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

As a product discovered more than 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 popular subject on TikTok has placed it at the forefront of an advertising revolution, where major corporations are allocating substantial funds to content creators and putting fewer resources into marketing items in traditional media.

A Journey from Drilling to Digital

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

Promoted as a solution for polishing footwear or prolonging the scent of perfume, and also a remedy for noisy doorways. Its use has even extended to prevent the annoyance 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 sharing the findings with influencers.

Suggestions that it lessened the sensation of spicy food on lips were given the thumbs up. Similarly supported were ideas it could extend fragrance and restore leather handbags. Suggestions it could bleach teeth or lengthen eyelashes were refuted.

The ‘Social Listening’ Strategy

Outdoor advertising and television commercials would once have been the cornerstone of its marketing push. However, this online trend has helped convince executives to dramatically increase investment in content creators.

This tracking of digital spaces to shape commercial tactics has been labeled “social listening”. Fernando Fernández, freshly instated, has indicated the goal is to spend 50% of its massive marketing spend on platform-based material.

Evolving With Audience Behavior

Selina Sykes, who is spearheading the social media effort, said the company was simply adapting to new ways of engaging audiences. She said interacting online “without spoiling the atmosphere” was crucial.

“What is the key to genuine brand integration? This remains our core objective as brands, back to when people were hanging out their laundry and sharing usage tips.

“There’s this moving away from a mass communication approach, where we would just transmit messages … Today, it's numerous dialogues, various groups. The shift of the algorithms means that these communities feel niche, but they’re not.

“Ensuring your product is discussed by consumers, mentioned by individuals, this builds credibility and connection. Creators are critical to that. We’re really scaling this advocacy model.”

A Revolutionary Change in Media

This plan mirrors seismic changes happening in audience habits, with younger consumers allocating more attention to apps like TikTok and Instagram than traditional TV, print, or radio.

The transition is visible in declines in broadcast and newspaper ads. In the UK, advertising income for leading TV channels have dropped substantially in real terms since 2019.

Influencer Marketing Expansion

Additionally, it points to a blurring of media roles as brands effectively act as media producers, collaborating with numerous influencers to enhance their items.

An industry expert from a leading agency said: “Naturally, an exodus of attention from conventional channels and their time is increasingly on digital video and image apps than they are consuming linear broadcasts or printed matter.

“A lot of brands are telling us people trust recommendations from the creators they engage with more than they trust ads. That’s a consistent trend.”

He said brands could also save money by investing in creators over expensive broadcast campaigns, which also permits simpler message refinement to test effectiveness.

This strategy is expanding. Advertising spending on the creator economy is growing fourfold quicker than the media industry overall. Across the United States, it has more than doubled since 2021 and is projected to reach multi-billion dollar sums in 2025.

The Enduring Power of Broadcast

Despite the huge changes, experts said they believed broadcast ads retained significant importance to play, as broadcasters retained the power to shape the national conversation.

The executive noted: “A top-tier ROI marketing event is still major broadcast spectacles. It’s not about those broadcasters saying: ‘Our relevance has faded.’ The focus is on who seizes focus … There is undoubtedly a future for traditional media.”