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As a product discovered more than 150 years ago within a Pennsylvania drilling site, the humble pot of Vaseline might not appear as an obvious target for social media algorithms.

Yet the brand’s emergence as a popular subject on TikTok has thrust it into the lead of an marketing transformation, where major corporations are allocating substantial funds to content creators and devoting less capital to promoting products in traditional media.

A Journey from Drilling to Digital

First created commercially in the 1870s by chemist Robert Cheeseborough, who observed drillers applying to their skin with a byproduct of the drilling process. Today, a spree of user-generated videos have documented the product’s widespread use in “practical tricks”.

Hailed as a remedy for cleaning shoes or extending perfume longevity, along with a cure for creaky hinges. Its use has even extended to prevent the annoyance of snack dust adhering to hands.

Leveraging the Buzz

Detecting the product’s new life online, marketers at Unilever boosted the tips by asking their own scientists to test them and providing creators with the outcome data.

Claims that Vaseline reduced the burn from hot food on the lips were given the thumbs up. So too were ideas it could lengthen scent duration and restore leather handbags. Suggestions it could brighten smiles or make eyelashes longer were refuted.

The ‘Social Listening’ Strategy

Billboards and TV ads would once have dominated Unilever’s advertising drive. But the Vaseline phenomenon has persuaded leaders to dramatically increase investment in content creators.

This observation of social channels to guide corporate planning has been dubbed “social listening”. Fernando Fernández, freshly instated, has stated the intention is to spend a full fifty percent of its huge ad budget on digital creator content.

Shifting to Modern Engagement

The company's social media lead, who is spearheading the social media effort, said the company was simply adapting to new ways of engaging audiences. She said participating on platforms “without spoiling the atmosphere” was crucial.

“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 discussing household products.

“There’s this moving away from a one-to-many model, where we would just send out ads … Today, it's numerous dialogues, various groups. The evolution of platform algorithms means that these communities feel niche, but they’re not.

“Having your brand advocated by users, talked about by other people, that is how you can build trust and relevance. Creators are critical to that. We’re really scaling this advocacy model.”

A Fundamental Consumption Turn

The approach indicates dramatic transformations occurring in how media is consumed, with the youth demographic spending more time on apps like TikTok and Instagram than television, magazines or radio.

The shift is reflected in falling revenues for traditional media advertising. Across Britain, advertising income for primary networks have declined by over six hundred million pounds in actual value since the end of the last decade.

Influencer Marketing Expansion

It also reflects a blurring of media roles as brands effectively act as media producers, linking up with numerous influencers to boost their products.

A commercial director at a major talent agency said: “Obviously there’s a flow of audiences away from some legacy media 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 people trust recommendations from the individuals they follow more than they trust ads. This is a persistent pattern.”

He noted companies can reduce costs by investing in creators over large-scale legacy ad buys, which also enables easier content adjustment to gauge performance.

This strategy is expanding. Advertising spending on the creator economy is rising at quadruple the rate than the media industry overall. Across the United States, it has more than doubled since 2021 and is projected to reach multi-billion dollar sums in 2025.

TV's Lasting Role

Regardless of the massive shift, executives said they believed TV advertising still had a prominent role to play, as broadcasters retained the power to frame public debate.

Sykes said: “Among the most effective advertising investments is still major broadcast spectacles. The issue isn't broadcasters claiming: ‘Our relevance has faded.’ It’s about who’s capturing attention … I believe there is absolutely a role for them.”