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As a product discovered over 150 years ago on a Pennsylvania oilfield, the humble pot of Vaseline might not appear as an natural focus for digital platform algorithms.

Yet the brand’s emergence as a TikTok talking point has thrust it into the lead of an promotional upheaval, in which large companies are investing heavily in content creators and devoting less capital to marketing items in traditional media.

From Oil Rigs to Online Hacks

Originally produced in the 1870s by a chemist, Robert Cheeseborough, who noticed oil rig workers applying to their skin with a derivative of drilling. Currently, a wave of amateur-created clips have recorded its extensive utilization in “practical tricks”.

It has been touted as a solution for polishing footwear or prolonging the scent of perfume, as well as a fix for noisy doorways. Its use has even extended to prevent the annoyance of snack dust adhering to hands.

Harnessing the Hype

Detecting the product’s new life online, executives at the multinational boosted the tips by having their research teams evaluate the claims and letting the content creators in on the results.

Claims that Vaseline reduced the sensation of spicy food on lips were validated. This was also the case for ideas it could prolong perfume and revive leather bags. Suggestions it could bleach teeth or make eyelashes longer were debunked.

A Plan Built on ‘Social Listening’

Outdoor advertising and television commercials would once have dominated Unilever’s advertising drive. However, this online trend has persuaded leaders to ramp up funding for content creators.

This observation of social channels to guide corporate planning has been dubbed “social listening”. Fernando Fernández, freshly instated, has suggested it is aiming to spend a full fifty percent of its huge ad budget on platform-based material.

Adapting to New Consumer Habits

The company's social media lead, who is spearheading the social media effort, said the company was merely adjusting to novel methods of connecting with customers. She said interacting online “without killing the party” was paramount.

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

“There’s this moving away from a broadcast model, where we would just broadcast out … Now it’s many conversations, diverse communities. The evolution of platform algorithms means that these communities feel niche, yet they are vast.

“If you can make sure your brand is shared by other people, recommended by peers, that is how you can build trust and relevance. Creators are critical to that. We’re really scaling this advocacy model.”

A Fundamental Consumption Turn

This plan mirrors dramatic transformations taking place in media consumption, with Gen Z and millennial audiences devoting greater hours to apps like TikTok and Instagram than television, magazines or radio.

The transition is visible in declines in TV and print advertising. Across Britain, ad revenues for leading TV channels have fallen by more than £600m in actual value since the end of the last decade.

Influencer Marketing Expansion

It also reflects a blurring of media roles as corporations essentially turn into content studios, collaborating with a multitude of digital creators to boost their products.

A commercial director at a major talent agency said: “Clearly, there is a migration of viewers from conventional channels and they’re spending a lot more time on digital video and image apps than they are watching live TV or reading print.

“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 noted companies can reduce costs by investing in creators over big traditional media campaigns, which also enables easier content adjustment to gauge performance.

The approach is growing. Marketing investment on the creator economy is increasing four times faster than the media industry overall. Stateside, it has over doubled since 2021 and is expected to hit tens of billions in 2025.

Traditional Media's Continued Place

Even with this transformation, experts said they believed TV advertising still had a prominent role to play, as broadcasters retained the power to drive countrywide discourse.

The executive noted: “A top-tier ROI marketing event is still the Super Bowl. The issue isn't broadcasters claiming: ‘Our relevance has faded.’ It concerns who commands eyeballs … I think there’s 100% a place for them.”