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As a product discovered more than 150 years ago in the oil fields of Pennsylvania, the humble pot of Vaseline may not seem like an obvious target for online content feeds.

Yet the brand’s emergence as a TikTok talking point has placed it at the forefront of an promotional upheaval, seeing big businesses investing heavily in content creators and putting fewer resources into advertising goods in legacy broadcasters.

The Path from Petroleum to Platforms

The petroleum jelly was first manufactured in the 1870s by a chemist, Robert Cheeseborough, who observed drillers using on their skin with a residue from oil extraction. Currently, a wave of content from users have documented the product’s widespread use in “life hacks”.

Hailed as a remedy for cleaning shoes or making fragrance last longer, and also a remedy for squeaky doors. Users have even applied it to stop the scourge of chip seasoning clinging to fingers.

Leveraging the Buzz

Detecting the product’s new life online, marketers at Unilever enhanced the tricks by tasking their in-house experts with verification and providing creators with the outcome data.

Suggestions that it lessened the sensation of spicy food on lips were given the thumbs up. Similarly supported were ideas it could lengthen scent duration and rejuvenate purses. Proposals that it might whiten teeth or lengthen eyelashes were disproven.

A Plan Built on ‘Social Listening’

Billboards and TV ads would once have been the cornerstone of its marketing push. But the Vaseline phenomenon has led decision-makers to turbocharge spending on content creators.

This tracking of digital spaces to shape commercial tactics 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 digital creator content.

Shifting to Modern Engagement

Selina Sykes, who is spearheading the social media effort, said the company was merely adjusting to novel methods of reaching consumers. She said participating on platforms “without spoiling the atmosphere” was paramount.

“What is the key to genuine brand integration? That’s always what we’ve been trying to do 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 broadcast out … Now it’s many conversations, many communities. The evolution of platform algorithms means that these audiences appear specific, however, they are large.

“Having your brand advocated by users, talked about by other people, that fosters reliability and pertinence. Content makers are key. We are expanding this endorsement system.”

A Fundamental Consumption Turn

This plan mirrors profound shifts taking place in media consumption, with the youth demographic allocating more attention to digital networks than legacy broadcast and print media.

This change is evidenced by drops in traditional media advertising. Within the United Kingdom, advertising income for leading TV channels have dropped substantially in inflation-adjusted terms since 2019.

The Creator Economy Boom

This further signifies a blurring of media roles as large companies almost become production houses themselves, collaborating with hundreds of content creators to enhance their items.

An industry expert from a leading agency said: “Clearly, there is a migration of viewers from conventional channels and they are dedicating far more hours to Instagram, TikTok and YouTube than they are watching live TV or reading print.

“A lot of brands are telling us consumers have more faith in suggestions from the personalities they subscribe to more than they trust ads. That’s a consistent trend.”

He said brands could also save money by investing in creators over large-scale legacy ad buys, which also allows them to tweak their content more easily to see what works.

The approach is growing. Marketing investment on digital creator partnerships is rising at quadruple the rate 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.

TV's Lasting Role

Regardless of the massive shift, industry figures said they believed broadcast ads retained significant importance to play, as broadcasters retained the power to frame public debate.

She added: “A top-tier ROI marketing event is still events like the Super Bowl. It's not a matter of networks declaring: ‘We are no longer pertinent.’ It concerns who commands eyeballs … I think there’s 100% a place for them.”