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First identified over 150 years ago within a Pennsylvania drilling site, the simple jar of Vaseline could hardly be considered an natural focus for social media algorithms.

Yet the brand’s emergence as a TikTok talking point has placed it at the forefront of an advertising revolution, in which large companies are allocating substantial funds to content creators and reducing expenditure on promoting products in legacy broadcasters.

From Oil Rigs to Online Hacks

The petroleum jelly was first manufactured in the 1870s by a chemist, Robert Cheeseborough, who saw laborers rubbing their skin with a residue from oil extraction. Now, a flood of content from users have chronicled its broad application in “life hacks”.

Hailed as a remedy for cleaning shoes or prolonging the scent of perfume, and also a remedy for noisy doorways. It has even been deployed to combat the nuisance of crisp flavouring sticking to fingers.

Harnessing the Hype

Detecting the product’s new life online, strategists within the corporation enhanced the tricks by tasking their in-house experts with verification and sharing the findings with influencers.

Assertions that it diminished the sensation of spicy food on lips were validated. So too were ideas it could lengthen scent duration and revive leather bags. Claims that it would whiten teeth or make eyelashes longer were disproven.

A Plan Built on ‘Social Listening’

Print ads and broadcast spots would once have dominated Unilever’s advertising drive. But the Vaseline phenomenon has led decision-makers to dramatically increase investment in content creators.

This monitoring of online platforms to inform business strategy has been labeled “social listening”. Fernando Fernández, freshly instated, has suggested it is aiming to spend a full fifty percent of its huge ad budget on social media content.

Shifting to Modern Engagement

A leading Unilever executive, who is spearheading the social media effort, said the company was merely adjusting to novel methods of reaching consumers. She said engaging on social media “without dampening the fun” was crucial.

“What is the key to genuine brand integration? This has perpetually been our aim as brands, since the era of community gossip and talking about what they used.

“The trend is shifting from a broadcast model, where we would just transmit messages … Now it’s many conversations, diverse communities. The evolution of platform algorithms means that these audiences appear specific, however, they are large.

“If you can make sure your brand is shared by other people, talked about by other people, this builds credibility and connection. Creators are critical to that. We’re really scaling this advocacy model.”

A Seismic Media Shift

The approach indicates seismic changes occurring in how media is consumed, with the youth demographic devoting greater hours to social media platforms than legacy broadcast and print media.

This change is evidenced by drops in traditional media advertising. Within the United Kingdom, ad revenues for leading TV channels have dropped substantially in inflation-adjusted terms since 2019.

Influencer Marketing Expansion

It also reflects a blurring of media roles as corporations essentially turn into content studios, linking up with numerous influencers to enhance their items.

Leon Harlow said: “Naturally, an exodus of attention away from some legacy media and their time is increasingly on social platforms like Instagram, TikTok and YouTube than they are watching live TV or reading print.

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

He said brands could also save money by targeting content creators over expensive broadcast campaigns, which also enables easier content adjustment to test effectiveness.

This strategy is expanding. Advertising spending on the creator economy is increasing four times faster than the media industry overall. In the US, it has increased by over 100% since 2021 and is forecast to attain tens of billions in 2025.

Traditional Media's Continued Place

Regardless of the massive shift, industry figures said they believed broadcast ads retained significant importance to play, as networks still held the capability to shape the national conversation.

She added: “One of the highest return-on-investment media opportunities is still events like the Super Bowl. It's not a matter of networks declaring: ‘Our relevance has faded.’ It’s about who’s capturing attention … I think there’s 100% a place for them.”