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As a product discovered more than 150 years ago on a Pennsylvania oilfield, the simple jar of Vaseline could hardly be considered an clear candidate for social media algorithms.

Nonetheless, its ascent as a viral TikTok topic has thrust it into the lead of an marketing transformation, seeing big businesses investing heavily in content creators and reducing expenditure on advertising goods in traditional media.

The Path from Petroleum to Platforms

Originally produced in the 1870s by scientist Robert Cheeseborough, who saw laborers applying to their skin with a residue from oil extraction. Currently, a wave of content from users have documented the product’s widespread use in “practical tricks”.

Promoted as a remedy for cleaning shoes or extending perfume longevity, along with a cure for creaky hinges. Users have even applied it to combat the nuisance of snack dust adhering to hands.

Leveraging the Buzz

Noticing its viral resurgence, strategists within the corporation 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 burn from hot food on the lips were given the thumbs up. This was also the case for ideas it could extend fragrance and restore leather handbags. Proposals that it might whiten teeth or extend lashes were refuted.

A Plan Built on ‘Social Listening’

Print ads and broadcast spots 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 dubbed “social listening”. The company's chief executive, freshly instated, has indicated the goal is to spend half of its colossal advertising budget on digital creator content.

Adapting to New Consumer Habits

A leading Unilever executive, who is spearheading the social media effort, said the company was merely adjusting to novel methods of reaching consumers. She said interacting online “without killing the party” was crucial.

“How can companies join discussions credibly? This remains our core objective as brands, since the era of community gossip and talking about what they used.

“We are witnessing a departure from a broadcast model, where we would just transmit messages … Currently, it's countless discussions, many communities. The evolution of platform algorithms means that these groups seem specialized, but they’re not.

“If you can make sure your brand is shared by consumers, recommended by peers, that fosters reliability and pertinence. Content makers are key. We are expanding this endorsement system.”

A Fundamental Consumption Turn

This plan mirrors seismic changes happening in audience habits, with Gen Z and millennial audiences allocating more attention to digital networks than television, magazines or radio.

The transition is visible in drops in broadcast and newspaper ads. Within the United Kingdom, commercial funding for leading TV channels have dropped substantially in inflation-adjusted terms since 2019.

Influencer Marketing Expansion

Additionally, it points to a blurring of media roles as large companies almost become production houses themselves, collaborating with hundreds of content creators to enhance their items.

A commercial director at a major talent agency 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 watching live TV or reading print.

“Numerous corporations inform us consumers have more faith in suggestions from the creators they engage with compared to commercial messages. This is a persistent pattern.”

He noted companies can reduce costs by focusing on influencers over big traditional media campaigns, which also allows them to tweak their content more easily to gauge performance.

Such methods are increasing. Advertising spending on digital creator partnerships is increasing four times faster than the broader media sector. In the US, it has increased by over 100% since 2021 and is expected to hit substantial figures in 2025.

The Enduring Power of Broadcast

Despite the huge changes, industry figures said they believed TV advertising still had a prominent role to play, as broadcasters retained the power to drive countrywide discourse.

She added: “A top-tier ROI marketing event is still major broadcast spectacles. 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.”