‘Social Listening’: Unilever Seeks to Capitalise On Vaseline’s Viral TikTok Trend.

As a product discovered more than 150 years ago in the oil fields of Pennsylvania, the humble pot of Vaseline could hardly be considered an obvious target for social media algorithms.

Nonetheless, its ascent as a popular subject on TikTok has placed it at the forefront of an marketing transformation, in which large companies are spending big on content creators and putting fewer resources into advertising goods in conventional outlets.

A Journey from Drilling to Digital

First created commercially in the 1870s by chemist Robert Cheeseborough, who noticed oil rig workers rubbing their skin with a derivative of drilling. Currently, a wave of amateur-created clips have documented the product’s widespread use in “practical tricks”.

It has been touted as a remedy for cleaning shoes or making fragrance last longer, along with a cure for creaky hinges. It has even been deployed to prevent the annoyance of chip seasoning clinging to fingers.

Capitalising on the Conversation

Detecting the product’s new life online, marketers at Unilever amplified the hacks by tasking their in-house experts with verification and letting the content creators in on the results.

Suggestions that it lessened the burn from hot food on the lips were confirmed. So too were ideas it could extend fragrance and revive leather bags. Proposals that it might whiten teeth or make eyelashes longer were disproven.

The ‘Digital Ear’ Approach

Print ads and broadcast spots would once have formed the bulk of its promotional efforts. But the Vaseline phenomenon has persuaded leaders to dramatically increase investment in content creators.

This tracking of digital spaces to guide corporate planning has been labeled “social listening”. Unilever's CEO, recently appointed, has stated the intention is to spend 50% of its massive marketing spend on platform-based material.

Evolving With Audience Behavior

The company's social media lead, who is heading the digital initiative, said the company was simply adapting to new ways of engaging audiences. She said participating on platforms “without spoiling the atmosphere” was crucial.

“How can companies join discussions credibly? This has perpetually been our aim as brands, dating to when neighbors chatted over fences and discussing household products.

“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 audiences appear specific, yet they are vast.

“Ensuring your product is discussed by other people, mentioned by individuals, that fosters reliability and pertinence. Content makers are key. We are expanding this endorsement system.”

A Seismic Media Shift

The strategy reflects dramatic transformations happening in audience habits, with the youth demographic devoting greater hours to digital networks than television, magazines or radio.

This change is evidenced by declines in TV and print advertising. Within the United Kingdom, commercial funding for leading TV channels have declined by over six hundred million pounds in real terms since 2019.

Influencer Marketing Expansion

It also reflects a blurring of media roles as brands effectively act as media producers, collaborating with numerous influencers to enhance their items.

Leon Harlow said: “Obviously there’s a flow of audiences out of certain traditional media outlets and they are dedicating far more hours to social platforms like Instagram, TikTok and YouTube than they are viewing scheduled television or reading physical magazines.

“Many companies report to us audiences believe endorsements from the individuals they follow over traditional advertisements. It's an ongoing shift.”

He noted companies can reduce costs by focusing on influencers over big traditional media campaigns, which also allows them to tweak their content more easily to gauge performance.

This strategy is expanding. Advertising spending on digital creator partnerships is increasing four times faster than the broader media sector. In the US, it has over doubled since 2021 and is forecast to attain tens of billions in 2025.

The Enduring Power of Broadcast

Regardless of the massive shift, experts said they believed broadcast ads retained significant importance to play, as TV channels continued to possess the influence to shape the national conversation.

The executive noted: “A top-tier ROI marketing event is still major broadcast spectacles. It's not a matter of networks declaring: ‘Our relevance has faded.’ The focus is on who seizes focus … I believe there is absolutely a role for them.”