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Originally found over 150 years ago in the oil fields of Pennsylvania, the modest tin of Vaseline may not seem like an obvious target for digital platform algorithms.

Nonetheless, its ascent as a TikTok talking point has positioned it at the vanguard of an marketing transformation, seeing big businesses investing heavily in content creators and devoting less capital to marketing items in conventional outlets.

The Path from Petroleum to Platforms

The petroleum jelly was first manufactured in the 1870s by a chemist, Robert Cheeseborough, who observed drillers rubbing their skin with a residue from oil extraction. Today, a spree of user-generated videos have chronicled its broad application in “everyday tips”.

It has been touted as a solution for polishing footwear or making fragrance last longer, as well as a fix for creaky hinges. Its use has even extended to combat the nuisance of crisp flavouring sticking to fingers.

Harnessing the Hype

Spotting its digital renaissance, strategists within the corporation amplified the hacks by tasking their in-house experts with verification and providing creators with the outcome data.

Claims that Vaseline reduced the burn from hot food on the lips were confirmed. So too were ideas it could prolong perfume and restore leather handbags. Suggestions it could brighten smiles or make eyelashes longer were refuted.

The ‘Social Listening’ Strategy

Outdoor advertising and television commercials would once have been the cornerstone of its marketing push. Yet this viral episode has persuaded leaders to dramatically increase investment in content creators.

This monitoring of online platforms to guide corporate planning has been labeled “social listening”. Unilever's CEO, newly named, has stated the intention is to spend 50% of its massive marketing spend on social media content.

Evolving With Audience Behavior

A leading Unilever executive, who is leading the online push, said the company was just evolving with contemporary approaches of engaging audiences. She said interacting online “without killing the party” was essential.

“What is the key to genuine brand integration? This remains our core objective as brands, back to when people were hanging out their laundry and talking about what they used.

“There’s this moving away from a mass communication approach, where we would just transmit messages … Now it’s many conversations, various groups. Changes in digital feeds means that these audiences appear specific, however, they are large.

“Having your brand advocated by consumers, talked about by other people, this builds credibility and connection. Creators are critical to that. We’re really scaling this advocacy model.”

A Revolutionary Change in Media

The approach indicates seismic changes happening in audience habits, with younger consumers devoting greater hours to digital networks than television, magazines or radio.

This change is evidenced by declines in TV and print advertising. In the UK, advertising income for primary networks have fallen by more than £600m in real terms since 2019.

The Creator Economy Boom

It also reflects a merging of functions as brands effectively act as media producers, collaborating with numerous influencers to boost their products.

A commercial director at a major talent agency said: “Naturally, an exodus of attention out of certain traditional media outlets and their time is increasingly on social platforms like 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 personalities they subscribe to more than they trust ads. It's an ongoing shift.”

He added firms may also cut expenditures by targeting content creators over expensive broadcast campaigns, which also allows them to tweak their content more easily to test effectiveness.

Such methods are increasing. Marketing investment on the creator economy is rising at quadruple the rate than the media industry overall. In the US, it has increased by over 100% since 2021 and is expected to hit multi-billion dollar sums in 2025.

The Enduring Power of Broadcast

Even with this transformation, industry figures said they believed television commercials still played a key part to play, as broadcasters retained the power to drive countrywide discourse.

She added: “One of the highest return-on-investment media opportunities is still the Super Bowl. 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.”