‘Social Listening’: Unilever Seeks to Capitalise On Vaseline’s Social Media Breakthrough.

Originally found over 150 years ago on a Pennsylvania oilfield, the modest tin of Vaseline may not seem like an natural focus for social media algorithms.

Nonetheless, its ascent as a TikTok talking point has positioned it at the vanguard of an advertising revolution, seeing big businesses spending big on content creators and putting fewer resources into advertising goods in conventional outlets.

A Journey from Drilling to Digital

Originally produced in the 1870s by a chemist, Robert Cheeseborough, who observed drillers applying to their skin with a residue from oil extraction. Today, a spree of content from users have recorded its extensive utilization in “life hacks”.

It has been touted as a fix for dirty sneakers or prolonging the scent of perfume, along with a cure for creaky hinges. Users have even applied it to combat the nuisance of chip seasoning clinging to fingers.

Harnessing the Hype

Detecting the product’s new life online, strategists within the corporation enhanced the tricks by tasking their in-house experts with verification 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. This was also the case for ideas it could extend fragrance and revive leather bags. Suggestions it could bleach teeth or extend lashes were refuted.

The ‘Social Listening’ Strategy

Print ads and broadcast spots would once have formed the bulk of its promotional efforts. However, this online trend has helped convince executives to turbocharge spending on content creators.

This tracking of digital spaces to guide corporate planning has been labeled “social listening”. Fernando Fernández, recently appointed, has stated the intention is to spend 50% of its massive marketing spend on digital creator content.

Shifting to Modern Engagement

A leading Unilever executive, who is heading the digital initiative, said the company was simply adapting to new ways of connecting with customers. She said engaging on social media “without spoiling the atmosphere” was crucial.

“How can companies join discussions credibly? This has perpetually been our aim as brands, back to when people were hanging out their laundry and discussing household products.

“There’s this moving away from a broadcast model, where we would just send out ads … Currently, it's countless discussions, diverse communities. The shift of the algorithms means that these groups seem specialized, however, they are large.

“Ensuring your product is discussed by users, talked about by other people, this builds credibility and connection. Content makers are key. We’re really scaling this advocacy model.”

A Fundamental Consumption Turn

The approach indicates profound shifts happening in audience habits, with the youth demographic devoting greater hours to social media platforms than legacy broadcast and print media.

The shift is reflected in drops in broadcast and newspaper ads. 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 media convergence as brands effectively act as media producers, linking up with hundreds of content creators to enhance their items.

Leon Harlow said: “Obviously there’s a flow of audiences away from some legacy media and they are dedicating far more hours to social platforms like Instagram, TikTok and YouTube than they are consuming linear broadcasts or printed matter.

“A lot of brands are telling us people trust recommendations from the personalities they subscribe to compared to commercial messages. It's an ongoing shift.”

He added firms may also cut expenditures by investing in creators over big traditional media campaigns, which also permits simpler message refinement to gauge performance.

Such methods are increasing. Advertising spending on the creator economy is growing fourfold quicker than total media spending. In the US, it has increased by over 100% since 2021 and is forecast to attain tens of billions in 2025.

TV's Lasting Role

Despite the huge changes, executives said they believed television commercials still played a key part to play, as broadcasters retained the power to drive countrywide discourse.

The executive noted: “Among the most effective advertising investments is still major broadcast spectacles. It’s not about those broadcasters saying: ‘We are no longer pertinent.’ The focus is on who seizes focus … I think there’s 100% a place for them.”