‘Digital Eavesdropping’: Unilever Seeks to Capitalise On Vaseline’s Viral TikTok Trend.

First identified more than 150 years ago in the oil fields of Pennsylvania, the humble pot of Vaseline may not seem like an natural focus for digital platform algorithms.

Yet the brand’s emergence as a popular subject on TikTok has positioned it at the vanguard of an promotional upheaval, where major corporations are investing heavily in content creators and reducing expenditure on promoting products in conventional outlets.

From Oil Rigs to Online Hacks

The petroleum jelly was first manufactured in the 1870s by chemist Robert Cheeseborough, who noticed oil rig workers applying to their skin with a byproduct of the drilling process. Now, a flood of content from users have documented the product’s widespread use in “everyday tips”.

Hailed as a fix for dirty sneakers or prolonging the scent of perfume, as well as a fix for noisy doorways. Users have even applied it to stop the scourge of chip seasoning clinging to fingers.

Capitalising on the Conversation

Noticing its viral resurgence, marketers at Unilever enhanced the tricks by asking their own scientists to test them and providing creators with the outcome data.

Suggestions that it lessened the sensation of spicy food on lips were given the thumbs up. So too were ideas it could prolong perfume and revive leather bags. 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. But the Vaseline phenomenon has persuaded leaders to ramp up funding for content creators.

This observation of social channels to inform business strategy has been dubbed “social listening”. Fernando Fernández, freshly instated, has stated the intention is to spend half of its colossal advertising budget on platform-based material.

Evolving With Audience Behavior

The company's social media lead, who is heading the digital initiative, said the company was just evolving with contemporary approaches of engaging audiences. She said interacting online “without spoiling the atmosphere” was paramount.

“What is the key to genuine brand integration? This remains our core objective 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 transmit messages … Now it’s many conversations, many communities. The shift of the algorithms means that these communities feel niche, however, they are large.

“Ensuring your product is discussed by other people, mentioned by individuals, this builds credibility and connection. Creators are critical to that. We are expanding this endorsement system.”

A Fundamental Consumption Turn

This plan mirrors seismic changes happening in audience habits, with younger consumers spending more time on social media platforms than traditional TV, print, or radio.

The transition is visible in declines in traditional media advertising. Within the United Kingdom, advertising income for major broadcasters have fallen by more than £600m in actual value since the end of the last decade.

The Creator Economy Boom

It also reflects a blurring of media roles as brands effectively act as media producers, partnering with a multitude of digital creators to enhance their items.

Leon Harlow said: “Obviously there’s a flow of audiences away from some legacy media and their time is increasingly on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube than they are consuming linear broadcasts or printed matter.

“A lot of brands are telling us consumers have more faith in suggestions from the individuals they follow compared to commercial messages. It's an ongoing shift.”

He said brands could also save money by investing in creators over expensive broadcast campaigns, which also permits simpler message refinement to test effectiveness.

This strategy is expanding. Marketing investment on influencer marketing is rising at quadruple the rate than the broader media sector. Stateside, it has over doubled since 2021 and is forecast to attain multi-billion dollar sums in 2025.

TV's Lasting Role

Regardless of the massive shift, executives said they believed television commercials still played a key part to play, as broadcasters retained the power 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: ‘We are no longer pertinent.’ The focus is on who seizes focus … There is undoubtedly a future for traditional media.”