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As a product discovered over 150 years ago in the oil fields of Pennsylvania, the modest tin of Vaseline might not appear as an clear candidate for online content feeds.

However, its rise as a TikTok talking point has placed it at the forefront of an promotional upheaval, in which large companies are allocating substantial funds to content creators and devoting less capital to advertising goods in traditional media.

The Path from Petroleum to Platforms

Originally produced in the 1870s by scientist Robert Cheeseborough, who observed drillers using on their skin with a byproduct of the drilling process. Today, a spree of amateur-created clips have documented the product’s widespread use in “practical tricks”.

Promoted as a fix for dirty sneakers or extending perfume longevity, as well as a fix for creaky hinges. Users have even applied it to prevent the annoyance of snack dust adhering to hands.

Harnessing the Hype

Spotting its digital renaissance, executives at the multinational enhanced the tricks by tasking their in-house experts with verification and letting the content creators in on the results.

Claims that Vaseline reduced the sting of chili on the mouth were confirmed. Similarly supported were ideas it could prolong perfume and revive leather bags. Suggestions it could brighten smiles or make eyelashes longer were debunked.

A Plan Built on ‘Social Listening’

Print ads and broadcast spots would once have been the cornerstone of its marketing push. But the Vaseline phenomenon has persuaded leaders to ramp up funding for content creators.

This monitoring of online platforms to guide corporate planning has been dubbed “social listening”. The company's chief executive, recently appointed, has indicated the goal is to spend a full fifty percent of its huge ad budget on digital creator content.

Evolving With Audience Behavior

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.

“How can companies join discussions credibly? That’s always what we’ve been trying to do as brands, dating to when neighbors chatted over fences and sharing usage tips.

“There’s this moving away from a mass communication approach, where we would just transmit messages … Currently, it's countless discussions, diverse communities. Changes in digital feeds means that these communities feel niche, but they’re not.

“Ensuring your product is discussed by consumers, 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 dramatic transformations taking place in media consumption, with Gen Z and millennial audiences allocating more attention to social media platforms than television, magazines or radio.

This change is evidenced by falling revenues for traditional media advertising. In the UK, advertising income for leading TV channels have fallen by more than £600m in actual value since the end of the last decade.

Influencer Marketing Expansion

It also reflects a media convergence as large companies almost become production houses themselves, partnering with numerous influencers to boost their products.

An industry expert from a leading agency said: “Naturally, an exodus of attention from conventional channels and they’re spending a lot more time on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube than they are viewing scheduled television or reading physical magazines.

“A lot of brands are telling us people trust recommendations from the creators they engage with more than they trust ads. It's an ongoing shift.”

He added firms may also cut expenditures by targeting content creators over big traditional media campaigns, which also permits simpler message refinement to gauge performance.

This strategy is expanding. Marketing investment on the creator economy is increasing four times faster than the media industry overall. Stateside, it has over doubled since 2021 and is expected to hit multi-billion dollar sums in 2025.

Traditional Media's Continued Place

Even with this transformation, executives said they believed TV advertising still had a prominent role to play, as broadcasters retained the power to frame public debate.

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 … I think there’s 100% a place for them.”