‘Online Monitoring’: Unilever Seeks to Capitalise On Vaseline’s TikTok Moment.

As a product discovered over 150 years ago within a Pennsylvania drilling site, the simple jar of Vaseline could hardly be considered an obvious target for social media algorithms.

Yet the brand’s emergence as a viral TikTok topic has thrust it into the lead of an advertising revolution, seeing big businesses investing heavily in content creators and putting fewer resources into promoting products in legacy broadcasters.

A Journey from Drilling to Digital

Originally produced in the 1870s by scientist Robert Cheeseborough, who observed drillers applying to their skin with a residue from oil extraction. Currently, a wave of amateur-created clips have chronicled its broad application in “practical tricks”.

Hailed as a remedy for cleaning shoes or prolonging the scent of perfume, along with a cure for creaky hinges. Its use has even extended to stop the scourge of snack dust adhering to hands.

Capitalising on the Conversation

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

Claims that Vaseline reduced the sensation of spicy food on lips were validated. This was also the case for ideas it could extend fragrance and restore leather handbags. Suggestions it could whiten teeth or extend lashes were refuted.

The ‘Social Listening’ Strategy

Billboards and TV ads would once have dominated Unilever’s advertising drive. However, this online trend has helped convince executives to dramatically increase investment in content creators.

This tracking of digital spaces to guide corporate planning has been dubbed “social listening”. Unilever's CEO, recently appointed, has indicated the goal is to spend half of its colossal advertising budget on platform-based material.

Shifting to Modern Engagement

Selina Sykes, who is leading the online push, said the company was simply adapting to new ways of connecting with customers. She said interacting online “without killing the party” was crucial.

“How can companies join discussions credibly? This has perpetually been our aim as brands, since the era of community gossip and talking about what they used.

“The trend is shifting from a mass communication approach, where we would just broadcast out … Now it’s many conversations, diverse communities. Changes in digital feeds means that these audiences appear specific, yet they are vast.

“Having your brand advocated by other people, mentioned by individuals, this builds credibility and connection. Creators are critical to that. This word-of-mouth strategy is being amplified.”

A Seismic Media Shift

The strategy reflects profound shifts taking place in media consumption, with Gen Z and millennial audiences allocating more attention to digital networks than television, magazines or radio.

The transition is visible in falling revenues for traditional media advertising. Within the United Kingdom, advertising income for primary networks have dropped substantially in real terms since 2019.

The Creator Economy Boom

It also reflects a merging of functions as corporations essentially turn into content studios, 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 they are dedicating far more hours to digital video and image apps than they are consuming linear broadcasts or printed matter.

“Numerous corporations inform us people trust recommendations from the personalities they subscribe to over traditional advertisements. That’s a consistent trend.”

He noted companies can reduce costs by targeting content creators over big traditional media campaigns, which also allows them to tweak their content more easily to see what works.

This strategy is expanding. Advertising spending on influencer marketing is rising at quadruple the rate than total media spending. Stateside, it has increased by over 100% since 2021 and is projected to reach multi-billion dollar sums in 2025.

TV's Lasting Role

Despite the huge changes, experts said they believed TV advertising still had a prominent role to play, as broadcasters retained the power to drive countrywide discourse.

She added: “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 … I believe there is absolutely a role for them.”