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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 obvious target for online content feeds.

Nonetheless, its ascent as a viral TikTok topic has positioned it at the vanguard of an marketing transformation, seeing big businesses allocating substantial funds to content creators and putting fewer resources into advertising goods in conventional outlets.

A Journey from Drilling to Digital

First created commercially in the 1870s by scientist Robert Cheeseborough, who noticed oil rig workers rubbing their skin with a derivative of drilling. Today, a spree of content from users have documented the product’s widespread use in “everyday tips”.

Promoted as a solution for polishing footwear or prolonging the scent of perfume, as well as a fix for creaky hinges. It has even been deployed to stop the scourge of snack dust adhering to hands.

Capitalising on the Conversation

Detecting the product’s new life online, marketers at Unilever boosted the tips by tasking their in-house experts with verification and sharing the findings with influencers.

Claims that Vaseline reduced the sensation of spicy food on lips were validated. This was also the case for ideas it could prolong perfume and revive leather bags. Proposals that it might bleach teeth or make eyelashes longer were debunked.

The ‘Social Listening’ Strategy

Print ads and broadcast spots would once have dominated Unilever’s advertising drive. Yet this viral episode has persuaded leaders to turbocharge spending on content creators.

This monitoring of online platforms to shape commercial tactics has been labeled “social listening”. Unilever's CEO, freshly instated, has suggested it is aiming to spend a full fifty percent of its huge ad budget on social media content.

Adapting to New Consumer Habits

A leading Unilever executive, who is spearheading the social media effort, said the company was just evolving with contemporary approaches of connecting with customers. She said interacting online “without dampening the fun” was paramount.

“How do brands authentically become part of the conversation? This has perpetually been our aim as brands, back to when people were hanging out their laundry and discussing household products.

“There’s this moving away from a one-to-many model, where we would just send out ads … Now it’s many conversations, various groups. Changes in digital feeds means that these groups seem specialized, however, they are large.

“Ensuring your product is discussed by other people, recommended by peers, that is how you can build trust and relevance. Content makers are key. This word-of-mouth strategy is being amplified.”

A Revolutionary Change in Media

The strategy reflects profound shifts happening in audience habits, with the youth demographic devoting greater hours to social media platforms than television, magazines or radio.

This change is evidenced by declines in broadcast and newspaper ads. Across Britain, advertising income for major broadcasters have dropped substantially in actual value since the end of the last decade.

The Rise of the Creator Economy

This further signifies a merging of functions as brands effectively act as media producers, partnering with numerous influencers to enhance their items.

A commercial director at a major talent agency said: “Clearly, there is a migration of viewers from conventional channels and their time is increasingly on 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 compared to commercial messages. This is a persistent pattern.”

He noted companies can reduce costs by investing in creators over expensive broadcast campaigns, which also allows them to tweak their content more easily to see what works.

This strategy is expanding. Advertising spending on influencer marketing is growing fourfold quicker than the broader media sector. In the US, it has more than doubled since 2021 and is forecast to attain tens of billions in 2025.

TV's Lasting Role

Despite the huge changes, executives said they believed television commercials still played a key part to play, as broadcasters retained the power to drive countrywide discourse.

She added: “A top-tier ROI marketing event is still major broadcast spectacles. The issue isn't broadcasters claiming: ‘We are no longer pertinent.’ It’s about who’s capturing attention … There is undoubtedly a future for traditional media.”