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As a product discovered over 150 years ago within a Pennsylvania drilling site, the modest tin of Vaseline may not seem like an clear candidate for online content feeds.

Nonetheless, its ascent as a viral TikTok topic has positioned it at the vanguard of an marketing transformation, in which large companies are allocating substantial funds to content creators and devoting less capital to marketing items in legacy broadcasters.

From Oil Rigs to Online Hacks

First created commercially in the 1870s by a chemist, Robert Cheeseborough, who saw laborers using on their skin with a byproduct of the drilling process. Currently, a wave of user-generated videos have documented the product’s widespread use in “life hacks”.

It has been touted as a fix for dirty sneakers or prolonging the scent of perfume, as well as a fix for noisy doorways. Users have even applied it to stop the scourge of snack dust adhering to hands.

Harnessing the Hype

Noticing its viral resurgence, executives at the multinational amplified the hacks by tasking their in-house experts with verification and sharing the findings with influencers.

Claims that Vaseline reduced the burn from hot food on the lips were confirmed. So too were ideas it could extend fragrance and restore leather handbags. Suggestions it could brighten smiles or extend lashes were debunked.

The ‘Social Listening’ Strategy

Print ads and broadcast spots would once have been the cornerstone of its marketing push. However, this online trend has persuaded leaders to turbocharge spending on content creators.

This observation of social channels to inform business strategy has been termed “social listening”. Unilever's CEO, freshly instated, has indicated the goal is to spend half of its colossal advertising budget on social media content.

Evolving With Audience Behavior

Selina Sykes, who is heading the digital initiative, said the company was just evolving with contemporary approaches of connecting with customers. She said engaging on social media “without killing the party” was essential.

“How can companies join discussions credibly? This remains our core objective as brands, dating to when neighbors chatted over fences and discussing household products.

“The trend is shifting from a mass communication approach, where we would just broadcast out … Today, it's numerous dialogues, many communities. The shift of the algorithms means that these communities feel niche, but they’re not.

“Ensuring your product is discussed by users, recommended by peers, that is how you can build trust and relevance. Influencers are vital for this. We are expanding this endorsement system.”

A Seismic Media Shift

The strategy reflects dramatic transformations happening in audience habits, with the youth demographic spending more time on apps like TikTok and Instagram than legacy broadcast and print media.

The shift is reflected in 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.

Influencer Marketing Expansion

This further signifies a merging of functions as brands effectively act as media producers, linking up with hundreds of content creators to enhance their items.

Leon Harlow said: “Obviously there’s a flow of audiences from conventional channels and they are dedicating far more hours to social platforms like Instagram, TikTok and YouTube 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 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 enables easier content adjustment to gauge performance.

The approach is growing. Advertising spending on the creator economy is rising at quadruple the rate than the media industry overall. Across the United States, it has increased by over 100% since 2021 and is expected to hit multi-billion dollar sums in 2025.

Traditional Media's Continued Place

Even with this transformation, industry figures said they believed broadcast ads retained significant importance to play, as broadcasters retained the power to shape the national conversation.

Sykes said: “A top-tier ROI marketing event is still major broadcast spectacles. It's not a matter of networks declaring: ‘Oh, we’re not relevant any more.’ It concerns who commands eyeballs … I believe there is absolutely a role for them.”