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As a product discovered over 150 years ago on a Pennsylvania oilfield, the simple jar of Vaseline may not seem like an clear candidate for online content feeds.

Yet the brand’s emergence as a TikTok talking point has positioned it at the vanguard of an marketing transformation, seeing big businesses allocating substantial funds to content creators and putting fewer resources into promoting products in conventional outlets.

From Oil Rigs to Online Hacks

Originally produced in the 1870s by a chemist, Robert Cheeseborough, who observed drillers rubbing their skin with a byproduct of the drilling process. Now, a flood of user-generated videos have documented the product’s widespread use in “everyday tips”.

Hailed as a remedy for cleaning shoes or extending perfume longevity, along with a cure for creaky hinges. Its use has even extended to stop the scourge of crisp flavouring sticking to fingers.

Harnessing the Hype

Spotting its digital renaissance, marketers at Unilever enhanced the tricks by asking their own scientists to test them and providing creators with the outcome data.

Assertions that it diminished the sting of chili on the mouth were validated. This was also the case for ideas it could extend fragrance and rejuvenate purses. Suggestions it could brighten smiles or extend lashes were refuted.

The ‘Digital Ear’ Approach

Outdoor advertising and television commercials would once have been the cornerstone of its marketing push. But the Vaseline phenomenon has helped convince executives to dramatically increase investment in content creators.

This tracking of digital spaces to guide corporate planning has been dubbed “social listening”. The company's chief executive, newly named, has stated the intention is to spend half of its colossal advertising budget on platform-based material.

Shifting to Modern Engagement

Selina Sykes, 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 spoiling the atmosphere” was essential.

“How do brands authentically become part of the conversation? That’s always what we’ve been trying to do as brands, back to when people were hanging out their laundry and sharing usage tips.

“There’s this moving away from a one-to-many model, where we would just transmit messages … Today, it's numerous dialogues, various groups. Changes in digital feeds means that these communities feel niche, yet they are vast.

“Ensuring your product is discussed by consumers, talked about by other people, this builds credibility and connection. Influencers are vital for this. This word-of-mouth strategy is being amplified.”

A Revolutionary Change in Media

The strategy reflects profound shifts taking place in media consumption, with Gen Z and millennial audiences allocating more attention to digital networks than legacy broadcast and print media.

The transition is visible in falling revenues for traditional media advertising. In the UK, ad revenues for leading TV channels have declined by over six hundred million pounds in real terms since 2019.

The Creator Economy Boom

This further signifies a media convergence as brands effectively act as media producers, linking up with a multitude of digital creators to promote their goods.

A commercial director at a major talent agency said: “Clearly, there is a migration of viewers away from some legacy media and they’re spending a lot more time on digital video and image apps than they are consuming linear broadcasts or printed matter.

“Numerous corporations inform us consumers have more faith in suggestions from the creators they engage with compared to commercial messages. It's an ongoing shift.”

He added firms may also cut expenditures by investing in creators over expensive broadcast campaigns, which also permits simpler message refinement to see what works.

Such methods are increasing. Marketing investment on the creator economy is growing fourfold quicker than the media industry overall. Stateside, it has increased by over 100% since 2021 and is expected to hit tens of billions in 2025.

TV's Lasting Role

Regardless of the massive shift, executives said they believed broadcast ads retained significant importance to play, as networks still held the capability to drive countrywide discourse.

She added: “One of the highest return-on-investment media opportunities is still major broadcast spectacles. It's not a matter of networks declaring: ‘Oh, we’re not relevant any more.’ It concerns who commands eyeballs … There is undoubtedly a future for traditional media.”