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First identified over 150 years ago in the oil fields of Pennsylvania, the modest tin of Vaseline could hardly be considered an natural focus for online content feeds.

However, its rise as a viral TikTok topic has placed it at the forefront of an marketing transformation, where major corporations are allocating substantial funds to content creators and putting fewer resources into promoting products in legacy broadcasters.

From Oil Rigs to Online Hacks

The petroleum jelly was first manufactured in the 1870s by scientist Robert Cheeseborough, who observed drillers using on their skin with a residue from oil extraction. Today, a spree of amateur-created clips have chronicled its broad application in “everyday tips”.

Hailed as a fix for dirty sneakers or extending perfume longevity, and also a remedy for creaky hinges. Its use has even extended to prevent the annoyance of chip seasoning clinging to fingers.

Leveraging the Buzz

Noticing its viral resurgence, marketers at Unilever amplified the hacks by asking their own scientists to test them and providing creators with the outcome data.

Assertions that it diminished the burn from hot food on the lips were given the thumbs up. Similarly supported were ideas it could prolong perfume and rejuvenate purses. Proposals that it might whiten teeth or lengthen eyelashes were debunked.

A Plan Built on ‘Social Listening’

Outdoor advertising and television commercials would once have dominated Unilever’s advertising drive. But the Vaseline phenomenon has helped convince executives to dramatically increase investment in content creators.

This tracking of digital spaces to shape commercial tactics has been termed “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.

Shifting to Modern Engagement

Selina Sykes, who is spearheading the social media effort, said the company was merely adjusting to novel methods of connecting with customers. She said engaging on social media “without spoiling the atmosphere” was essential.

“How do brands authentically become part of the conversation? This remains our core objective 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 transmit messages … Today, it's numerous dialogues, various groups. The shift of the algorithms means that these communities feel niche, but they’re not.

“Ensuring your product is discussed by other people, talked about by other people, that is how you can build trust and relevance. Content makers are key. This word-of-mouth strategy is being amplified.”

A Fundamental Consumption Turn

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

This change is evidenced by falling revenues for broadcast and newspaper ads. In the UK, commercial funding for primary networks have fallen by more than £600m in inflation-adjusted terms since 2019.

The Creator Economy Boom

It also reflects a blurring of media roles as corporations essentially turn into content studios, partnering with numerous influencers to promote their goods.

An industry expert from a leading agency said: “Clearly, there is a migration of viewers out of certain traditional media outlets and their time is increasingly on digital video and image apps than they are viewing scheduled television or reading physical magazines.

“A lot of brands are telling us consumers have more faith in suggestions from the personalities they subscribe to over traditional advertisements. This is a persistent pattern.”

He noted companies can reduce costs by targeting content creators over large-scale legacy ad buys, which also permits simpler message refinement to gauge performance.

Such methods are increasing. Promotional expenditure on influencer marketing is growing fourfold quicker than the media industry overall. In the US, it has over doubled since 2021 and is forecast to attain multi-billion dollar sums 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 networks still held the capability to drive countrywide discourse.

Sykes said: “A top-tier ROI marketing event is still the Super Bowl. It's not a matter of networks declaring: ‘We are no longer pertinent.’ It concerns who commands eyeballs … There is undoubtedly a future for traditional media.”