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Originally found over 150 years ago within a Pennsylvania drilling site, the modest tin of Vaseline might not appear as an obvious target for social media algorithms.

However, its rise as a viral TikTok topic has positioned it at the vanguard of an marketing transformation, seeing big businesses spending big on content creators and putting fewer resources into advertising goods in legacy broadcasters.

The Path from Petroleum to Platforms

Originally produced in the 1870s by a chemist, Robert Cheeseborough, who observed drillers using on their skin with a byproduct of the drilling process. Currently, a wave of content from users have chronicled its broad application in “everyday tips”.

It has been touted as a remedy for cleaning shoes or extending perfume longevity, along with a cure for creaky hinges. Users have even applied it to stop the scourge of snack dust adhering to hands.

Harnessing the Hype

Detecting the product’s new life online, marketers at Unilever amplified the hacks by tasking their in-house experts with verification and letting the content creators in on the results.

Claims that Vaseline reduced the burn from hot food on the lips were validated. So too were ideas it could prolong perfume and restore leather handbags. Claims that it would whiten teeth or make eyelashes longer were refuted.

The ‘Social Listening’ Strategy

Billboards and TV ads would once have formed the bulk of its promotional efforts. Yet this viral episode has helped convince executives to turbocharge spending on content creators.

This observation of social channels to guide corporate planning has been termed “social listening”. Fernando Fernández, freshly instated, has stated the intention is to spend a full fifty percent of its huge ad budget on social media content.

Adapting to New Consumer Habits

Selina Sykes, who is heading the digital initiative, said the company was just evolving with contemporary approaches of connecting with customers. She said interacting online “without killing the party” was essential.

“How do brands authentically become part of the conversation? This has perpetually been our aim as brands, since the era of community gossip and talking about what they used.

“There’s this moving away from a one-to-many model, where we would just transmit messages … Now it’s many conversations, diverse communities. The shift of the algorithms means that these groups seem specialized, but they’re not.

“Ensuring your product is discussed by other people, mentioned by individuals, that is how you can build trust and relevance. Influencers are vital for this. This word-of-mouth strategy is being amplified.”

A Revolutionary Change in Media

This plan mirrors dramatic transformations taking place in media consumption, with Gen Z and millennial audiences spending more time on digital networks than television, magazines or radio.

This change is evidenced by declines in broadcast and newspaper ads. Within the United Kingdom, advertising income for primary networks have fallen by more than £600m in real terms since 2019.

The Creator Economy Boom

This further signifies a merging of functions as corporations essentially turn into content studios, partnering with a multitude of digital creators to boost their products.

An industry expert from a leading agency said: “Obviously there’s a flow of audiences away from some legacy media and they are dedicating far more hours to Instagram, TikTok and YouTube than they are consuming linear broadcasts or printed matter.

“Numerous corporations inform us audiences believe endorsements from the individuals they follow more than they trust ads. This is a persistent pattern.”

He added firms may also cut expenditures by targeting content creators over big traditional media campaigns, which also allows them to tweak their content more easily to test effectiveness.

Such methods are increasing. Advertising spending on the creator economy is rising at quadruple the rate than the broader media sector. Stateside, it has more than doubled since 2021 and is projected to reach tens of billions in 2025.

The Enduring Power of Broadcast

Even with this transformation, experts said they believed television commercials still played a key part to play, as networks still held the capability to frame public debate.

Sykes said: “A top-tier ROI marketing event is still the Super Bowl. The issue isn't broadcasters claiming: ‘Our relevance has faded.’ It concerns who commands eyeballs … There is undoubtedly a future for traditional media.”