‘Social Listening’: The Consumer Goods Giant Aims to Harness Vaseline’s Social Media Breakthrough.

Originally found more than 150 years ago within a Pennsylvania drilling site, the simple jar of Vaseline might not appear as an obvious target for digital platform algorithms.

Yet the brand’s emergence as a popular subject on TikTok has positioned it at the vanguard of an promotional upheaval, in which large companies are allocating substantial funds to content creators and devoting less capital to marketing items in legacy broadcasters.

The Path from Petroleum to Platforms

Originally produced in the 1870s by a chemist, Robert Cheeseborough, who saw laborers rubbing their skin with a residue from oil extraction. Currently, a wave of amateur-created clips have recorded its extensive utilization in “practical tricks”.

Promoted as a fix for dirty sneakers or extending perfume longevity, as well as a fix for noisy doorways. Users have even applied it to prevent the annoyance of crisp flavouring sticking to fingers.

Leveraging the Buzz

Spotting its digital renaissance, strategists within the corporation boosted the tips by having their research teams evaluate the claims and letting the content creators in on the results.

Assertions that it diminished the sensation of spicy food on lips were given the thumbs up. So too were ideas it could lengthen scent duration and rejuvenate purses. Suggestions it could whiten teeth or make eyelashes longer were refuted.

The ‘Digital Ear’ Approach

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

This monitoring of online platforms to guide corporate planning has been termed “social listening”. Unilever's CEO, recently appointed, has stated the intention is to spend a full fifty percent of its huge ad budget on digital creator content.

Evolving With Audience Behavior

A leading Unilever executive, who is spearheading the social media effort, said the company was simply adapting to new ways of connecting with customers. She said engaging on social media “without dampening the fun” was paramount.

“How do brands authentically become part of the conversation? That’s always what we’ve been trying to do as brands, back to when people were hanging out their laundry and discussing household products.

“We are witnessing a departure from a broadcast model, where we would just send out ads … Currently, it's countless discussions, diverse communities. The shift of the algorithms means that these groups seem specialized, yet they are vast.

“Having your brand advocated by users, mentioned by individuals, this builds credibility and connection. Content makers are key. We are expanding this endorsement system.”

A Fundamental Consumption Turn

The strategy reflects dramatic transformations occurring in how media is consumed, with the youth demographic allocating more attention to social media platforms than legacy broadcast and print media.

The shift is reflected in declines in traditional media advertising. In the UK, advertising income for major broadcasters have fallen by more than £600m in actual value since the end of the last decade.

The Rise of the Creator Economy

This further signifies a media convergence as brands effectively act as media producers, collaborating with hundreds of content creators to promote their goods.

Leon Harlow said: “Clearly, there is a migration of viewers out of certain traditional media outlets and they’re spending a lot more time on 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 individuals they follow more than they trust ads. This is a persistent pattern.”

He added firms may also cut expenditures by focusing on influencers over expensive broadcast campaigns, which also allows them to tweak their content more easily to gauge performance.

Such methods are increasing. Promotional expenditure on the creator economy is rising at quadruple the rate than total media spending. Across the United States, it has over doubled since 2021 and is expected to hit multi-billion dollar sums in 2025.

Traditional Media's Continued Place

Despite the huge changes, executives said they believed television commercials still played a key part to play, as networks still held the capability to drive countrywide discourse.

She added: “A top-tier ROI marketing event is still events like the Super Bowl. It’s not about those broadcasters saying: ‘We are no longer pertinent.’ It concerns who commands eyeballs … I think there’s 100% a place for them.”