‘Digital Eavesdropping’: The Consumer Goods Giant Looks to Exploit Vaseline’s Social Media Breakthrough.

As a product discovered over 150 years ago in the oil fields of Pennsylvania, the humble pot of Vaseline may not seem like an clear candidate for online content feeds.

Nonetheless, its ascent as a viral TikTok topic has thrust it into the lead of an marketing transformation, where major corporations are allocating substantial funds to content creators and reducing expenditure on marketing items in legacy broadcasters.

A Journey from Drilling to Digital

The petroleum jelly was first manufactured in the 1870s by scientist Robert Cheeseborough, who observed drillers rubbing their skin with a derivative of drilling. Currently, a wave of content from users have chronicled its broad application in “life hacks”.

It has been touted as a fix for dirty sneakers or prolonging the scent of perfume, and also a remedy for squeaky doors. It has even been deployed to prevent the annoyance 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 sharing the findings with influencers.

Suggestions that it lessened the sting of chili on the mouth were given the thumbs up. Similarly supported were ideas it could lengthen scent duration and revive leather bags. Claims that it would whiten teeth or extend lashes were debunked.

The ‘Social Listening’ Strategy

Print ads and broadcast spots would once have dominated Unilever’s advertising drive. However, this online trend has persuaded leaders to turbocharge spending on content creators.

This observation of social channels to guide corporate planning has been labeled “social listening”. The company's chief executive, newly named, has suggested it is aiming to spend a full fifty percent of its huge ad budget on platform-based material.

Evolving With Audience Behavior

Selina Sykes, who is spearheading the social media effort, said the company was just evolving with contemporary approaches of connecting with customers. 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 discussing household products.

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

“Ensuring your product is discussed by users, recommended by peers, that is how you can build trust and relevance. Influencers are vital for this. This word-of-mouth strategy is being amplified.”

A Revolutionary Change in Media

The strategy reflects seismic changes taking place in media consumption, with Gen Z and millennial audiences devoting greater hours to apps like TikTok and Instagram than television, magazines or radio.

The shift is reflected in drops in TV and print advertising. In the UK, commercial funding for leading TV channels have dropped substantially in inflation-adjusted terms since 2019.

The Creator Economy Boom

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

Leon Harlow said: “Obviously there’s a flow of audiences away from some legacy media and they are dedicating far more hours to Instagram, TikTok and YouTube than they are watching live TV or reading print.

“Numerous corporations inform us consumers have more faith in suggestions from the personalities they subscribe to compared to commercial messages. It's an ongoing shift.”

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 the broader media sector. In the US, it has over doubled since 2021 and is expected to hit multi-billion dollar sums in 2025.

TV's Lasting Role

Even with this transformation, industry figures said they believed television commercials still played a key part to play, as networks still held the capability to shape the national conversation.

The executive noted: “One of the highest return-on-investment media opportunities is still the Super Bowl. It’s not about those broadcasters saying: ‘Our relevance has faded.’ It’s about who’s capturing attention … I believe there is absolutely a role for them.”