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First identified over 150 years ago on a Pennsylvania oilfield, the humble pot of Vaseline might not appear as an clear candidate for social media algorithms.

Nonetheless, its ascent as a popular subject on TikTok has placed it at the forefront of an promotional upheaval, seeing big businesses investing heavily in content creators and putting fewer resources into promoting products in legacy broadcasters.

The Path from Petroleum to Platforms

First created commercially in the 1870s by a chemist, Robert Cheeseborough, who saw laborers applying to their skin with a residue from oil extraction. Today, a spree of amateur-created clips have chronicled its broad application in “life hacks”.

Hailed as a remedy for cleaning shoes or making fragrance last longer, along with a cure for squeaky doors. Users have even applied it to combat the nuisance of crisp flavouring sticking to fingers.

Harnessing the Hype

Noticing its viral resurgence, executives at the multinational amplified the hacks by asking their own scientists to test them and letting the content creators in on the results.

Suggestions that it lessened the sensation of spicy food on lips were validated. So too were ideas it could extend fragrance and restore leather handbags. Claims that it would bleach teeth or extend lashes were debunked.

A Plan Built on ‘Social Listening’

Print ads and broadcast spots would once have been the cornerstone of its marketing push. But the Vaseline phenomenon has helped convince executives to ramp up funding for content creators.

This observation of social channels to inform business strategy has been labeled “social listening”. Unilever's CEO, recently appointed, has indicated the goal is to spend 50% of its massive marketing spend on platform-based material.

Shifting to Modern Engagement

The company's social media lead, who is heading the digital initiative, said the company was merely adjusting to novel methods of engaging audiences. She said engaging on social media “without dampening the fun” was crucial.

“How do brands authentically become part of the conversation? This has perpetually been our aim as brands, since the era of community gossip and talking about what they used.

“There’s this moving away from a mass communication approach, where we would just broadcast out … Today, it's numerous dialogues, many communities. The shift of the algorithms means that these audiences appear specific, but they’re not.

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

A Seismic Media Shift

The approach indicates profound shifts taking place in media consumption, with Gen Z and millennial audiences spending more time on digital networks than legacy broadcast and print media.

The shift is reflected in declines in TV and print advertising. In the UK, advertising income for leading TV channels have dropped substantially in inflation-adjusted terms since 2019.

The Rise of the Creator Economy

It also reflects a blurring of media roles as large companies almost become production houses themselves, partnering with hundreds of content creators to boost their products.

Leon Harlow said: “Clearly, there is a migration of viewers out of certain traditional media outlets and they’re spending a lot more time on digital video and image apps than they are viewing scheduled television or reading physical magazines.

“Numerous corporations inform us audiences believe endorsements from the creators they engage with over traditional advertisements. This is a persistent pattern.”

He added firms may also cut expenditures by targeting content creators over large-scale legacy ad buys, which also permits simpler message refinement to test effectiveness.

The approach is growing. Promotional expenditure on influencer marketing is rising at quadruple the rate than the media industry overall. In the US, it has more than doubled since 2021 and is projected to reach multi-billion dollar sums in 2025.

The Enduring Power of Broadcast

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

The executive noted: “A top-tier ROI marketing event is still the Super Bowl. It's not a matter of networks declaring: ‘Our relevance has faded.’ The focus is on who seizes focus … I believe there is absolutely a role for them.”