🔗 Share this article ‘Social Listening’: The Consumer Goods Giant Looks to Exploit Vaseline’s Social Media Breakthrough. As a product discovered more than 150 years ago on a Pennsylvania oilfield, 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, seeing big businesses allocating substantial funds to content creators and reducing expenditure on advertising goods in legacy broadcasters. From Oil Rigs to Online Hacks Originally produced in the 1870s by chemist Robert Cheeseborough, who observed drillers rubbing their skin with a residue from oil extraction. Now, a flood of user-generated videos have recorded its extensive utilization in “practical tricks”. It has been touted as a remedy for cleaning shoes or making fragrance last longer, as well as a fix for creaky hinges. It has even been deployed to stop the scourge of chip seasoning clinging to fingers. Leveraging the Buzz Spotting its digital renaissance, strategists within the corporation boosted the tips by having their research teams evaluate the claims and letting the content creators in on the results. Claims that Vaseline reduced the sensation of spicy food on lips were validated. This was also the case for ideas it could lengthen scent duration and revive leather bags. Suggestions it could bleach teeth or make eyelashes longer were debunked. The ‘Digital Ear’ Approach Billboards and TV ads would once have dominated Unilever’s advertising drive. However, this online trend has led decision-makers to turbocharge spending on content creators. This observation of social channels to shape commercial tactics has been termed “social listening”. Fernando Fernández, recently appointed, has suggested it is aiming to spend a full fifty percent of its huge ad budget on digital creator content. Evolving With Audience Behavior Selina Sykes, who is leading the online push, said the company was merely adjusting to novel methods of engaging audiences. She said participating on platforms “without killing the party” was essential. “What is the key to genuine brand integration? This has perpetually been our aim as brands, back to when people were hanging out their laundry and sharing usage tips. “We are witnessing a departure from a broadcast model, where we would just transmit messages … Today, it's numerous dialogues, many communities. The shift of the algorithms means that these communities feel niche, yet they are vast. “Ensuring your product is discussed by users, recommended by peers, that fosters reliability and pertinence. Creators are critical to that. We are expanding this endorsement system.” A Fundamental Consumption Turn This plan mirrors profound shifts happening in audience habits, with Gen Z and millennial audiences allocating more attention to social media platforms than legacy broadcast and print media. The shift is reflected in drops in TV and print advertising. Within the United Kingdom, ad revenues for major broadcasters have fallen by more than £600m in inflation-adjusted terms since 2019. The Creator Economy Boom It also reflects a blurring of media roles as large companies almost become production houses themselves, partnering with a multitude of digital creators to boost their products. A commercial director at a major talent agency said: “Naturally, an exodus of attention out of certain traditional media outlets and they are dedicating far more hours to digital video and image apps than they are consuming linear broadcasts or printed matter. “A lot of brands are telling us audiences believe endorsements from the creators they engage with compared to commercial messages. It's an ongoing shift.” He said brands could also save money by focusing on influencers over large-scale legacy ad buys, which also allows them to tweak their content more easily to test effectiveness. This strategy is expanding. Promotional expenditure on digital creator partnerships is rising at quadruple the rate than the media industry overall. In the US, it has more than doubled since 2021 and is expected to hit tens of billions in 2025. TV's Lasting Role Despite the huge changes, executives said they believed broadcast ads retained significant importance to play, as TV channels continued to possess the influence to drive countrywide discourse. She added: “A top-tier ROI marketing event is still major broadcast spectacles. The issue isn't broadcasters claiming: ‘Oh, we’re not relevant any more.’ The focus is on who seizes focus … There is undoubtedly a future for traditional media.”