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Originally found over 150 years ago on a Pennsylvania oilfield, the modest tin of Vaseline could hardly be considered an natural focus for social media algorithms.

Yet the brand’s emergence as a TikTok talking point has thrust it into the lead of an advertising revolution, seeing big businesses spending big on content creators and reducing expenditure on advertising goods in legacy broadcasters.

The Path from Petroleum to Platforms

First created commercially in the 1870s by a chemist, Robert Cheeseborough, who observed drillers applying to their skin with a derivative of drilling. Today, a spree of content from users have documented the product’s widespread use in “everyday tips”.

It has been touted as a solution for polishing footwear or prolonging the scent of perfume, along with a cure for creaky hinges. Users have even applied it to prevent the annoyance of chip seasoning clinging to fingers.

Harnessing the Hype

Spotting its digital renaissance, marketers at Unilever enhanced the tricks by tasking their in-house experts with verification and letting the content creators in on the results.

Suggestions that it lessened the sting of chili on the mouth were validated. Similarly supported were ideas it could prolong perfume and restore leather handbags. Suggestions it could bleach teeth or make eyelashes longer were disproven.

The ‘Social Listening’ Strategy

Outdoor advertising and television commercials would once have been the cornerstone of its marketing push. But the Vaseline phenomenon has persuaded leaders to dramatically increase investment in content creators.

This tracking of digital spaces to inform business strategy has been labeled “social listening”. The company's chief executive, freshly instated, has indicated the goal is to spend half of its colossal advertising budget on platform-based material.

Evolving With Audience Behavior

Selina Sykes, who is leading the online push, said the company was simply adapting to new ways of engaging audiences. She said interacting online “without spoiling the atmosphere” was essential.

“How can companies join discussions credibly? This has perpetually been our aim as brands, back to when people were hanging out their laundry and talking about what they used.

“We are witnessing a departure from a one-to-many model, where we would just transmit messages … Today, it's numerous dialogues, various groups. Changes in digital feeds means that these communities feel niche, yet they are vast.

“Having your brand advocated by other people, recommended by peers, this builds credibility and connection. Content makers are key. We are expanding this endorsement system.”

A Fundamental Consumption Turn

The approach indicates profound shifts happening in audience habits, with Gen Z and millennial audiences allocating more attention to social media platforms than traditional TV, print, or radio.

The shift is reflected in falling revenues for broadcast and newspaper ads. In the UK, advertising income for leading TV channels have declined by over six hundred million pounds in actual value since the end of the last decade.

The Creator Economy Boom

This further signifies a blurring of media roles as brands effectively act as media producers, linking up with numerous influencers to promote their goods.

Leon Harlow said: “Obviously there’s a flow of audiences away from some legacy media and they are dedicating far more hours to Instagram, TikTok and YouTube than they are viewing scheduled television or reading physical magazines.

“A lot of brands are telling us people trust recommendations from the personalities they subscribe to more than they trust ads. That’s a consistent trend.”

He said brands could also save money by investing in creators over large-scale legacy ad buys, which also enables easier content adjustment to test effectiveness.

The approach is growing. Promotional expenditure on the creator economy is rising at quadruple the rate than the broader media sector. Stateside, it has increased by over 100% since 2021 and is projected to reach multi-billion dollar sums in 2025.

Traditional Media's Continued Place

Regardless of the massive shift, experts said they believed TV advertising still had a prominent role to play, as broadcasters retained the power to drive countrywide discourse.

The executive noted: “A top-tier ROI marketing event is still the Super Bowl. It's not a matter of networks declaring: ‘Our relevance has faded.’ It concerns who commands eyeballs … There is undoubtedly a future for traditional media.”