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First identified more than 150 years ago within a Pennsylvania drilling site, the humble pot of Vaseline could hardly be considered an natural focus for online content feeds.

Nonetheless, its ascent as a popular subject on TikTok has placed it at the forefront of an marketing transformation, in which large companies are investing heavily in content creators and reducing expenditure on promoting products in conventional outlets.

A Journey from Drilling to Digital

Originally produced in the 1870s by scientist Robert Cheeseborough, who noticed oil rig workers applying to their skin with a byproduct of the drilling process. Today, a spree of amateur-created clips have recorded its extensive utilization in “everyday tips”.

Promoted as a remedy for cleaning shoes or prolonging the scent of perfume, and also a remedy for squeaky doors. Its use has even extended to combat the nuisance of crisp flavouring sticking to fingers.

Harnessing the Hype

Spotting its digital renaissance, executives at the multinational boosted the tips by asking their own scientists to test them and sharing the findings with influencers.

Suggestions that it lessened the burn from hot food on the lips were given the thumbs up. This was also the case for ideas it could prolong perfume and revive leather bags. Suggestions it could whiten teeth or make eyelashes longer were refuted.

A Plan Built on ‘Social Listening’

Print ads and broadcast spots would once have formed the bulk of its promotional efforts. Yet this viral episode has helped convince executives to dramatically increase investment in content creators.

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

Shifting to Modern Engagement

A leading Unilever executive, who is spearheading the social media effort, said the company was merely adjusting to novel methods of engaging audiences. She said engaging on social media “without spoiling the atmosphere” was crucial.

“What is the key to genuine brand integration? This remains our core objective as brands, dating to when neighbors chatted over fences and talking about what they used.

“We are witnessing a departure from a mass communication approach, where we would just transmit messages … Now it’s many conversations, many communities. Changes in digital feeds means that these audiences appear specific, however, they are large.

“Ensuring your product is discussed by consumers, talked about by other people, that fosters reliability and pertinence. Content makers are key. This word-of-mouth strategy is being amplified.”

A Seismic Media Shift

The strategy reflects profound shifts taking place in media consumption, with younger consumers spending more time on social media platforms than television, magazines or radio.

The shift is reflected in falling revenues for traditional media advertising. Across Britain, advertising income for major broadcasters have fallen by more than £600m in real terms since 2019.

Influencer Marketing Expansion

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

A commercial director at a major talent agency said: “Naturally, an exodus of attention away from some legacy media and they’re spending a lot more time on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube than they are viewing scheduled television or reading physical magazines.

“Many companies report to us people trust recommendations from the personalities they subscribe to compared to commercial messages. That’s a consistent trend.”

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.

This strategy is expanding. Promotional expenditure on influencer marketing is increasing four times faster than the broader media sector. Across the United States, 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 television commercials still played a key part 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 the Super Bowl. It’s not about those broadcasters saying: ‘Oh, we’re not relevant any more.’ It concerns who commands eyeballs … There is undoubtedly a future for traditional media.”