‘Digital Eavesdropping’: Unilever Looks to Exploit Vaseline’s Viral TikTok Trend.

As a product discovered more than 150 years ago within a Pennsylvania drilling site, the modest tin of Vaseline may not seem like an natural focus for online content feeds.

Nonetheless, its ascent as a popular subject on TikTok has positioned it at the vanguard of an promotional upheaval, where major corporations are spending big on content creators and devoting less capital to marketing items in legacy broadcasters.

The Path from Petroleum to Platforms

Originally produced in the 1870s by scientist Robert Cheeseborough, who saw laborers applying to 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 solution for polishing footwear or making fragrance last longer, as well as a fix for creaky hinges. Users have even applied it to prevent the annoyance of chip seasoning clinging to fingers.

Harnessing the Hype

Noticing its viral resurgence, marketers at Unilever boosted the tips by asking their own scientists to test them and letting the content creators in on the results.

Suggestions that it lessened the burn from hot food on the lips were given the thumbs up. This was also the case for ideas it could extend fragrance and rejuvenate purses. Proposals that it might whiten teeth or lengthen eyelashes were refuted.

The ‘Social Listening’ Strategy

Print ads and broadcast spots would once have formed the bulk of its promotional efforts. Yet this viral episode has led decision-makers to turbocharge spending on content creators.

This tracking of digital spaces to guide corporate planning has been termed “social listening”. Fernando Fernández, newly named, has suggested it is aiming to spend 50% of its massive marketing spend on digital creator content.

Shifting to Modern Engagement

A leading Unilever executive, 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.

“What is the key to genuine brand integration? This has perpetually been our aim as brands, since the era of community gossip and sharing usage tips.

“There’s this moving away from a mass communication approach, where we would just transmit messages … Today, it's numerous dialogues, many communities. Changes in digital feeds means that these communities feel niche, however, they are large.

“Having your brand advocated by consumers, talked about by other people, that is how you can build trust and relevance. Creators are critical to that. We’re really scaling this advocacy model.”

A Fundamental Consumption Turn

The strategy reflects dramatic transformations happening in audience habits, with Gen Z and millennial audiences allocating more attention to social media platforms than traditional TV, print, or radio.

The transition is visible in declines in TV and print advertising. Within the United Kingdom, ad revenues for primary networks have declined by over six hundred million pounds in real terms since 2019.

The Rise of the Creator Economy

Additionally, it points to a blurring of media roles as brands effectively act as media producers, linking up with a multitude of digital creators to promote their goods.

An industry expert from a leading agency said: “Naturally, an exodus of attention 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 consuming linear broadcasts or printed matter.

“Many companies report to us audiences believe endorsements from the creators they engage with more than they trust ads. That’s a consistent trend.”

He said brands could also save money by targeting content creators over large-scale legacy ad buys, which also allows them to tweak their content more easily to see what works.

Such methods are increasing. Promotional expenditure on digital creator partnerships is rising at quadruple the rate than the broader media sector. In the US, it has more than doubled since 2021 and is forecast to attain tens of billions in 2025.

Traditional Media's Continued Place

Even with this transformation, executives said they believed TV advertising still had a prominent role to play, as broadcasters retained the power to shape the national conversation.

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