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As a product discovered over 150 years ago within a Pennsylvania drilling site, the simple jar of Vaseline may not seem like an clear candidate for online content feeds.

Nonetheless, its ascent as a viral TikTok topic has thrust it into the lead of an advertising revolution, where major corporations are allocating substantial funds to content creators and putting fewer resources into marketing items in legacy broadcasters.

A Journey from Drilling to Digital

Originally produced in the 1870s by scientist Robert Cheeseborough, who saw laborers applying to their skin with a residue from oil extraction. Currently, a wave of content from users have chronicled its broad application in “life hacks”.

Promoted as a fix for dirty sneakers or extending perfume longevity, as well as a fix for noisy doorways. It has even been deployed to combat the nuisance of crisp flavouring sticking to fingers.

Harnessing the Hype

Noticing its viral resurgence, marketers at Unilever amplified the hacks by asking their own scientists to test them and sharing the findings with influencers.

Suggestions that it lessened the sting of chili on the mouth were given the thumbs up. This was also the case for ideas it could prolong perfume and revive leather bags. Suggestions it could whiten teeth or extend lashes were debunked.

A Plan Built on ‘Social Listening’

Outdoor advertising and television commercials would once have been the cornerstone of its marketing push. But the Vaseline phenomenon has helped convince executives to turbocharge spending on content creators.

This observation of social channels to inform business strategy has been labeled “social listening”. The company's chief executive, freshly instated, 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 spearheading the social media effort, said the company was just evolving with contemporary approaches of connecting with customers. She said participating on platforms “without spoiling the atmosphere” was paramount.

“How do brands authentically become part of the conversation? This remains our core objective as brands, dating to when neighbors chatted over fences and sharing usage tips.

“There’s this moving away from a one-to-many model, where we would just broadcast out … Today, it's numerous dialogues, various groups. The evolution of platform algorithms means that these audiences appear specific, yet they are vast.

“Having your brand advocated by users, talked about by other people, that is how you can build trust and relevance. Creators are critical to that. This word-of-mouth strategy is being amplified.”

A Fundamental Consumption Turn

This plan mirrors seismic changes occurring in how media is consumed, with the youth demographic spending more time on apps like TikTok and Instagram than television, magazines or radio.

This change is evidenced by drops in traditional media advertising. Within the United Kingdom, ad revenues for leading TV channels have dropped substantially in real terms since 2019.

The Creator Economy Boom

This further signifies a media convergence as corporations essentially turn into content studios, linking up with numerous influencers to boost their products.

An industry expert from a leading agency said: “Clearly, there is a migration of viewers away from some legacy media and they’re spending a lot more time on digital video and image apps than they are viewing scheduled television or reading physical magazines.

“Numerous corporations inform us people trust recommendations from the individuals they follow over traditional advertisements. It's an ongoing shift.”

He noted companies can reduce costs by focusing on influencers over big traditional media campaigns, which also allows them to tweak their content more easily to see what works.

The approach is growing. Promotional expenditure on the creator economy is rising at quadruple the rate than the media industry overall. In the US, it has more than doubled 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 broadcast ads retained significant importance to play, as broadcasters retained the power to frame public debate.

The executive noted: “One of the highest return-on-investment media opportunities is still major broadcast spectacles. It’s not about those broadcasters saying: ‘Oh, we’re not relevant any more.’ It concerns who commands eyeballs … I believe there is absolutely a role for them.”