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As a product discovered over 150 years ago within a Pennsylvania drilling site, the simple jar of Vaseline could hardly be considered an obvious target for social media algorithms.

However, its rise as a viral TikTok topic has placed it at the forefront of an promotional upheaval, in which large companies are allocating substantial funds to content creators and devoting less capital to promoting products in traditional media.

The Path from Petroleum to Platforms

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

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

Leveraging the Buzz

Spotting its digital renaissance, executives at the multinational enhanced the tricks by tasking their in-house experts with verification and sharing the findings with influencers.

Suggestions that it lessened the sting of chili on the mouth were confirmed. Similarly supported were ideas it could prolong perfume and restore leather handbags. Claims that it would bleach teeth or extend lashes were refuted.

The ‘Social Listening’ Strategy

Print ads and broadcast spots would once have dominated Unilever’s advertising drive. But the Vaseline phenomenon has helped convince executives to dramatically increase investment in content creators.

This monitoring of online platforms to inform business strategy has been dubbed “social listening”. The company's chief executive, newly named, has stated the intention is to spend a full fifty percent of its huge ad budget on platform-based material.

Adapting to New Consumer Habits

The company's social media lead, who is leading the online push, said the company was simply adapting to new ways of connecting with customers. She said interacting online “without dampening the fun” was essential.

“How do brands authentically become part of the conversation? This has perpetually been our aim as brands, back to when people were hanging out their laundry and talking about what they used.

“There’s this moving away from a one-to-many model, where we would just send out ads … Today, it's numerous dialogues, many communities. The shift of the algorithms means that these audiences appear specific, but they’re not.

“Ensuring your product is discussed by consumers, talked about by other people, that is how you can build trust and relevance. Content makers are key. We are expanding this endorsement system.”

A Fundamental Consumption Turn

This plan mirrors profound shifts happening in audience habits, with Gen Z and millennial audiences devoting greater hours to digital networks than television, magazines or radio.

The shift is reflected in drops in traditional media advertising. In the UK, commercial funding for leading TV channels have fallen by more than £600m in actual value since the end of the last decade.

The Rise of the Creator Economy

Additionally, it points to a merging of functions as corporations essentially turn into content studios, linking up with numerous influencers to boost their products.

A commercial director at a major talent agency said: “Naturally, an exodus of attention away from some legacy media and their time is increasingly on social platforms like Instagram, TikTok and YouTube than they are consuming linear broadcasts or printed matter.

“A lot of brands are telling us audiences believe endorsements from the creators they engage with compared to commercial messages. This is a persistent pattern.”

He said brands could also save money by investing in creators over large-scale legacy ad buys, which also allows them to tweak their content more easily to gauge performance.

This strategy is expanding. Marketing investment on digital creator partnerships is rising at quadruple the rate than the broader media sector. In the US, it has over doubled since 2021 and is forecast to attain tens of billions in 2025.

Traditional Media's Continued Place

Regardless of the massive shift, executives said they believed TV advertising still had a prominent role to play, as TV channels continued to possess the influence to shape the national conversation.

The executive noted: “One of the highest return-on-investment media opportunities is still major broadcast spectacles. It’s not about those broadcasters saying: ‘We are no longer pertinent.’ The focus is on who seizes focus … I think there’s 100% a place for them.”