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Originally found over 150 years ago on a Pennsylvania oilfield, the modest tin of Vaseline could hardly be considered an natural focus for online content feeds.

Nonetheless, its ascent as a popular subject on TikTok has placed it at the forefront of an promotional upheaval, seeing big businesses allocating substantial funds to content creators and devoting less capital to marketing items in legacy broadcasters.

A Journey from Drilling to Digital

First created commercially in the 1870s by chemist Robert Cheeseborough, who saw laborers applying to their skin with a residue from oil extraction. Today, a spree of amateur-created clips have recorded its extensive utilization in “life hacks”.

Promoted as a remedy for cleaning shoes or extending perfume longevity, and also a remedy for creaky hinges. It has even been deployed to combat the nuisance of crisp flavouring sticking to fingers.

Harnessing the Hype

Detecting the product’s new life online, marketers at Unilever amplified the hacks by having their research teams evaluate the claims and sharing the findings with influencers.

Assertions that it diminished the sting of chili on the mouth were given the thumbs up. So too were ideas it could prolong perfume and restore leather handbags. Proposals that it might brighten smiles or make eyelashes longer were debunked.

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 helped convince executives to ramp up funding for content creators.

This monitoring of online platforms to inform business strategy has been dubbed “social listening”. Fernando Fernández, freshly instated, has stated the intention is to spend half of its colossal advertising budget on platform-based material.

Evolving With Audience Behavior

The company's social media lead, who is spearheading the social media effort, said the company was simply adapting to new ways of engaging audiences. She said interacting online “without spoiling the atmosphere” was essential.

“How do brands authentically become part of the conversation? This remains our core objective as brands, since the era of community gossip and sharing usage tips.

“We are witnessing a departure from a broadcast model, where we would just transmit messages … Now it’s many conversations, many communities. The shift of the algorithms means that these communities feel niche, but they’re not.

“Ensuring your product is discussed by other people, talked about by other people, that is how you can build trust and relevance. Influencers are vital for this. We’re really scaling this advocacy model.”

A Revolutionary Change in Media

The strategy reflects profound shifts taking place in media consumption, with the youth demographic devoting greater hours to social media platforms than television, magazines or radio.

The transition is visible in declines in traditional media advertising. Across Britain, ad revenues for leading TV channels have dropped substantially in real terms since 2019.

The Creator Economy Boom

This further signifies a merging of functions as large companies almost become production houses themselves, collaborating with a multitude of digital creators to boost their products.

An industry expert from a leading agency said: “Naturally, an exodus of attention out of certain traditional media outlets and they’re spending a lot more time on digital video and image apps 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. That’s a consistent trend.”

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

The approach is growing. Promotional expenditure on the creator economy is rising at quadruple the rate than the broader media sector. In the US, it has increased by over 100% since 2021 and is projected to reach multi-billion dollar sums in 2025.

TV's Lasting Role

Even with this transformation, industry figures said they believed television commercials still played a key part to play, as networks still held the capability to shape the national conversation.

The executive noted: “Among the most effective advertising investments is still events like the Super Bowl. It’s not about those broadcasters saying: ‘We are no longer pertinent.’ It concerns who commands eyeballs … I think there’s 100% a place for them.”