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Originally found over 150 years ago within a Pennsylvania drilling site, the simple jar of Vaseline might not appear as an obvious target for online content feeds.

Yet the brand’s emergence as a popular subject on TikTok has positioned it at the vanguard of an promotional upheaval, seeing big businesses allocating substantial funds to content creators and devoting less capital to marketing items in conventional outlets.

The Path from Petroleum to Platforms

First created commercially in the 1870s by chemist Robert Cheeseborough, who noticed oil rig workers using on their skin with a byproduct of the drilling process. Now, a flood of user-generated videos have chronicled its broad application in “life hacks”.

Promoted as a solution for polishing footwear or extending perfume longevity, along with a cure for squeaky doors. Users have even applied it to combat the nuisance of chip seasoning clinging to fingers.

Capitalising on the Conversation

Spotting its digital renaissance, marketers at Unilever boosted the tips by asking their own scientists to test them and sharing the findings with influencers.

Suggestions that it lessened the sting of chili on the mouth were given the thumbs up. This was also the case for ideas it could prolong perfume and rejuvenate purses. Proposals that it might bleach teeth or make eyelashes longer were refuted.

A Plan Built on ‘Social Listening’

Print ads and broadcast spots would once have been the cornerstone of its marketing push. However, this online trend has persuaded leaders to ramp up funding for content creators.

This monitoring of online platforms to guide corporate planning has been termed “social listening”. Unilever's CEO, newly named, has stated the intention is to spend a full fifty percent of its huge ad budget on social media content.

Evolving With Audience Behavior

The company's social media lead, who is heading the digital initiative, said the company was simply adapting to new ways of connecting with customers. She said participating on platforms “without spoiling the atmosphere” was crucial.

“How can companies join discussions credibly? That’s always what we’ve been trying to do as brands, since the era of community gossip and sharing usage tips.

“There’s this moving away from a one-to-many model, where we would just transmit messages … Today, it's numerous dialogues, diverse communities. The evolution of platform algorithms means that these audiences appear specific, yet they are vast.

“Having your brand advocated by other people, recommended by peers, that fosters reliability and pertinence. Creators are critical to that. We are expanding this endorsement system.”

A Fundamental Consumption Turn

The approach indicates profound shifts occurring in how media is consumed, with the youth demographic allocating more attention to digital networks than television, magazines or radio.

This change is evidenced by falling revenues for traditional media advertising. In the UK, advertising income for primary networks have declined by over six hundred million pounds in real terms since 2019.

Influencer Marketing Expansion

It also reflects a media convergence as corporations essentially turn into content studios, partnering with numerous influencers to promote their goods.

An industry expert from a leading agency said: “Clearly, there is a migration of viewers from conventional channels and they are dedicating far more hours to social platforms like Instagram, TikTok and YouTube than they are consuming linear broadcasts or printed matter.

“Numerous corporations inform us consumers have more faith in suggestions from the individuals they follow over traditional advertisements. This is a persistent pattern.”

He said brands could also save money by focusing on influencers over large-scale legacy ad buys, which also allows them to tweak their content more easily to see what works.

This strategy is expanding. Marketing investment 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 tens of billions in 2025.

Traditional Media's Continued Place

Even with this transformation, industry figures said they believed TV advertising still had a prominent role to play, as TV channels continued to possess the influence to shape the national conversation.

The executive noted: “Among the most effective advertising investments is still major broadcast spectacles. It’s not about those broadcasters saying: ‘Oh, we’re not relevant any more.’ The focus is on who seizes focus … I think there’s 100% a place for them.”