🔗 Share this article

First identified more than 150 years ago on a Pennsylvania oilfield, the modest tin of Vaseline could hardly be considered an obvious target for social media algorithms.

Yet the brand’s emergence as a viral TikTok topic has positioned it at the vanguard of an advertising revolution, where major corporations are investing heavily in content creators and putting fewer resources into advertising goods in traditional media.

A Journey from Drilling to Digital

The petroleum jelly was first manufactured in the 1870s by scientist Robert Cheeseborough, who saw laborers applying to their skin with a derivative of drilling. Currently, a wave of user-generated videos have documented the product’s widespread use in “life hacks”.

It has been touted as a solution for polishing footwear or extending perfume longevity, as well as a fix for creaky hinges. Users have even applied it to prevent the annoyance of snack dust adhering to hands.

Leveraging the Buzz

Detecting the product’s new life online, strategists within the corporation enhanced the tricks by tasking their in-house experts with verification and providing creators with the outcome data.

Suggestions that it lessened the burn from hot food on the lips were validated. This was also the case for ideas it could prolong perfume and restore leather handbags. Proposals that it might brighten smiles or lengthen eyelashes were refuted.

A Plan Built on ‘Social Listening’

Billboards and TV ads would once have dominated Unilever’s advertising drive. Yet this viral episode has led decision-makers to turbocharge spending on content creators.

This monitoring of online platforms to guide corporate planning has been dubbed “social listening”. The company's chief executive, freshly instated, has indicated the goal is to spend half of its colossal advertising budget on platform-based material.

Adapting to New Consumer Habits

A leading Unilever executive, who is spearheading the social media effort, said the company was just evolving with contemporary approaches of engaging audiences. She said interacting online “without killing the party” was crucial.

“What is the key to genuine brand integration? That’s always what we’ve been trying to do as brands, back to when people were hanging out their laundry and talking about what they used.

“We are witnessing a departure from a mass communication approach, where we would just send out ads … Today, it's numerous dialogues, various groups. The shift of the algorithms means that these groups seem specialized, but they’re not.

“If you can make sure your brand is shared by other people, mentioned by individuals, that is how you can build trust and relevance. Content makers are key. We’re really scaling this advocacy model.”

A Fundamental Consumption Turn

This plan mirrors seismic changes occurring in how media is consumed, with Gen Z and millennial audiences allocating more attention to social media platforms than television, magazines or radio.

This change is evidenced by declines in traditional media advertising. Across Britain, advertising income for leading TV channels have fallen by more than £600m in inflation-adjusted terms since 2019.

The Creator Economy Boom

It also reflects a media convergence as large companies almost become production houses themselves, linking up with a multitude of digital creators to enhance their items.

A commercial director at a major talent agency said: “Obviously there’s a flow of audiences out of certain traditional media outlets and they are dedicating far more hours to digital video and image apps than they are watching live TV or reading print.

“Many companies report to us consumers have more faith in suggestions from the personalities they subscribe to more than they trust ads. It's an ongoing shift.”

He added firms may also cut expenditures by investing in creators over big traditional media campaigns, which also permits simpler message refinement to test effectiveness.

The approach is growing. Promotional expenditure on the creator economy is rising at quadruple the rate than the broader media sector. Stateside, it has more than doubled since 2021 and is forecast to attain substantial figures in 2025.

TV's Lasting Role

Even with this transformation, experts said they believed television commercials still played a key part to play, as broadcasters retained the power to shape the national conversation.

Sykes said: “Among the most effective advertising investments is still the Super Bowl. It's not a matter of networks declaring: ‘Our relevance has faded.’ It concerns who commands eyeballs … There is undoubtedly a future for traditional media.”