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Originally found more than 150 years ago within a Pennsylvania drilling site, the modest tin of Vaseline could hardly be considered an natural focus for online content feeds.

Nonetheless, its ascent as a popular subject on TikTok has placed it at the forefront of an marketing transformation, seeing big businesses allocating substantial funds to content creators and putting fewer resources into promoting products in traditional media.

The Path from Petroleum to Platforms

Originally produced in the 1870s by a chemist, 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”.

Hailed as a solution for polishing footwear or making fragrance last longer, along with a cure for creaky hinges. Users have even applied it to combat the nuisance of chip seasoning clinging to fingers.

Harnessing the Hype

Spotting its digital renaissance, marketers at Unilever boosted the tips by tasking their in-house experts with verification and sharing the findings with influencers.

Suggestions that it lessened the sensation of spicy food on lips were given the thumbs up. So too were ideas it could prolong perfume and restore leather handbags. Claims that it would whiten teeth or extend lashes were debunked.

A Plan Built on ‘Social Listening’

Billboards and TV ads would once have dominated Unilever’s advertising drive. Yet this viral episode has led decision-makers to dramatically increase investment in content creators.

This tracking of digital spaces to inform business strategy has been dubbed “social listening”. Fernando Fernández, recently appointed, 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 spearheading the social media effort, said the company was just evolving with contemporary approaches of engaging audiences. She said participating on platforms “without dampening the fun” was paramount.

“How do brands authentically become part of the conversation? This remains our core objective 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 send out ads … Today, it's numerous dialogues, diverse communities. The shift of the algorithms means that these audiences appear specific, but they’re not.

“If you can make sure your brand is shared by consumers, mentioned by individuals, this builds credibility and connection. Creators are critical to that. This word-of-mouth strategy is being amplified.”

A Seismic Media Shift

The approach indicates profound shifts taking place in media consumption, with the youth demographic devoting greater hours to digital networks than television, magazines or radio.

The transition is visible in drops in traditional media advertising. In the UK, advertising income for leading TV channels have dropped substantially in actual value since the end of the last decade.

Influencer Marketing Expansion

Additionally, it points to a merging of functions as brands effectively act as media producers, partnering with a multitude of digital creators to enhance their items.

An industry expert from a leading agency said: “Obviously there’s a flow of audiences from conventional channels and they are dedicating far more hours to digital video and image apps than they are consuming linear broadcasts or printed matter.

“A lot of brands are telling us people trust recommendations from the personalities they subscribe to over traditional advertisements. This is a persistent pattern.”

He noted companies can reduce costs by targeting content creators over expensive broadcast campaigns, which also allows them to tweak their content more easily to test effectiveness.

This strategy is expanding. Marketing investment on digital creator partnerships is growing fourfold quicker than the broader media sector. Across the United States, it has over doubled since 2021 and is projected to reach substantial figures in 2025.

Traditional Media's Continued Place

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

She added: “A top-tier ROI marketing event is still the Super Bowl. It's not a matter of networks declaring: ‘Our relevance has faded.’ It concerns who commands eyeballs … I believe there is absolutely a role for them.”