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As a product discovered more than 150 years ago on a Pennsylvania oilfield, the humble pot of Vaseline could hardly be considered an natural focus for online content feeds.

However, its rise as a viral TikTok topic has placed it at the forefront of an promotional upheaval, seeing big businesses allocating substantial funds to content creators and reducing expenditure on marketing items in legacy broadcasters.

A Journey from Drilling to Digital

The petroleum jelly was first manufactured in the 1870s by scientist Robert Cheeseborough, who saw laborers rubbing their skin with a byproduct of the drilling process. Today, a spree of content from users have recorded its extensive utilization in “life hacks”.

It has been touted as a fix for dirty sneakers or prolonging the scent of perfume, as well as a fix for noisy doorways. Its use has even extended to combat the nuisance of crisp flavouring sticking to fingers.

Capitalising on the Conversation

Noticing its viral resurgence, marketers at Unilever amplified the hacks by having their research teams evaluate the claims and sharing the findings with influencers.

Assertions that it diminished the burn from hot food on the lips were confirmed. This was also the case for ideas it could prolong perfume and rejuvenate purses. Proposals that it might brighten smiles or make eyelashes longer were debunked.

The ‘Social Listening’ Strategy

Billboards and TV ads would once have been the cornerstone of its marketing push. However, this online trend has helped convince executives to turbocharge spending on content creators.

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

Evolving With Audience Behavior

Selina Sykes, who is leading the online push, said the company was simply adapting to new ways of connecting with customers. She said interacting online “without dampening the fun” was crucial.

“How can companies join discussions credibly? This remains our core objective as brands, back to when people were hanging out their laundry and discussing household products.

“The trend is shifting 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 groups seem specialized, yet they are vast.

“If you can make sure your brand is shared by other people, talked about by other people, that fosters reliability and pertinence. Creators are critical to that. This word-of-mouth strategy is being amplified.”

A Revolutionary Change in Media

The strategy reflects seismic changes happening in audience habits, with the youth demographic allocating more attention to social media platforms than television, magazines or radio.

This change is evidenced by declines in broadcast and newspaper ads. Within the United Kingdom, commercial funding for leading TV channels have dropped substantially in real terms since 2019.

The Rise of the Creator Economy

It also reflects a merging of functions as large companies almost become production houses themselves, collaborating with numerous influencers to promote their goods.

A commercial director at a major talent agency said: “Clearly, there is a migration of viewers from conventional channels and their time is increasingly on social platforms like Instagram, TikTok and YouTube than they are consuming linear broadcasts or printed matter.

“Many companies report to us audiences believe endorsements from the personalities they subscribe to over traditional advertisements. It's an ongoing shift.”

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 influencer marketing is growing fourfold quicker than total media spending. Across the United States, it has more than doubled since 2021 and is projected to reach substantial figures in 2025.

TV's Lasting Role

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

She added: “One of the highest return-on-investment media opportunities is still the Super Bowl. It's not a matter of networks declaring: ‘We are no longer pertinent.’ It’s about who’s capturing attention … I believe there is absolutely a role for them.”