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Originally found more than 150 years ago in the oil fields of Pennsylvania, the modest tin of Vaseline might not appear as an obvious target for digital platform algorithms.

Yet the brand’s emergence as a viral TikTok topic has placed it at the forefront of an promotional upheaval, seeing big businesses investing heavily in content creators and devoting less capital to promoting products in legacy broadcasters.

A Journey from Drilling to Digital

The petroleum jelly was first manufactured in the 1870s by scientist Robert Cheeseborough, who noticed oil rig workers rubbing their skin with a residue from oil extraction. Today, a spree of content from users have chronicled its broad application in “life hacks”.

Hailed as a fix for dirty sneakers or extending perfume longevity, and also a remedy for creaky hinges. It has even been deployed to stop the scourge of crisp flavouring sticking to fingers.

Harnessing the Hype

Detecting the product’s new life online, marketers at Unilever enhanced the tricks by having their research teams evaluate the claims and letting the content creators in on the results.

Assertions that it diminished the sensation of spicy food on lips were given the thumbs up. This was also the case for ideas it could prolong perfume and restore leather handbags. Claims that it would whiten teeth or lengthen eyelashes were disproven.

The ‘Digital Ear’ Approach

Outdoor advertising and television commercials would once have dominated Unilever’s advertising drive. However, this online trend has led decision-makers to turbocharge spending on content creators.

This observation of social channels to inform business strategy has been labeled “social listening”. Fernando Fernández, freshly instated, has stated the intention is to spend half of its colossal advertising budget on digital creator content.

Evolving With Audience Behavior

Selina Sykes, who is spearheading the social media effort, said the company was just evolving with contemporary approaches of reaching consumers. She said engaging on social media “without killing the party” was crucial.

“How do brands authentically become part of the conversation? This remains our core objective as brands, back to when people were hanging out their laundry and sharing usage tips.

“We are witnessing a departure from a one-to-many model, where we would just send out ads … Now it’s many conversations, diverse communities. The shift of the algorithms means that these groups seem specialized, but they’re not.

“Having your brand advocated by consumers, talked about by other people, that fosters reliability and pertinence. Content makers are key. We’re really scaling this advocacy model.”

A Fundamental Consumption Turn

The strategy reflects seismic changes occurring in how media is consumed, with the youth demographic devoting greater hours to digital networks than traditional TV, print, or radio.

This change is evidenced by drops in broadcast and newspaper ads. In the UK, advertising income for leading TV channels have fallen by more than £600m in inflation-adjusted terms since 2019.

Influencer Marketing Expansion

This further signifies a merging of functions as large companies almost become production houses themselves, linking up with numerous influencers to enhance their items.

An industry expert from a leading agency said: “Clearly, there is a migration of viewers 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.

“Many companies report to us audiences believe endorsements from the personalities they subscribe to over traditional advertisements. That’s a consistent trend.”

He added firms may also cut expenditures by focusing on influencers over large-scale legacy ad buys, which also enables easier content adjustment to gauge performance.

This strategy is expanding. Marketing investment on influencer marketing is growing fourfold quicker than the broader media sector. Stateside, it has increased by over 100% since 2021 and is forecast to attain multi-billion dollar sums in 2025.

The Enduring Power of Broadcast

Despite the huge changes, executives said they believed TV advertising still had a prominent role to play, as networks still held the capability to drive countrywide discourse.

The executive noted: “One of the highest return-on-investment media opportunities is still the Super Bowl. It’s not about those broadcasters saying: ‘Oh, we’re not relevant any more.’ It concerns who commands eyeballs … I think there’s 100% a place for them.”