar of Vaseline could hardly be considered an natural focus for digital platform algorithms.

Yet the brand’s emergence as a TikTok talking point has thrust it into the lead of an marketing transformation, seeing big businesses investing heavily in content creators and putting fewer resources into advertising goods in legacy broadcasters.

From Oil Rigs to Online Hacks

First created commercially in the 1870s by chemist Robert Cheeseborough, who observed drillers applying to their skin with a derivative of drilling. Today, a spree of amateur-created clips have chronicled its broad application in “life hacks”.

Hailed as a fix for dirty sneakers or prolonging the scent of perfume, along with a cure for noisy doorways. It has even been deployed to stop the scourge of snack dust adhering to hands.

Capitalising on the Conversation

Spotting its digital renaissance, marketers at Unilever enhanced the tricks by tasking their in-house experts with verification and letting the content creators in on the results.

Suggestions that it lessened the burn from hot food on the lips were confirmed. So too were ideas it could extend fragrance and restore leather handbags. Suggestions it could bleach teeth or make eyelashes longer were disproven.

The ‘Digital Ear’ Approach

Billboards and TV ads would once have formed the bulk of its promotional efforts. However, this online trend has led decision-makers to dramatically increase investment in content creators.

This observation of social channels to guide corporate planning has been labeled “social listening”. Fernando Fernández, freshly instated, has stated the intention is to spend 50% of its massive marketing spend on platform-based material.

Shifting to Modern Engagement

Selina Sykes, who is heading the digital initiative, said the company was just evolving with contemporary approaches of connecting with customers. She said interacting online “without dampening the fun” was crucial.

“How can companies join discussions credibly? 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.

“There’s this moving away from a mass communication approach, where we would just send out ads … Currently, it's countless discussions, various groups. Changes in digital feeds means that these communities feel niche, but they’re not.

“Having your brand advocated by other people, talked about by other people, this builds credibility and connection. Influencers are vital for this. This word-of-mouth strategy is being amplified.”

A Seismic Media Shift

This plan mirrors profound shifts taking place in media consumption, with Gen Z and millennial audiences devoting greater hours to digital networks than traditional TV, print, or radio.

This change is evidenced by drops in broadcast and newspaper ads. Across Britain, commercial funding for major broadcasters have declined by over six hundred million pounds in actual value since the end of the last decade.

The Rise of the Creator Economy

This further signifies a media convergence as large companies almost become production houses themselves, partnering with hundreds of content creators to boost their products.

A commercial director at a major talent agency said: “Obviously there’s a flow of audiences out of certain traditional media outlets and their time is increasingly on social platforms like Instagram, TikTok and YouTube than they are consuming linear broadcasts or printed matter.

“Numerous corporations inform us people trust recommendations from the creators they engage with 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 enables easier content adjustment to gauge performance.

The approach is growing. Promotional expenditure on influencer marketing is rising at quadruple the rate than the media industry overall. Stateside, it has over doubled since 2021 and is expected to hit multi-billion dollar sums in 2025.

The Enduring Power of Broadcast

Regardless of the massive shift, experts said they believed television commercials still played a key part to play, as TV channels continued to possess the influence to frame public debate.

Sykes said: “A top-tier ROI marketing event is still major broadcast spectacles. It's not a matter of networks declaring: ‘Oh, we’re not relevant any more.’ The focus is on who seizes focus … There is undoubtedly a future for traditional media.”