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First identified over 150 years ago within a Pennsylvania drilling site, the modest tin of Vaseline may not seem like an natural focus for social media algorithms.

However, its rise as a TikTok talking point has placed it at the forefront of an promotional upheaval, where major corporations are allocating substantial funds to content creators and devoting less capital to promoting products in legacy broadcasters.

From Oil Rigs to Online Hacks

Originally produced in the 1870s by scientist Robert Cheeseborough, who saw laborers applying to their skin with a derivative of drilling. Now, a flood of user-generated videos have recorded its extensive utilization in “life hacks”.

Promoted as a solution for polishing footwear or prolonging the scent of perfume, as well as a fix for noisy doorways. Its use has even extended to combat the nuisance of snack dust adhering to hands.

Leveraging the Buzz

Spotting its digital renaissance, strategists within the corporation enhanced the tricks by having their research teams evaluate the claims and sharing the findings with influencers.

Claims that Vaseline reduced the burn from hot food on the lips were confirmed. So too were ideas it could lengthen scent duration and rejuvenate purses. Suggestions it could bleach teeth or lengthen eyelashes were refuted.

The ‘Social Listening’ Strategy

Billboards and TV ads would once have formed the bulk of its promotional efforts. But the Vaseline phenomenon has helped convince executives to turbocharge spending on content creators.

This observation of social channels to guide corporate planning has been termed “social listening”. Unilever's CEO, freshly instated, has suggested it is aiming to spend 50% of its massive marketing spend 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 connecting with customers. She said engaging on social media “without spoiling the atmosphere” was essential.

“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 mass communication approach, where we would just broadcast out … Now it’s many conversations, many communities. Changes in digital feeds means that these communities feel niche, however, they are large.

“Having your brand advocated by users, talked about by other people, that is how you can build trust and relevance. Creators are critical to that. This word-of-mouth strategy is being amplified.”

A Revolutionary Change in Media

The approach indicates profound shifts taking place in media consumption, with the youth demographic allocating more attention to social media platforms than legacy broadcast and print media.

The transition is visible in falling revenues for traditional media advertising. Across Britain, commercial funding for primary networks have fallen by more than £600m in actual value since the end of the last decade.

The Creator Economy Boom

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

A commercial director at a major talent agency said: “Naturally, an exodus of attention out of certain traditional media outlets 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 personalities they subscribe to more than they trust ads. That’s a consistent trend.”

He noted companies can reduce costs by focusing on influencers over expensive broadcast campaigns, which also allows them to tweak their content more easily to gauge performance.

Such methods are increasing. Promotional expenditure on digital creator partnerships is increasing four times faster than the broader media sector. Stateside, it has more than doubled since 2021 and is projected to reach tens of billions in 2025.

TV's Lasting Role

Even with this transformation, experts said they believed TV advertising still had a prominent role to play, as networks still held the capability to shape the national conversation.

She added: “A top-tier ROI marketing event 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.”