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As a product discovered over 150 years ago on a Pennsylvania oilfield, the modest tin of Vaseline might not appear as an natural focus for online content feeds.

However, its rise as a viral TikTok topic has thrust it into the lead of an advertising revolution, seeing big businesses allocating substantial funds to content creators and reducing expenditure on marketing items in conventional outlets.

The Path from Petroleum to Platforms

First created commercially in the 1870s by a chemist, Robert Cheeseborough, who saw laborers using on their skin with a residue from oil extraction. Currently, a wave of user-generated videos have chronicled its broad application in “practical tricks”.

It has been touted as a remedy for cleaning shoes or making fragrance last longer, and also a remedy for creaky hinges. It has even been deployed to combat the nuisance of crisp flavouring sticking to fingers.

Capitalising on the Conversation

Detecting the product’s new life online, marketers at Unilever enhanced the tricks by asking their own scientists to test them and sharing the findings with influencers.

Assertions that it diminished the sting of chili on the mouth were given the thumbs up. So too were ideas it could lengthen scent duration and revive leather bags. Claims that it would brighten smiles or lengthen eyelashes were disproven.

A Plan Built on ‘Social Listening’

Print ads and broadcast spots would once have been the cornerstone of its marketing push. Yet this viral episode has persuaded leaders to turbocharge spending on content creators.

This monitoring of online platforms to inform business strategy has been dubbed “social listening”. The company's chief executive, recently appointed, has stated the intention is to spend half of its colossal advertising budget on platform-based material.

Adapting to New Consumer Habits

The company's social media lead, who is spearheading the social media effort, said the company was merely adjusting to novel methods of engaging audiences. She said participating on platforms “without killing the party” was crucial.

“How do brands authentically become part of the conversation? That’s always what we’ve been trying to do as brands, since the era of community gossip and discussing household products.

“The trend is shifting from a mass communication approach, where we would just transmit messages … Now it’s many conversations, many communities. The shift of the algorithms means that these groups seem specialized, however, they are large.

“Ensuring your product is discussed by other people, mentioned by individuals, this builds credibility and connection. Influencers are vital for this. We’re really scaling this advocacy model.”

A Seismic Media Shift

The strategy reflects seismic changes occurring in how media is consumed, with Gen Z and millennial audiences spending more time on apps like TikTok and Instagram than television, magazines or radio.

This change is evidenced by declines in broadcast and newspaper ads. Across Britain, ad revenues for leading TV channels have declined by over six hundred million pounds in inflation-adjusted terms since 2019.

The Creator Economy Boom

It also reflects a merging of functions as corporations essentially turn into content studios, linking up with numerous influencers to boost their products.

An industry expert from a leading agency said: “Clearly, there is a migration of viewers from conventional channels and they are dedicating far more hours to 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 individuals they follow more than they trust ads. That’s a consistent trend.”

He added firms may also cut expenditures by targeting content creators over large-scale legacy ad buys, which also allows them to tweak their content more easily to see what works.

Such methods are increasing. Promotional expenditure on influencer marketing is increasing four times faster than the media industry overall. Stateside, it has over doubled since 2021 and is expected to hit tens of billions in 2025.

Traditional Media's Continued Place

Even with this transformation, experts said they believed TV advertising still had a prominent role to play, as broadcasters retained the power to drive countrywide discourse.

She added: “One of the highest return-on-investment media opportunities is still events like the Super Bowl. It’s not about those broadcasters saying: ‘Our relevance has faded.’ It’s about who’s capturing attention … There is undoubtedly a future for traditional media.”