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

As a product discovered more than 150 years ago within a Pennsylvania drilling site, the simple jar of Vaseline could hardly be considered an natural focus for online content feeds.

Yet the brand’s emergence as a TikTok talking point has placed it at the forefront of an marketing transformation, seeing big businesses allocating substantial funds to content creators and putting fewer resources into promoting products in traditional media.

The Path from Petroleum to Platforms

The petroleum jelly was first manufactured in the 1870s by chemist Robert Cheeseborough, who saw laborers rubbing their skin with a residue from oil extraction. Currently, a wave of user-generated videos have chronicled its broad application in “life hacks”.

Promoted as a remedy for cleaning shoes or making fragrance last longer, and also a remedy for noisy doorways. Its use has even extended 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 having their research teams evaluate the claims and providing creators with the outcome data.

Assertions that it diminished the sensation of spicy food on lips were confirmed. This was also the case for ideas it could prolong perfume and rejuvenate purses. Claims that it would bleach teeth or make eyelashes longer were refuted.

A Plan Built on ‘Social Listening’

Billboards and TV ads would once have formed the bulk of its promotional efforts. However, this online trend has helped convince executives to dramatically increase investment in content creators.

This monitoring of online platforms to shape commercial tactics has been labeled “social listening”. The company's chief executive, newly named, has indicated the goal is to spend half of its colossal advertising budget on digital creator content.

Evolving With Audience Behavior

Selina Sykes, who is spearheading the social media effort, said the company was simply adapting to new ways of reaching consumers. She said interacting online “without dampening the fun” was essential.

“What is the key to genuine brand integration? That’s always what we’ve been trying to do as brands, back to when people were hanging out their laundry and talking about what they used.

“The trend is shifting from a one-to-many model, where we would just transmit messages … Currently, it's countless discussions, many communities. Changes in digital feeds means that these communities feel niche, however, they are large.

“Having your brand advocated by users, recommended by peers, that fosters reliability and pertinence. Creators are critical to that. We are expanding this endorsement system.”

A Seismic Media Shift

The approach indicates seismic changes taking place in media consumption, with younger consumers allocating more attention to social media platforms than television, magazines or radio.

This change is evidenced by declines in broadcast and newspaper ads. Within the United Kingdom, ad revenues for major broadcasters have dropped substantially in actual value since the end of the last decade.

The Rise of the Creator Economy

Additionally, it points to a media convergence as corporations essentially turn into content studios, collaborating with numerous influencers to promote their goods.

A commercial director at a major talent agency said: “Obviously there’s a flow of audiences from conventional channels 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 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 see what works.

This strategy is expanding. Promotional expenditure on digital creator partnerships is rising at quadruple the rate than total media spending. Across the United States, it has more than doubled since 2021 and is projected to reach 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 broadcasters retained the power to drive countrywide discourse.

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.”

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

The Path from Petroleum to Platforms

Leveraging the Buzz

A Plan Built on ‘Social Listening’

Evolving With Audience Behavior

A Seismic Media Shift

The Rise of the Creator Economy

The Enduring Power of Broadcast

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