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Originally found more than 150 years ago on a Pennsylvania oilfield, the simple jar of Vaseline could hardly be considered an obvious target for social media algorithms.

Yet the brand’s emergence as a viral TikTok topic has thrust it into the lead of an promotional upheaval, seeing big businesses investing heavily in content creators and reducing expenditure on marketing items in traditional media.

The Path from Petroleum to Platforms

First created commercially in the 1870s by a chemist, Robert Cheeseborough, who noticed oil rig workers applying to their skin with a residue from oil extraction. Now, a flood of content from users have documented the product’s widespread use in “everyday tips”.

Promoted as a solution for polishing footwear or extending perfume longevity, and also a remedy for creaky hinges. Users have even applied it to combat the nuisance of crisp flavouring sticking to fingers.

Leveraging the Buzz

Detecting the product’s new life online, marketers at Unilever amplified the hacks by having their research teams evaluate the claims and sharing the findings with influencers.

Claims that Vaseline reduced the sensation of spicy food on lips were validated. This was also the case for ideas it could extend fragrance and revive leather bags. Claims that it would bleach teeth or extend lashes were disproven.

A Plan Built on ‘Social Listening’

Billboards and TV ads would once have formed the bulk of its promotional efforts. Yet this viral episode has persuaded leaders to turbocharge spending on content creators.

This observation of social channels to shape commercial tactics has been dubbed “social listening”. The company's chief executive, freshly instated, has stated the intention is to spend half of its colossal advertising budget on platform-based material.

Shifting to Modern Engagement

The company's social media lead, who is heading the digital initiative, said the company was just evolving with contemporary approaches of connecting with customers. She said interacting online “without spoiling the atmosphere” was essential.

“What is the key to genuine brand integration? That’s always what we’ve been trying to do as brands, since the era of community gossip and discussing household products.

“There’s this moving away from a one-to-many model, where we would just transmit messages … Now it’s many conversations, many communities. The shift of the algorithms means that these groups seem specialized, but they’re not.

“If you can make sure your brand is shared by users, talked about by other people, that is how you can build trust and relevance. Creators are critical to that. This word-of-mouth strategy is being amplified.”

A Seismic Media Shift

The approach indicates seismic changes happening in audience habits, with Gen Z and millennial audiences allocating more attention to social media platforms than legacy broadcast and print media.

The transition is visible in drops in TV and print advertising. Across Britain, advertising income for leading TV channels have dropped substantially in inflation-adjusted terms since 2019.

The Creator Economy Boom

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

An industry expert from a leading agency said: “Obviously there’s a flow of audiences 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.

“Many companies report to us consumers have more faith in suggestions from the creators they engage with more than they trust ads. That’s a consistent trend.”

He added firms may also cut expenditures by investing in creators over expensive broadcast campaigns, which also allows them to tweak their content more easily to see what works.

The approach is growing. Promotional expenditure on the creator economy is growing fourfold quicker than the broader media sector. In the US, it has increased by over 100% since 2021 and is projected to reach tens of billions in 2025.

Traditional Media's Continued Place

Even with this transformation, experts said they believed broadcast ads retained significant importance to play, as TV channels continued to possess the influence to drive countrywide discourse.

The executive noted: “One of the highest return-on-investment media opportunities is still major broadcast spectacles. It's not a matter of networks declaring: ‘We are no longer pertinent.’ It concerns who commands eyeballs … I think there’s 100% a place for them.”