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As a product discovered over 150 years ago in the oil fields of Pennsylvania, the humble pot of Vaseline might not appear as an obvious target for social media algorithms.

Nonetheless, its ascent 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 reducing expenditure on promoting products in traditional media.

The Path from Petroleum to Platforms

First created commercially in the 1870s by scientist Robert Cheeseborough, who noticed oil rig workers using on their skin with a derivative of drilling. Now, a flood of amateur-created clips have documented the product’s widespread use in “life hacks”.

It has been touted as a remedy for cleaning shoes or prolonging the scent of perfume, along with a cure for creaky hinges. Users have even applied it to combat the nuisance of snack dust adhering to hands.

Harnessing the Hype

Noticing its viral resurgence, 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 sensation of spicy food on lips were confirmed. So too were ideas it could extend fragrance and restore leather handbags. Claims that it would brighten smiles or extend lashes were refuted.

A Plan Built on ‘Social Listening’

Outdoor advertising and television commercials would once have been the cornerstone of its marketing push. But the Vaseline phenomenon has led decision-makers to ramp up funding for content creators.

This monitoring of online platforms to inform business strategy has been termed “social listening”. Unilever's CEO, freshly instated, has stated the intention is to spend 50% of its massive marketing spend on platform-based material.

Adapting to New Consumer Habits

Selina Sykes, who is leading the online push, said the company was merely adjusting to novel methods of reaching consumers. She said interacting online “without dampening the fun” was essential.

“What is the key to genuine brand integration? This remains our core objective as brands, dating to when neighbors chatted over fences and discussing household products.

“We are witnessing a departure from a one-to-many model, where we would just broadcast out … Today, it's numerous dialogues, diverse communities. The evolution of platform algorithms means that these groups seem specialized, yet they are vast.

“Having your brand advocated by users, mentioned by individuals, that is how you can build trust and relevance. Influencers are vital for this. We’re really scaling this advocacy model.”

A Revolutionary Change in Media

This plan mirrors seismic changes occurring in how media is consumed, with the youth demographic devoting greater hours to apps like TikTok and Instagram than television, magazines or radio.

The transition is visible in declines in traditional media advertising. Across Britain, ad revenues for primary networks have declined by over six hundred million pounds in inflation-adjusted terms since 2019.

The Rise of the Creator Economy

It also reflects a media convergence as brands effectively act as media producers, partnering with hundreds of content creators to boost their products.

A commercial director at a major talent agency said: “Obviously there’s a flow of audiences from conventional channels and their time is increasingly on social platforms like Instagram, TikTok and YouTube than they are watching live TV or reading print.

“Many companies report to us consumers have more faith in suggestions from the personalities they subscribe to more than they trust ads. This is a persistent pattern.”

He added firms may also cut expenditures by targeting content creators over big traditional media campaigns, which also allows them to tweak their content more easily to see what works.

This strategy is expanding. Promotional expenditure on influencer marketing is rising at quadruple the rate than the broader media sector. Stateside, it has over doubled since 2021 and is expected to hit multi-billion dollar sums in 2025.

The Enduring Power of Broadcast

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

Sykes said: “A top-tier ROI marketing event is still major broadcast spectacles. It’s not about those broadcasters saying: ‘Oh, we’re not relevant any more.’ It’s about who’s capturing attention … I think there’s 100% a place for them.”