‘Online Monitoring’: The Consumer Goods Giant Aims to Harness Vaseline’s Viral TikTok Trend.

As a product discovered more than 150 years ago within a Pennsylvania drilling site, the humble pot of Vaseline may not seem like an natural focus for online content feeds.

Nonetheless, its ascent as a TikTok talking point has placed it at the forefront of an marketing transformation, seeing big businesses investing heavily in content creators and devoting less capital to marketing items in traditional media.

From Oil Rigs to Online Hacks

The petroleum jelly was first manufactured in the 1870s by a chemist, Robert Cheeseborough, who observed drillers applying to their skin with a byproduct of the drilling process. Today, a spree of amateur-created clips have documented the product’s widespread use in “life hacks”.

Hailed as a fix for dirty sneakers or extending perfume longevity, along with a cure for squeaky doors. Users have even applied it to prevent the annoyance of snack dust adhering to hands.

Leveraging the Buzz

Detecting the product’s new life online, marketers at Unilever boosted the tips by asking their own scientists to test them and letting the content creators in on the results.

Claims that Vaseline reduced the sting of chili on the mouth were validated. This was also the case for ideas it could prolong perfume and restore leather handbags. Proposals that it might bleach teeth or make eyelashes longer were refuted.

The ‘Digital Ear’ Approach

Billboards and TV ads would once have been the cornerstone of its marketing push. But the Vaseline phenomenon has persuaded leaders to ramp up funding for content creators.

This tracking of digital spaces to shape commercial tactics has been dubbed “social listening”. The company's chief executive, freshly instated, has suggested it is aiming to spend a full fifty percent of its huge ad budget on platform-based material.

Shifting to Modern Engagement

A leading Unilever executive, who is spearheading the social media effort, said the company was merely adjusting to novel methods of engaging audiences. She said participating on platforms “without dampening the fun” was crucial.

“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 sharing usage tips.

“We are witnessing a departure from a one-to-many model, where we would just transmit messages … Now it’s many conversations, diverse communities. The shift of the algorithms means that these communities feel niche, yet they are vast.

“If you can make sure your brand is shared by other people, mentioned by individuals, that fosters reliability and pertinence. Influencers are vital for this. We are expanding this endorsement system.”

A Seismic Media Shift

The strategy reflects seismic changes taking place in media consumption, with Gen Z and millennial audiences allocating more attention to apps like TikTok and Instagram than legacy broadcast and print media.

The shift is reflected in drops in broadcast and newspaper ads. Across Britain, ad revenues for leading TV channels have dropped substantially in real terms since 2019.

Influencer Marketing Expansion

It also reflects a blurring of media roles as brands effectively act as media producers, partnering with hundreds of content creators to boost their products.

A commercial director at a major talent agency said: “Clearly, there is a migration of viewers out of certain traditional media outlets and their time is increasingly on digital video and image apps than they are watching live TV or reading print.

“Many companies report to us people trust recommendations from the creators they engage with over traditional advertisements. This is a persistent pattern.”

He said brands could also save money by focusing on influencers over big traditional media campaigns, which also enables easier content adjustment to gauge performance.

Such methods are increasing. Advertising spending on the creator economy is growing fourfold quicker than the broader media sector. Stateside, it has more than doubled since 2021 and is expected to hit tens of billions in 2025.

TV's Lasting Role

Even with this transformation, executives said they believed TV advertising still had a prominent role to play, as networks still held the capability to frame public debate.

Sykes said: “Among the most effective advertising investments is still major broadcast spectacles. It's not a matter of networks declaring: ‘We are no longer pertinent.’ It concerns who commands eyeballs … There is undoubtedly a future for traditional media.”