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Originally found more than 150 years ago on a Pennsylvania oilfield, the humble pot of Vaseline could hardly be considered an clear candidate for online content feeds.

Yet the brand’s emergence as a popular subject on TikTok has placed it at the forefront of an advertising revolution, seeing big businesses investing heavily in content creators and reducing expenditure on marketing items in conventional outlets.

From Oil Rigs to Online Hacks

Originally produced in the 1870s by a chemist, Robert Cheeseborough, who noticed oil rig workers rubbing their skin with a byproduct of the drilling process. Now, a flood of amateur-created clips have documented the product’s widespread use in “everyday tips”.

Promoted as a fix for dirty sneakers or extending perfume longevity, as well as a fix for creaky hinges. It has even been deployed to stop the scourge of chip seasoning clinging to fingers.

Harnessing the Hype

Detecting the product’s new life online, strategists within the corporation amplified the hacks by having their research teams evaluate the claims and providing creators with the outcome data.

Suggestions that it lessened the burn from hot food on the lips were validated. This was also the case for ideas it could prolong perfume and rejuvenate purses. Claims that it would brighten smiles or lengthen eyelashes were refuted.

A Plan Built on ‘Social Listening’

Outdoor advertising and television commercials would once have been the cornerstone of its marketing push. But the Vaseline phenomenon has persuaded leaders to ramp up funding for content creators.

This monitoring of online platforms to guide corporate planning has been dubbed “social listening”. Unilever's CEO, freshly instated, has suggested it is aiming to spend half of its colossal advertising budget on social media content.

Evolving With Audience Behavior

A leading Unilever executive, who is leading the online push, said the company was simply adapting to new ways of reaching consumers. She said interacting online “without killing the party” was paramount.

“What is the key to genuine brand integration? This has perpetually been our aim as brands, since the era of community gossip and talking about what they used.

“We are witnessing a departure from a mass communication approach, where we would just transmit messages … Currently, it's countless discussions, diverse communities. The evolution of platform algorithms means that these audiences appear specific, however, they are large.

“Ensuring your product is discussed by users, 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 Fundamental Consumption Turn

The approach indicates seismic changes taking place in media consumption, with younger consumers allocating more attention to social media platforms than legacy broadcast and print media.

The shift is reflected in falling revenues for TV and print advertising. In the UK, ad revenues for leading TV channels have dropped substantially in inflation-adjusted terms since 2019.

The Creator Economy Boom

It also reflects a blurring of media roles as corporations essentially turn into content studios, linking up with hundreds of content creators to enhance their items.

An industry expert from a leading agency said: “Clearly, there is a migration of viewers away from some legacy media and they are dedicating far more hours to Instagram, TikTok and YouTube than they are watching live TV or reading print.

“Many companies report to us consumers have more faith in suggestions from the creators they engage with more than they trust ads. It's an ongoing shift.”

He said brands could also save money by focusing on influencers over big traditional media campaigns, which also enables easier content adjustment to see what works.

Such methods are increasing. Advertising spending on the creator economy is growing fourfold quicker than the media industry overall. In the US, it has more than doubled since 2021 and is expected to hit multi-billion dollar sums in 2025.

Traditional Media's Continued Place

Regardless of the massive shift, experts said they believed broadcast ads retained significant importance to play, as broadcasters retained the power to drive countrywide discourse.

She added: “Among the most effective advertising investments is still the Super Bowl. It's not a matter of networks declaring: ‘Oh, we’re not relevant any more.’ It concerns who commands eyeballs … I believe there is absolutely a role for them.”