‘Online Monitoring’: Unilever Aims to Harness Vaseline’s TikTok Moment.

As a product discovered more than 150 years ago on a Pennsylvania oilfield, the simple jar of Vaseline may not seem like an natural focus for digital platform algorithms.

Nonetheless, its ascent as a viral TikTok topic has positioned it at the vanguard of an promotional upheaval, in which large companies are investing heavily in content creators and putting fewer resources into promoting products in traditional media.

A Journey from Drilling to Digital

Originally produced in the 1870s by scientist Robert Cheeseborough, who noticed oil rig workers using on their skin with a residue from oil extraction. Currently, a wave of content from users have chronicled its broad application in “everyday tips”.

It has been touted as a remedy for cleaning shoes or making fragrance last longer, along with a cure for noisy doorways. Users have even applied it to combat the nuisance of crisp flavouring sticking to fingers.

Capitalising on the Conversation

Noticing its viral resurgence, marketers at Unilever amplified the hacks by tasking their in-house experts with verification and sharing the findings with influencers.

Assertions that it diminished the sting of chili on the mouth were validated. Similarly supported were ideas it could extend fragrance and revive leather bags. Claims that it would brighten smiles or make eyelashes longer were debunked.

The ‘Digital Ear’ Approach

Print ads and broadcast spots would once have dominated Unilever’s advertising drive. However, this online trend has led decision-makers to ramp up funding for content creators.

This tracking of digital spaces to guide corporate planning has been labeled “social listening”. Unilever's CEO, recently appointed, has suggested it is aiming to spend a full fifty percent of its huge ad budget on digital creator content.

Shifting to Modern Engagement

The company's social media lead, who is leading the online push, 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, since the era of community gossip and sharing usage tips.

“The trend is shifting from a broadcast model, where we would just broadcast out … Now it’s many conversations, many communities. Changes in digital feeds means that these groups seem specialized, yet they are vast.

“Ensuring your product is discussed by other people, mentioned by individuals, that fosters reliability and pertinence. Content makers are key. This word-of-mouth strategy is being amplified.”

A Seismic Media Shift

The strategy reflects seismic changes taking place in media consumption, with younger consumers devoting greater hours to apps like TikTok and Instagram than traditional TV, print, or radio.

The transition is visible in drops in traditional media advertising. Within the United Kingdom, commercial funding for primary networks have dropped substantially in inflation-adjusted terms since 2019.

Influencer Marketing Expansion

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

An industry expert from a leading agency said: “Naturally, an exodus of attention from conventional channels and they are dedicating far more hours to digital video and image apps than they are viewing scheduled television or reading physical magazines.

“Numerous corporations inform us consumers have more faith in suggestions from the personalities they subscribe to over traditional advertisements. This is a persistent pattern.”

He added firms may also cut expenditures by investing in creators over large-scale legacy ad buys, which also allows them to tweak their content more easily to gauge performance.

This strategy is expanding. Promotional expenditure on digital creator partnerships is rising at quadruple the rate than total media spending. In the US, it has more than doubled since 2021 and is projected to reach tens of billions in 2025.

The Enduring Power of Broadcast

Even with this transformation, experts said they believed television commercials still played a key part to play, as networks still held the capability to drive countrywide discourse.

She added: “One of the highest return-on-investment media opportunities is still major broadcast spectacles. It’s not about those broadcasters saying: ‘We are no longer pertinent.’ It’s about who’s capturing attention … I think there’s 100% a place for them.”