‘Digital Eavesdropping’: The Consumer Goods Giant Aims to Harness Vaseline’s TikTok Moment.

As a product discovered over 150 years ago within a Pennsylvania drilling site, the simple jar of Vaseline may not seem like an clear candidate for digital platform algorithms.

However, its rise as a TikTok talking point has thrust it into the lead of an marketing transformation, in which large companies are investing heavily in content creators and putting fewer resources into promoting products in traditional media.

A Journey from Drilling to Digital

Originally produced in the 1870s by chemist Robert Cheeseborough, who saw laborers using on their skin with a byproduct of the drilling process. Now, a flood of amateur-created clips have documented the product’s widespread use in “life hacks”.

Hailed as a fix for dirty sneakers or making fragrance last longer, and also a remedy for creaky hinges. Its use has even extended to stop the scourge of crisp flavouring sticking to fingers.

Harnessing the Hype

Noticing its viral resurgence, executives at the multinational amplified the hacks by asking their own scientists to test them and providing creators with the outcome data.

Suggestions that it lessened the sting of chili on the mouth were validated. Similarly supported were ideas it could extend fragrance and restore leather handbags. Proposals that it might whiten teeth or make eyelashes longer were disproven.

A Plan Built on ‘Social Listening’

Outdoor advertising and television commercials would once have been the cornerstone of its marketing push. However, this online trend has led decision-makers to turbocharge spending on content creators.

This observation of social channels to inform business strategy has been dubbed “social listening”. Unilever's CEO, freshly instated, has indicated the goal is to spend 50% of its massive marketing spend on social media content.

Adapting to New Consumer Habits

The company's social media lead, who is heading the digital initiative, said the company was merely adjusting to novel methods of reaching consumers. She said participating on platforms “without killing the party” was paramount.

“How do brands authentically become part of the conversation? This remains our core objective as brands, since the era of community gossip and sharing usage tips.

“The trend is shifting from a one-to-many model, where we would just send out ads … Now it’s many conversations, many communities. The evolution of platform algorithms means that these communities feel niche, yet they are vast.

“Ensuring your product is discussed by other people, recommended by peers, that is how you can build trust and relevance. Influencers are vital for this. We are expanding this endorsement system.”

A Fundamental Consumption Turn

The strategy reflects profound shifts happening in audience habits, with Gen Z and millennial audiences allocating more attention to apps like TikTok and Instagram than television, magazines or radio.

This change is evidenced by drops in broadcast and newspaper ads. In the UK, commercial funding for major broadcasters have dropped substantially in inflation-adjusted terms since 2019.

The Creator Economy Boom

This further signifies a merging of functions as large companies almost become production houses themselves, collaborating with a multitude of digital creators to enhance their items.

Leon Harlow said: “Clearly, there is a migration of viewers away from some legacy media and they’re spending a lot more time on digital video and image apps than they are consuming linear broadcasts or printed matter.

“Many companies report to us consumers have more faith in suggestions from the personalities they subscribe to more than they trust ads. This is a persistent pattern.”

He added firms may also cut expenditures by investing in creators over large-scale legacy ad buys, which also allows them to tweak their content more easily to test effectiveness.

This strategy is expanding. Advertising spending on the creator economy is increasing four times faster than the media industry overall. Across the United States, it has more than doubled since 2021 and is expected to hit substantial figures in 2025.

TV's Lasting Role

Regardless of the massive shift, executives said they believed broadcast ads retained significant importance to play, as TV channels continued to possess the influence to drive countrywide discourse.

The executive noted: “A top-tier ROI marketing event is still major broadcast spectacles. It’s not about those broadcasters saying: ‘Oh, we’re not relevant any more.’ The focus is on who seizes focus … I believe there is absolutely a role for them.”