As a product discovered over 150 years ago within a Pennsylvania drilling site, the simple jar of Vaseline may not seem like an natural focus for digital platform algorithms.
Yet the brand’s emergence as a TikTok talking point has positioned it at the vanguard of an advertising revolution, seeing big businesses allocating substantial funds to content creators and reducing expenditure on advertising goods in traditional media.
The petroleum jelly was first manufactured in the 1870s by a chemist, Robert Cheeseborough, who noticed oil rig workers using on their skin with a residue from oil extraction. Today, a spree of content from users have recorded its extensive utilization in “practical tricks”.
Hailed as a solution for polishing footwear or making fragrance last longer, along with a cure for noisy doorways. Users have even applied it to combat the nuisance of chip seasoning clinging to fingers.
Detecting the product’s new life online, executives at the multinational amplified the hacks by asking their own scientists to test them and providing creators with the outcome data.
Assertions that it diminished the sensation of spicy food on lips were validated. Similarly supported were ideas it could extend fragrance and rejuvenate purses. Suggestions it could brighten smiles or lengthen eyelashes were disproven.
Print ads and broadcast spots would once have dominated Unilever’s advertising drive. But the Vaseline phenomenon has led decision-makers to ramp up funding for content creators.
This monitoring of online platforms to guide corporate planning has been labeled “social listening”. Fernando Fernández, recently appointed, has suggested it is aiming to spend a full fifty percent of its huge ad budget on digital creator content.
The company's social media lead, who is spearheading the social media effort, said the company was merely adjusting to novel methods of engaging audiences. She said engaging on social media “without dampening the fun” was essential.
“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.
“We are witnessing a departure from a mass communication approach, where we would just broadcast out … Now it’s many conversations, diverse communities. The shift of the algorithms means that these communities feel niche, yet they are vast.
“Having your brand advocated by consumers, recommended by peers, that fosters reliability and pertinence. Influencers are vital for this. This word-of-mouth strategy is being amplified.”
This plan mirrors dramatic transformations happening in audience habits, with Gen Z and millennial audiences devoting greater hours to social media platforms than traditional TV, print, or radio.
This change is evidenced by declines in TV and print advertising. Within the United Kingdom, ad revenues for major broadcasters have dropped substantially in real terms since 2019.
Additionally, it points to a media convergence as corporations essentially turn into content studios, linking up with numerous influencers to boost their products.
An industry expert from a leading agency said: “Obviously there’s a flow of audiences from conventional channels and they’re spending a lot more time on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube than they are watching live TV or reading print.
“A lot of brands are telling us consumers have more faith in suggestions from the creators they engage with more than they trust ads. It's an ongoing shift.”
He noted companies can reduce costs by focusing on influencers over expensive broadcast campaigns, which also allows them to tweak their content more easily to gauge performance.
The approach is growing. Marketing investment on influencer marketing is growing fourfold quicker than total media spending. In the US, it has increased by over 100% since 2021 and is expected to hit substantial figures in 2025.
Despite the huge changes, industry figures said they believed television commercials still played a key part to play, as broadcasters retained the power to frame public debate.
The executive noted: “A top-tier ROI marketing event is still the Super Bowl. It’s not about those broadcasters saying: ‘Our relevance has faded.’ It concerns who commands eyeballs … I believe there is absolutely a role for them.”
A ceramic artist specializing in sustainable pottery, blending traditional techniques with contemporary aesthetics to create functional art.
