‘Digital Eavesdropping’: Unilever Aims to Harness Vaseline’s Social Media Breakthrough.

As a product discovered more than 150 years ago on a Pennsylvania oilfield, the humble pot of Vaseline might not appear as an obvious target for social media algorithms.

Yet the brand’s emergence as a viral TikTok topic has positioned it at the vanguard of an marketing transformation, seeing big businesses spending big on content creators and putting fewer resources into promoting products in traditional media.

The Path from Petroleum to Platforms

First created commercially in the 1870s by scientist Robert Cheeseborough, who noticed oil rig workers using on their skin with a residue from oil extraction. Now, a flood of user-generated videos have recorded its extensive utilization in “practical tricks”.

Hailed as a solution for polishing footwear or extending perfume longevity, along with a cure for noisy doorways. It has even been deployed to combat the nuisance of chip seasoning clinging to fingers.

Leveraging the Buzz

Detecting the product’s new life online, executives at the multinational enhanced the tricks by asking their own scientists to test them and providing creators with the outcome data.

Claims that Vaseline reduced the sting of chili on the mouth were validated. Similarly supported were ideas it could lengthen scent duration and restore leather handbags. Proposals that it might bleach teeth or make eyelashes longer were disproven.

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 shape commercial tactics has been dubbed “social listening”. Fernando Fernández, recently appointed, has suggested it is aiming to spend a full fifty percent of its huge ad budget on platform-based material.

Adapting to New Consumer Habits

Selina Sykes, who is leading the online push, said the company was merely adjusting to novel methods of connecting with customers. She said interacting online “without dampening the fun” was paramount.

“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.

“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.

“If you can make sure your brand is shared by other people, talked about by other people, that fosters reliability and pertinence. Influencers are vital for this. We’re really scaling this advocacy model.”

A Seismic Media Shift

The strategy reflects seismic changes happening in audience habits, with the youth demographic allocating more attention to digital networks than traditional TV, print, or radio.

The transition is visible in drops in TV and print advertising. In the UK, commercial funding for primary networks have declined by over six hundred million pounds in actual value since the end of the last decade.

The Creator Economy Boom

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

A commercial director at a major talent agency said: “Obviously there’s a flow of audiences out of certain traditional media outlets and their time is increasingly on digital video and image apps than they are viewing scheduled television or reading physical magazines.

“Numerous corporations inform us people trust recommendations from the personalities they subscribe to over traditional advertisements. This is a persistent pattern.”

He added firms may also cut expenditures by targeting content creators over big traditional media campaigns, which also enables easier content adjustment to test effectiveness.

This strategy is expanding. Marketing investment on influencer marketing is increasing four times faster than total media spending. Across the United States, it has increased by over 100% since 2021 and is expected to hit tens of billions in 2025.

The Enduring Power of Broadcast

Despite the huge changes, industry figures said they believed broadcast ads retained significant importance 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 the Super Bowl. The issue isn't broadcasters claiming: ‘Our relevance has faded.’ It’s about who’s capturing attention … There is undoubtedly a future for traditional media.”