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As a product discovered more than 150 years ago within a Pennsylvania drilling site, the modest tin of Vaseline could hardly be considered an obvious target for digital platform algorithms.

However, its rise as a viral TikTok topic has thrust it into the lead of an marketing transformation, where major corporations are allocating substantial funds to content creators and reducing expenditure on advertising goods in legacy broadcasters.

From Oil Rigs to Online Hacks

The petroleum jelly was first manufactured in the 1870s by chemist Robert Cheeseborough, who saw laborers rubbing their skin with a derivative of drilling. Now, a flood of content from users have chronicled its broad application in “everyday tips”.

Promoted as a fix for dirty sneakers or extending perfume longevity, along with a cure for squeaky doors. Its use has even extended to combat the nuisance of chip seasoning clinging to fingers.

Capitalising on the Conversation

Detecting the product’s new life online, executives at the multinational enhanced the tricks 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 given the thumbs up. Similarly supported were ideas it could extend fragrance and revive leather bags. Suggestions it could bleach teeth or extend lashes were refuted.

A Plan Built on ‘Social Listening’

Billboards and TV ads would once have dominated Unilever’s advertising drive. But the Vaseline phenomenon has led decision-makers to dramatically increase investment in content creators.

This tracking of digital spaces to guide corporate planning has been labeled “social listening”. Unilever's CEO, freshly instated, has stated the intention is to spend a full fifty percent of its huge ad budget on social media content.

Adapting to New Consumer Habits

The company's social media lead, who is spearheading the social media effort, said the company was just evolving with contemporary approaches of reaching consumers. She said interacting online “without killing the party” was crucial.

“How do brands authentically become part of the conversation? That’s always what we’ve been trying to do as brands, back to when people were hanging out their laundry and sharing usage tips.

“There’s this moving away from a broadcast model, where we would just send out ads … Currently, it's countless discussions, many communities. The evolution of platform algorithms means that these communities feel niche, but they’re not.

“Having your brand advocated by other people, talked about by other people, this builds credibility and connection. Content makers are key. This word-of-mouth strategy is being amplified.”

A Revolutionary Change in Media

The strategy reflects seismic changes taking place in media consumption, with the youth demographic devoting greater hours to digital networks than traditional TV, print, or radio.

The shift is reflected in drops in traditional media advertising. In the UK, ad revenues for primary networks have declined by over six hundred million pounds in actual value since the end of the last decade.

The Rise of the Creator Economy

It also reflects a merging of functions as brands effectively act as media producers, linking up with numerous influencers to boost their products.

An industry expert from a leading agency said: “Clearly, there is a migration of viewers away from some legacy media and they are dedicating far more hours to digital video and image apps than they are watching live TV or reading print.

“Numerous corporations inform us people trust recommendations from the personalities they subscribe to over traditional advertisements. That’s a consistent trend.”

He added firms may also cut expenditures by investing in creators over expensive broadcast campaigns, which also allows them to tweak their content more easily to gauge performance.

Such methods are increasing. Marketing investment on influencer marketing is increasing four times faster than the media industry overall. Stateside, it has over doubled since 2021 and is projected to reach tens of billions 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 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 about those broadcasters saying: ‘Our relevance has faded.’ It concerns who commands eyeballs … I believe there is absolutely a role for them.”