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As a product discovered over 150 years ago in the oil fields of Pennsylvania, the modest tin of Vaseline might not appear as 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 marketing transformation, seeing big businesses spending big on content creators and devoting less capital to marketing items in traditional media.

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 derivative of drilling. Today, a spree of content from users have documented the product’s widespread use in “everyday tips”.

It has been touted as a remedy for cleaning shoes or making fragrance last longer, and also a remedy for creaky hinges. It has even been deployed to prevent the annoyance of snack dust adhering to hands.

Harnessing the Hype

Detecting the product’s new life online, marketers at Unilever amplified the hacks by asking their own scientists to test them and letting the content creators in on the results.

Assertions that it diminished the sensation of spicy food on lips were confirmed. This was also the case for ideas it could extend fragrance and restore leather handbags. Suggestions it could whiten teeth or make eyelashes longer were disproven.

The ‘Social Listening’ Strategy

Print ads and broadcast spots would once have dominated Unilever’s advertising drive. But the Vaseline phenomenon has led decision-makers to ramp up funding for content creators.

This observation of social channels to guide corporate planning has been dubbed “social listening”. Unilever's CEO, newly named, has indicated the goal is to spend half of its colossal advertising budget on digital creator content.

Evolving With Audience Behavior

The company's social media lead, who is heading the digital initiative, said the company was just evolving with contemporary approaches of engaging audiences. She said engaging on social media “without dampening the fun” was essential.

“What is the key to genuine brand integration? This has perpetually been our aim as brands, dating to when neighbors chatted over fences and discussing household products.

“There’s this moving away from a mass communication approach, where we would just transmit messages … Currently, it's countless discussions, many communities. The shift of the algorithms means that these communities feel niche, yet they are vast.

“Ensuring your product is discussed by consumers, recommended by peers, this builds credibility and connection. Influencers are vital for this. We are expanding this endorsement system.”

A Seismic Media Shift

This plan mirrors dramatic transformations occurring in how media is consumed, with the youth demographic allocating more attention to digital networks than traditional TV, print, or radio.

The shift is reflected in falling revenues for traditional media advertising. Within the United Kingdom, ad revenues for leading TV channels have dropped substantially in inflation-adjusted terms since 2019.

Influencer Marketing Expansion

This further signifies a merging of functions as large companies almost become production houses themselves, partnering with hundreds of content creators to boost their products.

Leon Harlow said: “Naturally, an exodus of attention out of certain traditional media outlets and they’re spending a lot more time on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube 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 expensive broadcast campaigns, which also allows them to tweak their content more easily to test effectiveness.

The approach is growing. Advertising spending on the creator economy is growing fourfold quicker than total media spending. Across the United States, it has more than doubled since 2021 and is projected to reach multi-billion dollar sums in 2025.

Traditional Media's Continued Place

Despite the huge changes, experts said they believed broadcast ads retained significant importance to play, as broadcasters retained the power to shape the national conversation.

The executive noted: “Among the most effective advertising investments is still the Super Bowl. It’s not about those broadcasters saying: ‘Our relevance has faded.’ It’s about who’s capturing attention … I believe there is absolutely a role for them.”