‘Social Listening’: The Consumer Goods Giant Looks to Exploit Vaseline’s Social Media Breakthrough.
Originally found over 150 years ago on a Pennsylvania oilfield, the modest tin of Vaseline might not appear as an natural focus for online content feeds.
However, its rise 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 reducing expenditure on promoting products in traditional media.
A Journey from Drilling to Digital
First created commercially in the 1870s by chemist Robert Cheeseborough, who saw laborers applying to their skin with a residue from oil extraction. Currently, a wave of amateur-created clips have documented the product’s widespread use in “life hacks”.
Hailed as a solution for polishing footwear or prolonging the scent of perfume, and also a remedy for squeaky doors. It has even been deployed to combat the nuisance of snack dust adhering to hands.
Capitalising on the Conversation
Detecting the product’s new life online, marketers at Unilever enhanced the tricks by having their research teams evaluate the claims and letting the content creators in on the results.
Claims that Vaseline reduced the sting of chili on the mouth were given the thumbs up. Similarly supported were ideas it could prolong perfume and rejuvenate purses. Claims that it would whiten teeth or lengthen eyelashes were disproven.
A Plan Built on ‘Social Listening’
Billboards and TV ads would once have formed the bulk of its promotional efforts. But the Vaseline phenomenon has persuaded leaders to turbocharge spending on content creators.
This tracking of digital spaces to guide corporate planning has been dubbed “social listening”. The company's chief executive, freshly instated, has indicated the goal is to spend half of its colossal advertising budget on platform-based material.
Shifting to Modern Engagement
Selina Sykes, who is leading the online push, said the company was just evolving with contemporary approaches of reaching consumers. 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, back to when people were hanging out their laundry and discussing household products.
“We are witnessing a departure from a mass communication approach, where we would just transmit messages … Now it’s many conversations, many communities. The evolution of platform algorithms means that these groups seem specialized, however, they are large.
“Having your brand advocated by users, 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 occurring in how media is consumed, with the youth demographic allocating more attention to social media platforms than traditional TV, print, or radio.
The shift is reflected in falling revenues for TV and print advertising. Within the United Kingdom, ad revenues for primary networks have fallen by more than £600m in actual value since the end of the last decade.
The Creator Economy Boom
It also reflects 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 their time is increasingly on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube than they are consuming linear broadcasts or printed matter.
“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 investing in creators over large-scale legacy ad buys, which also permits simpler message refinement to gauge performance.
The approach is growing. Marketing investment on the creator economy is rising at quadruple the rate than the broader media sector. In the US, it has more than doubled since 2021 and is projected to reach multi-billion dollar sums in 2025.
The Enduring Power of Broadcast
Even with this transformation, executives said they believed TV advertising still had a prominent role to play, as TV channels continued to possess the influence to drive countrywide discourse.
Sykes said: “Among the most effective advertising investments is still events like the Super Bowl. It's not a matter of networks declaring: ‘Our relevance has faded.’ It’s about who’s capturing attention … I believe there is absolutely a role for them.”