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As a product discovered over 150 years ago within a Pennsylvania drilling site, the simple jar of Vaseline might not appear as an obvious target for digital platform algorithms.

Yet the brand’s emergence as a viral TikTok topic has positioned it at the vanguard of an promotional upheaval, in which large companies are allocating substantial funds to content creators and reducing expenditure on marketing items in legacy broadcasters.

The Path from Petroleum to Platforms

Originally produced in the 1870s by chemist Robert Cheeseborough, who noticed oil rig workers rubbing their skin with a byproduct of the drilling process. Now, a flood of user-generated videos have recorded its extensive utilization in “practical tricks”.

Hailed as a remedy for cleaning shoes or prolonging the scent of perfume, and also a remedy for squeaky doors. Its use has even extended to combat the nuisance of crisp flavouring sticking to fingers.

Leveraging the Buzz

Spotting its digital renaissance, marketers at Unilever amplified the hacks by asking their own scientists to test them and providing creators with the outcome data.

Claims that Vaseline reduced the sensation of spicy food on lips were confirmed. This was also the case for ideas it could extend fragrance and rejuvenate purses. Proposals that it might bleach teeth or lengthen eyelashes were disproven.

A Plan Built on ‘Social Listening’

Billboards and TV ads would once have been the cornerstone of its marketing push. Yet this viral episode has led decision-makers to dramatically increase investment in content creators.

This monitoring of online platforms to inform business strategy has been labeled “social listening”. The company's chief executive, newly named, has suggested it is aiming to spend a full fifty percent of its huge ad budget on social media content.

Evolving With Audience Behavior

A leading Unilever executive, who is spearheading the social media effort, said the company was just evolving with contemporary approaches of engaging audiences. She said interacting online “without spoiling the atmosphere” was crucial.

“What is the key to genuine brand integration? That’s always what we’ve been trying to do as brands, since the era of community gossip and discussing household products.

“There’s this moving away from a one-to-many model, where we would just send out ads … Currently, it's countless discussions, many communities. The shift of the algorithms means that these groups seem specialized, 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. Influencers are vital for this. This word-of-mouth strategy is being amplified.”

A Seismic Media Shift

This plan mirrors seismic changes taking place in media consumption, with younger consumers allocating more attention to digital networks than legacy broadcast and print media.

This change is evidenced by declines in traditional media advertising. Across Britain, advertising income for leading TV channels have dropped substantially in inflation-adjusted terms since 2019.

The Rise of the Creator Economy

It also reflects a merging of functions as brands effectively act as media producers, linking up with a multitude of digital creators to promote their goods.

Leon Harlow said: “Naturally, an exodus of attention away from some legacy media and their time is increasingly on 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 creators they engage with over traditional advertisements. This is a persistent pattern.”

He noted companies can reduce costs by investing in creators over expensive broadcast campaigns, which also enables easier content adjustment to see what works.

The approach is growing. Marketing investment on influencer marketing is rising at quadruple the rate than the media industry overall. Across the United States, it has over doubled since 2021 and is forecast to attain multi-billion dollar sums in 2025.

Traditional Media's Continued Place

Regardless of the massive shift, executives said they believed television commercials still played a key part to play, as broadcasters retained the power to frame public debate.

Sykes said: “One of the highest return-on-investment media opportunities is still the Super Bowl. It's not a matter of networks declaring: ‘Our relevance has faded.’ The focus is on who seizes focus … There is undoubtedly a future for traditional media.”