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Originally found over 150 years ago in the oil fields of Pennsylvania, the modest tin of Vaseline may not seem like an obvious target for online content feeds.

Yet the brand’s emergence as a popular subject on TikTok has positioned it at the vanguard of an promotional upheaval, in which large companies are investing heavily in content creators and reducing expenditure on advertising goods in conventional outlets.

The Path from Petroleum to Platforms

First created commercially in the 1870s by chemist Robert Cheeseborough, who noticed oil rig workers applying to their skin with a derivative of drilling. Today, a spree of user-generated videos have documented the product’s widespread use in “practical tricks”.

Promoted as a remedy for cleaning shoes or extending perfume longevity, and also a remedy for squeaky doors. It has even been deployed to stop the scourge of crisp flavouring sticking to fingers.

Leveraging the Buzz

Detecting the product’s new life online, strategists within the corporation 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 validated. This was also the case for ideas it could lengthen scent duration and revive leather bags. Claims that it would whiten teeth or lengthen eyelashes were debunked.

The ‘Social Listening’ Strategy

Outdoor advertising and television commercials would once have dominated Unilever’s advertising drive. Yet this viral episode has persuaded leaders to ramp up funding for content creators.

This observation of social channels to inform business strategy has been termed “social listening”. The company's chief executive, recently appointed, has suggested it is aiming to spend 50% of its massive marketing spend on social media content.

Evolving With Audience Behavior

A leading Unilever executive, who is leading the online push, said the company was simply adapting to new ways of connecting with customers. She said interacting online “without killing the party” was crucial.

“What is the key to genuine brand integration? This remains our core objective as brands, back to when people were hanging out their laundry and talking about what they used.

“We are witnessing a departure from a mass communication approach, where we would just send out ads … Currently, it's countless discussions, various groups. Changes in digital feeds means that these audiences appear specific, however, they are large.

“If you can make sure your brand is shared 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 Fundamental Consumption Turn

The strategy reflects seismic changes happening in audience habits, with the youth demographic allocating more attention to social media platforms than traditional TV, print, or radio.

This change is evidenced by declines in traditional media advertising. Within the United Kingdom, ad revenues for leading TV channels have fallen by more than £600m in inflation-adjusted terms since 2019.

Influencer Marketing Expansion

Additionally, it points to a media convergence as corporations essentially turn into content studios, partnering with numerous influencers to enhance their items.

An industry expert from a leading agency said: “Obviously there’s a flow of audiences from conventional channels and they are dedicating far more hours to 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 more than they trust ads. This is a persistent pattern.”

He said brands could also save money by targeting content creators over expensive broadcast campaigns, which also allows them to tweak their content more easily to gauge performance.

This strategy is expanding. Marketing investment on digital creator partnerships is growing fourfold quicker than total media spending. Across the United States, it has over doubled since 2021 and is projected to reach substantial figures in 2025.

Traditional Media's Continued Place

Despite the huge changes, industry figures said they believed TV advertising still had a prominent role to play, as TV channels continued to possess the influence to frame public debate.

The executive noted: “One of the highest return-on-investment media opportunities is still events like the Super Bowl. It's not a matter of networks declaring: ‘Our relevance has faded.’ It concerns who commands eyeballs … I think there’s 100% a place for them.”