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First identified more than 150 years ago within a Pennsylvania drilling site, the modest tin of Vaseline may not seem like an obvious target for social media algorithms.

However, its rise as a popular subject on TikTok has positioned it at the vanguard of an marketing transformation, seeing big businesses investing heavily in content creators and reducing expenditure on marketing items in conventional outlets.

A Journey from Drilling to Digital

Originally produced in the 1870s by scientist Robert Cheeseborough, who noticed oil rig workers using on their skin with a byproduct of the drilling process. Currently, a wave of user-generated videos have documented the product’s widespread use in “practical tricks”.

It has been touted as a remedy for cleaning shoes or extending perfume longevity, along with a cure for noisy doorways. Users have even applied it to combat the nuisance of chip seasoning clinging to fingers.

Harnessing the Hype

Noticing its viral resurgence, marketers at Unilever enhanced the tricks by tasking their in-house experts with verification and letting the content creators in on the results.

Suggestions that it lessened the burn from hot food on the lips were confirmed. Similarly supported were ideas it could extend fragrance and revive leather bags. Claims that it would bleach teeth or lengthen eyelashes were debunked.

A Plan Built on ‘Social Listening’

Outdoor advertising and television commercials would once have dominated Unilever’s advertising drive. Yet this viral episode has persuaded leaders to ramp up funding for content creators.

This observation of social channels to inform business strategy has been termed “social listening”. Fernando Fernández, recently appointed, has indicated the goal is to spend 50% of its massive marketing spend on social media content.

Shifting to Modern Engagement

A leading Unilever executive, who is leading the online push, said the company was just evolving with contemporary approaches of engaging audiences. She said interacting online “without killing the party” was essential.

“What is the key to genuine brand integration? This remains our core objective as brands, dating to when neighbors chatted over fences and discussing household products.

“We are witnessing a departure from a mass communication approach, where we would just send out ads … Today, it's numerous dialogues, various groups. The evolution of platform algorithms means that these groups seem specialized, yet they are vast.

“Ensuring your product is discussed by other people, talked about by other people, this builds credibility and connection. Influencers are vital for this. We are expanding this endorsement system.”

A Fundamental Consumption Turn

This plan mirrors profound shifts occurring in how media is consumed, with Gen Z and millennial audiences allocating more attention to digital networks than legacy broadcast and print media.

The shift is reflected in falling revenues for traditional media advertising. Within the United Kingdom, advertising income for primary networks have fallen by more than £600m in real terms since 2019.

The Rise of the Creator Economy

It also reflects a blurring of media roles as corporations essentially turn into content studios, partnering with a multitude of digital creators to promote their goods.

A commercial director at a major talent agency said: “Naturally, an exodus of attention out of certain traditional media outlets 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 creators they engage with compared to commercial messages. It's an ongoing shift.”

He added firms may also cut expenditures by investing in creators over big traditional media campaigns, which also enables easier content adjustment to gauge performance.

The approach is growing. Advertising spending on influencer marketing is rising at quadruple the rate than the broader media sector. Stateside, it has increased by over 100% since 2021 and is projected to reach substantial figures in 2025.

TV's Lasting Role

Despite the huge changes, 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.

Sykes said: “One of the highest return-on-investment media opportunities is still major broadcast spectacles. It’s not about those broadcasters saying: ‘Our relevance has faded.’ It concerns who commands eyeballs … There is undoubtedly a future for traditional media.”