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Originally found 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 viral TikTok topic has positioned it at the vanguard of an marketing transformation, seeing big businesses investing heavily in content creators and putting fewer resources into advertising goods in legacy broadcasters.

A Journey from Drilling to Digital

Originally produced in the 1870s by chemist Robert Cheeseborough, who observed drillers rubbing their skin with a derivative of drilling. Today, a spree of content from users have recorded its extensive utilization in “everyday tips”.

Hailed as a fix for dirty sneakers or making fragrance last longer, and also a remedy for creaky hinges. Users have even applied it to stop the scourge of chip seasoning clinging to fingers.

Harnessing the Hype

Detecting the product’s new life online, executives at the multinational amplified the hacks by asking their own scientists to test them and providing creators with the outcome data.

Suggestions that it lessened the sensation of spicy food on lips were given the thumbs up. So too were ideas it could prolong perfume and revive leather bags. Proposals that it might whiten teeth or lengthen eyelashes were debunked.

The ‘Social Listening’ Strategy

Print ads and broadcast spots would once have formed the bulk of its promotional efforts. But the Vaseline phenomenon has helped convince executives to turbocharge spending on content creators.

This observation of social channels to shape commercial tactics has been termed “social listening”. Fernando Fernández, freshly instated, has indicated the goal is to spend 50% of its massive marketing spend on digital creator content.

Adapting to New Consumer Habits

A leading Unilever executive, who is leading the online push, said the company was simply adapting to new ways of reaching consumers. She said engaging on social media “without spoiling the atmosphere” was crucial.

“How can companies join discussions credibly? That’s always what we’ve been trying to do as brands, since the era of community gossip and talking about what they used.

“There’s this moving away from a one-to-many model, where we would just transmit messages … Now it’s many conversations, diverse communities. The shift of the algorithms means that these audiences appear specific, yet they are vast.

“Ensuring your product is discussed by users, recommended by peers, that fosters reliability and pertinence. Influencers are vital for this. This word-of-mouth strategy is being amplified.”

A Fundamental Consumption Turn

The strategy reflects profound shifts taking place in media consumption, with Gen Z and millennial audiences spending more time on apps like TikTok and Instagram than traditional TV, print, or radio.

The transition is visible in declines in broadcast and newspaper ads. In the UK, ad revenues for major broadcasters have dropped substantially in real terms since 2019.

The Rise of the Creator Economy

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

Leon Harlow said: “Obviously there’s a flow of audiences away from some legacy media and their time is increasingly on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube than they are consuming linear broadcasts or printed matter.

“A lot of brands are telling us people trust recommendations from the personalities they subscribe to compared to commercial messages. It's an ongoing shift.”

He said brands could also save money by targeting content creators over big traditional media campaigns, which also permits simpler message refinement to gauge performance.

This strategy is expanding. Promotional expenditure on the creator economy is growing fourfold quicker than the broader media sector. Across the United States, it has increased by over 100% since 2021 and is expected to hit multi-billion dollar sums in 2025.

Traditional Media's Continued Place

Even with this transformation, executives said they believed television commercials still played a key part to play, as TV channels continued to possess the influence to frame public debate.

Sykes said: “One of the highest return-on-investment media opportunities is still major broadcast spectacles. It’s not about those broadcasters saying: ‘We are no longer pertinent.’ It concerns who commands eyeballs … I believe there is absolutely a role for them.”