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As a product discovered more than 150 years ago on a Pennsylvania oilfield, the simple jar of Vaseline might not appear as an natural focus for social media algorithms.

However, its rise as a TikTok talking point 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 legacy broadcasters.

From Oil Rigs to Online Hacks

Originally produced in the 1870s by chemist Robert Cheeseborough, who noticed oil rig workers rubbing their skin with a byproduct of the drilling process. Today, a spree of user-generated videos have chronicled its broad application in “life hacks”.

It has been touted as a remedy for cleaning shoes or extending perfume longevity, and also a remedy for creaky hinges. It has even been deployed to prevent the annoyance of chip seasoning clinging to fingers.

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 confirmed. Similarly supported were ideas it could lengthen scent duration and restore leather handbags. Suggestions it could brighten smiles or lengthen eyelashes were refuted.

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 led decision-makers to turbocharge spending on content creators.

This tracking of digital spaces to guide corporate planning has been labeled “social listening”. The company's chief executive, newly named, has stated the intention is to spend a full fifty percent of its huge ad budget on platform-based material.

Adapting to New Consumer Habits

Selina Sykes, who is heading the digital initiative, said the company was just evolving with contemporary approaches of engaging audiences. She said interacting online “without spoiling the atmosphere” was paramount.

“How do brands authentically become part of the conversation? This has perpetually been our aim as brands, since the era of community gossip 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, diverse 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 consumers, recommended by peers, that fosters reliability and pertinence. Influencers are vital for this. This word-of-mouth strategy is being amplified.”

A Revolutionary Change in Media

The strategy reflects profound shifts happening in audience habits, with Gen Z and millennial audiences devoting greater hours to apps like TikTok and Instagram than legacy broadcast and print media.

This change is evidenced by falling revenues for traditional media advertising. Across Britain, advertising income for leading TV channels have fallen by more than £600m in inflation-adjusted terms since 2019.

The Rise of the Creator Economy

It also reflects a blurring of media roles as brands effectively act as media producers, collaborating with a multitude of digital creators to promote their goods.

Leon Harlow said: “Naturally, an exodus of attention out of certain traditional media outlets and they are dedicating far more hours to social platforms like Instagram, TikTok and YouTube than they are consuming linear broadcasts or printed matter.

“Many companies report to us audiences believe endorsements from the individuals they follow more than they trust ads. It's an ongoing shift.”

He added firms may also cut expenditures by targeting content creators over expensive broadcast campaigns, which also enables easier content adjustment to test effectiveness.

The approach is growing. Advertising spending on the creator economy is rising at quadruple the rate than total media spending. Across the United States, it has increased by over 100% 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 television commercials still played a key part to play, as TV channels continued to possess the influence to frame public debate.

Sykes said: “Among the most effective advertising investments is still major broadcast spectacles. It's not a matter of networks declaring: ‘Oh, we’re not relevant any more.’ It concerns who commands eyeballs … I think there’s 100% a place for them.”