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Originally found over 150 years ago on a Pennsylvania oilfield, the modest tin of Vaseline might not appear as an natural focus for digital platform algorithms.

However, its rise as a TikTok talking point has thrust it into the lead of an promotional upheaval, seeing big businesses investing heavily in content creators and reducing expenditure on promoting products in conventional outlets.

The Path from Petroleum to Platforms

First created commercially in the 1870s by a chemist, Robert Cheeseborough, who noticed oil rig workers using on their skin with a derivative of drilling. 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 squeaky doors. It has even been deployed to stop the scourge of crisp flavouring sticking to fingers.

Harnessing the Hype

Spotting its digital renaissance, marketers at Unilever amplified the hacks by asking their own scientists to test them and letting the content creators in on the results.

Claims that Vaseline reduced the sting of chili on the mouth were confirmed. So too were ideas it could prolong perfume and restore leather handbags. Suggestions it could bleach teeth or extend lashes were debunked.

The ‘Digital Ear’ Approach

Billboards and TV ads would once have dominated Unilever’s advertising drive. But the Vaseline phenomenon has helped convince executives to ramp up funding for content creators.

This tracking of digital spaces to shape commercial tactics has been labeled “social listening”. Fernando Fernández, newly named, has stated the intention is to spend half of its colossal advertising budget on digital creator content.

Evolving With Audience Behavior

The company's social media lead, who is leading the online push, said the company was just evolving with contemporary approaches of reaching consumers. She said engaging on social media “without dampening the fun” was crucial.

“How do brands authentically become part of the conversation? This remains our core objective as brands, back to when people were hanging out their laundry and discussing household products.

“We are witnessing a departure from a broadcast model, where we would just broadcast out … Now it’s many conversations, many communities. The shift of the algorithms means that these groups seem specialized, however, they are large.

“If you can make sure your brand is shared 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 Seismic Media Shift

This plan mirrors profound shifts happening in audience habits, with the youth demographic allocating more attention to apps like TikTok and Instagram than television, magazines or radio.

The transition is visible in declines in broadcast and newspaper ads. Across Britain, ad revenues for major broadcasters have dropped substantially in inflation-adjusted terms since 2019.

The Creator Economy Boom

It also reflects a blurring of media roles as brands effectively act as media producers, collaborating with a multitude of digital creators to enhance their items.

A commercial director at a major talent agency said: “Naturally, an exodus of attention away from some legacy media and their time is increasingly on digital video and image apps than they are watching live TV or reading print.

“Numerous corporations inform us consumers have more faith in suggestions from the creators they engage with compared to commercial messages. That’s a consistent trend.”

He added firms may also cut expenditures by investing in creators over expensive broadcast campaigns, which also permits simpler message refinement to test effectiveness.

This strategy is expanding. Marketing investment on digital creator partnerships is rising at quadruple the rate than total media spending. Across the United States, it has increased by over 100% since 2021 and is projected to reach substantial figures in 2025.

TV's Lasting Role

Even with this transformation, executives said they believed TV advertising still had a prominent role to play, as TV channels continued to possess the influence to frame public debate.

Sykes said: “A top-tier ROI marketing event is still the Super Bowl. It’s not about those broadcasters saying: ‘Oh, we’re not relevant any more.’ It’s about who’s capturing attention … I think there’s 100% a place for them.”