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First identified over 150 years ago in the oil fields of Pennsylvania, the modest tin of Vaseline may not seem like an clear candidate for online content feeds.

Yet the brand’s emergence as a viral TikTok topic has thrust it into the lead of an promotional upheaval, seeing big businesses investing heavily in content creators and putting fewer resources into advertising goods in conventional outlets.

The Path from Petroleum to Platforms

First created commercially in the 1870s by chemist Robert Cheeseborough, who saw laborers rubbing their skin with a byproduct of the drilling process. Currently, a wave of user-generated videos have documented the product’s widespread use in “practical tricks”.

Promoted as a fix for dirty sneakers or making fragrance last longer, along with a cure for squeaky doors. Users have even applied it to prevent the annoyance of crisp flavouring sticking to fingers.

Harnessing the Hype

Spotting its digital renaissance, executives at the multinational enhanced the tricks by asking their own scientists to test them and letting the content creators in on the results.

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 revive leather bags. Suggestions it could bleach teeth or extend lashes were debunked.

The ‘Digital Ear’ Approach

Billboards and TV ads would once have dominated Unilever’s advertising drive. But the Vaseline phenomenon has led decision-makers to turbocharge spending on content creators.

This observation of social channels to inform business strategy has been dubbed “social listening”. The company's chief executive, newly named, has indicated the goal is to spend half of its colossal advertising budget on social media content.

Adapting to New Consumer Habits

A leading Unilever executive, who is leading the online push, said the company was simply adapting to new ways of engaging audiences. She said interacting online “without spoiling the atmosphere” was crucial.

“How can companies join discussions credibly? This remains our core objective as brands, dating to when neighbors chatted over fences and talking about what they used.

“There’s this moving away from a broadcast model, where we would just transmit messages … Currently, it's countless discussions, diverse communities. The evolution of platform algorithms means that these audiences appear specific, yet they are vast.

“Ensuring your product is discussed by other people, mentioned by individuals, that fosters reliability and pertinence. Content makers are key. This word-of-mouth strategy is being amplified.”

A Seismic Media Shift

The approach indicates dramatic transformations happening in audience habits, with younger consumers spending more time on digital networks than legacy broadcast and print media.

The transition is visible in falling revenues for traditional media advertising. Within the United Kingdom, advertising income for major broadcasters have dropped substantially 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: “Naturally, an exodus of attention from conventional channels and their time is increasingly on digital video and image apps than they are viewing scheduled television or reading physical magazines.

“Numerous corporations inform us consumers have more faith in suggestions from the creators they engage with more than they trust ads. That’s a consistent trend.”

He added firms may also cut expenditures by investing in creators over big traditional media campaigns, which also enables easier content adjustment to see what works.

Such methods are increasing. Promotional expenditure on influencer marketing is increasing four times faster than the broader media sector. In the US, it has more than doubled since 2021 and is expected to hit tens of billions in 2025.

The Enduring Power of Broadcast

Despite the huge changes, experts said they believed TV advertising still had a prominent role to play, as networks still held the capability to frame public debate.

Sykes said: “A top-tier ROI marketing event is still the Super Bowl. It's not a matter of networks declaring: ‘Our relevance has faded.’ It concerns who commands eyeballs … There is undoubtedly a future for traditional media.”