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First identified over 150 years ago within a Pennsylvania drilling site, the simple jar of Vaseline may not seem like an obvious target for social media algorithms.

Yet the brand’s emergence as a popular subject on TikTok has positioned it at the vanguard of an advertising revolution, seeing big businesses spending big on content creators and reducing expenditure on promoting products in traditional media.

The Path from Petroleum to Platforms

First created commercially in the 1870s by a chemist, Robert Cheeseborough, who observed drillers rubbing their skin with a byproduct of the drilling process. Today, a spree of amateur-created clips have recorded its extensive utilization in “everyday tips”.

Promoted as a solution for polishing footwear or prolonging the scent of perfume, as well as a fix for creaky hinges. Users have even applied it to stop the scourge of crisp flavouring sticking to fingers.

Leveraging the Buzz

Noticing its viral resurgence, executives at the multinational enhanced the tricks by tasking their in-house experts with verification and providing creators with the outcome data.

Claims that Vaseline reduced the sting of chili on the mouth were confirmed. This was also the case for ideas it could extend fragrance and revive leather bags. Suggestions it could whiten teeth or lengthen eyelashes were disproven.

The ‘Social Listening’ Strategy

Billboards and TV ads would once have dominated Unilever’s advertising drive. Yet this viral episode has helped convince executives to turbocharge spending on content creators.

This tracking of digital spaces to shape commercial tactics has been termed “social listening”. Unilever's CEO, newly named, has indicated the goal is to spend half of its colossal advertising budget on digital creator content.

Adapting to New Consumer Habits

A leading Unilever executive, who is spearheading the social media effort, said the company was merely adjusting to novel methods of connecting with customers. She said interacting online “without dampening the fun” was crucial.

“How do brands authentically become part of the conversation? This remains our core objective as brands, since the era of community gossip and sharing usage tips.

“The trend is shifting from a mass communication approach, where we would just broadcast out … Now it’s many conversations, many communities. Changes in digital feeds means that these communities feel niche, however, they are large.

“Ensuring your product is discussed by users, talked about by other people, that fosters reliability and pertinence. Creators are critical to that. We are expanding this endorsement system.”

A Fundamental Consumption Turn

This plan mirrors profound shifts taking place in media consumption, with the youth demographic devoting greater hours to digital networks than traditional TV, print, or radio.

This change is evidenced by declines in TV and print advertising. Within the United Kingdom, advertising income for primary networks have dropped substantially in actual value since the end of the last decade.

The Creator Economy Boom

Additionally, it points to a media convergence as corporations essentially turn into content studios, linking up with a multitude of digital creators to enhance their items.

A commercial director at a major talent agency 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 consuming linear broadcasts or printed matter.

“Numerous corporations inform us audiences believe endorsements 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 expensive broadcast campaigns, which also allows them to tweak their content more easily to gauge performance.

This strategy is expanding. Promotional expenditure on digital creator partnerships is increasing four times faster than the broader media sector. In the US, it has over doubled since 2021 and is projected to reach 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 drive countrywide discourse.

She added: “Among the most effective advertising investments is still major broadcast spectacles. It’s not about those broadcasters saying: ‘Oh, we’re not relevant any more.’ The focus is on who seizes focus … I think there’s 100% a place for them.”