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As a product discovered more than 150 years ago in the oil fields of Pennsylvania, the modest tin of Vaseline may not seem like an natural focus for digital platform algorithms.

However, its rise as a viral TikTok topic has thrust it into the lead of an marketing transformation, seeing big businesses allocating substantial funds to content creators and devoting less capital to marketing items in conventional outlets.

A Journey from Drilling to Digital

Originally produced in the 1870s by a chemist, Robert Cheeseborough, who saw laborers rubbing their skin with a byproduct of the drilling process. Currently, a wave of amateur-created clips have documented the product’s widespread use in “everyday tips”.

Promoted as a remedy for cleaning shoes or extending perfume longevity, and also a remedy for creaky hinges. It has even been deployed to combat the nuisance of chip seasoning clinging to fingers.

Harnessing the Hype

Detecting the product’s new life online, strategists within the corporation enhanced the tricks by asking their own scientists to test them and sharing the findings with influencers.

Claims that Vaseline reduced the sensation of spicy food on lips were given the thumbs up. So too were ideas it could prolong perfume and revive leather bags. Suggestions it could bleach teeth or extend lashes were disproven.

A Plan Built on ‘Social Listening’

Billboards and TV ads would once have been the cornerstone of its marketing push. But the Vaseline phenomenon has helped convince executives to ramp up funding for content creators.

This tracking of digital spaces to inform business strategy has been dubbed “social listening”. Unilever's CEO, freshly instated, has stated the intention is to spend a full fifty percent of its huge ad budget on digital creator content.

Adapting to New Consumer Habits

A leading Unilever executive, who is spearheading the social media effort, said the company was just evolving with contemporary approaches of reaching consumers. She said engaging on social media “without spoiling the atmosphere” was paramount.

“How do brands authentically become part of the conversation? This remains our core objective as brands, dating to when neighbors chatted over fences and talking about what they used.

“We are witnessing a departure from a broadcast model, where we would just send out ads … Today, it's numerous dialogues, diverse communities. The evolution of platform algorithms means that these audiences appear specific, however, they are large.

“Ensuring your product is discussed by other people, talked about by other people, that is how you can build trust and relevance. Content makers are key. This word-of-mouth strategy is being amplified.”

A Fundamental Consumption Turn

This plan mirrors seismic changes occurring in how media is consumed, with the youth demographic spending more time on digital networks than legacy broadcast and print media.

The shift is reflected in falling revenues for broadcast and newspaper ads. Within the United Kingdom, commercial funding for leading TV channels have fallen by more than £600m in inflation-adjusted terms since 2019.

The Rise of the Creator Economy

Additionally, it points to a media convergence as large companies almost become production houses themselves, linking up with numerous influencers to boost their products.

Leon Harlow said: “Clearly, there is a migration of viewers out of certain traditional media outlets and they are dedicating far more hours to digital video and image apps than they are consuming linear broadcasts or printed matter.

“Numerous corporations inform us people trust recommendations from the individuals they follow more than they trust ads. This is a persistent pattern.”

He said brands could also save money by investing in creators over big traditional media campaigns, which also permits simpler message refinement to gauge performance.

This strategy is expanding. Marketing investment on the creator economy is growing fourfold quicker than total media spending. Stateside, it has over doubled since 2021 and is projected to reach substantial figures in 2025.

Traditional Media's Continued Place

Despite the huge changes, industry figures said they believed TV advertising still had a prominent role to play, as networks still held the capability to frame public debate.

The executive noted: “One of the highest return-on-investment media opportunities is still events like the Super Bowl. It’s not about those broadcasters saying: ‘We are no longer pertinent.’ It’s about who’s capturing attention … I believe there is absolutely a role for them.”