‘Social Listening’: The Consumer Goods Giant Seeks to Capitalise On Vaseline’s Social Media Breakthrough.

Originally found over 150 years ago within a Pennsylvania drilling site, the modest tin of Vaseline may not seem like an obvious target for online content feeds.

Yet the brand’s emergence as a viral TikTok topic has positioned it at the vanguard of an marketing transformation, where major corporations are allocating substantial funds to content creators and reducing expenditure on promoting products in traditional media.

The Path from Petroleum to Platforms

First created commercially in the 1870s by scientist Robert Cheeseborough, who saw laborers rubbing their skin with a residue from oil extraction. Now, a flood of user-generated videos have chronicled its broad application in “life hacks”.

It has been touted as a fix for dirty sneakers or extending perfume longevity, as well as a fix for squeaky doors. Its use has even extended to combat the nuisance of chip seasoning clinging to fingers.

Capitalising on the Conversation

Detecting the product’s new life online, strategists within the corporation enhanced the tricks by having their research teams evaluate the claims and letting the content creators in on the results.

Suggestions that it lessened the burn from hot food on the lips were given the thumbs up. So too were ideas it could lengthen scent duration and rejuvenate purses. Claims that it would bleach teeth or make eyelashes longer were disproven.

The ‘Digital Ear’ Approach

Outdoor advertising and television commercials would once have dominated Unilever’s advertising drive. But the Vaseline phenomenon has persuaded leaders to ramp up funding for content creators.

This monitoring of online platforms to guide corporate planning has been dubbed “social listening”. Fernando Fernández, recently appointed, has suggested it is aiming to spend a full fifty percent of its huge ad budget on social media content.

Evolving With Audience Behavior

The company's social media lead, who is spearheading the social media effort, said the company was just evolving with contemporary approaches of connecting with customers. She said interacting online “without killing the party” was essential.

“How can companies join discussions credibly? That’s always what we’ve been trying to do as brands, since the era of community gossip and discussing household products.

“We are witnessing a departure from a one-to-many model, where we would just transmit messages … Currently, it's countless discussions, many communities. The shift of the algorithms means that these groups seem specialized, however, they are large.

“If you can make sure your brand is shared by other people, mentioned by individuals, that fosters reliability and pertinence. Creators are critical to that. This word-of-mouth strategy is being amplified.”

A Fundamental Consumption Turn

The approach indicates seismic changes taking place in media consumption, with the youth demographic allocating more attention to apps like TikTok and Instagram than television, magazines or radio.

The transition is visible in drops in TV and print advertising. Within the United Kingdom, commercial funding for leading TV channels have fallen by more than £600m in inflation-adjusted terms since 2019.

The Rise of the Creator Economy

This further signifies a merging of functions as large companies almost become production houses themselves, partnering with a multitude of digital creators to boost their products.

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 audiences believe endorsements from the creators they engage with over traditional advertisements. It's an ongoing shift.”

He added firms may also cut expenditures by targeting content creators over big traditional media campaigns, which also allows them to tweak their content more easily to see what works.

Such methods are increasing. Advertising spending on influencer marketing is increasing four times faster than total media spending. Across the United States, it has over doubled since 2021 and is projected to reach multi-billion dollar sums in 2025.

TV's Lasting Role

Even with this transformation, industry figures said they believed TV advertising still had a prominent role to play, as broadcasters retained the power to frame public debate.

The executive noted: “One of the highest return-on-investment media opportunities is still events like the Super Bowl. It's not a matter of networks declaring: ‘Oh, we’re not relevant any more.’ The focus is on who seizes focus … I believe there is absolutely a role for them.”