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Originally found over 150 years ago within a Pennsylvania drilling site, the modest tin of Vaseline might not appear as an obvious target for online content feeds.

However, its rise as a popular subject on TikTok has placed it at the forefront of an marketing transformation, in which large companies are allocating substantial funds to content creators and reducing expenditure on promoting products in legacy broadcasters.

From Oil Rigs to Online Hacks

Originally produced in the 1870s by a chemist, Robert Cheeseborough, who observed drillers using on their skin with a byproduct of the drilling process. Today, a spree of content from users have documented the product’s widespread use in “everyday tips”.

It has been touted as a fix for dirty sneakers or making fragrance last longer, and also a remedy for squeaky doors. Its use has even extended to stop the scourge of crisp flavouring sticking to fingers.

Capitalising on the Conversation

Detecting the product’s new life online, executives at the multinational amplified the hacks by tasking their in-house experts with verification and providing creators with the outcome data.

Suggestions that it lessened the burn from hot food on the lips were confirmed. Similarly supported were ideas it could extend fragrance and revive leather bags. Claims that it would brighten smiles or make eyelashes longer were refuted.

The ‘Digital Ear’ Approach

Print ads and broadcast spots would once have dominated Unilever’s advertising drive. Yet this viral episode has led decision-makers to ramp up funding for content creators.

This observation of social channels to shape commercial tactics has been termed “social listening”. Unilever's CEO, newly named, has indicated the goal is to spend a full fifty percent of its huge ad budget on platform-based material.

Evolving With Audience Behavior

The company's social media lead, who is leading the online push, said the company was just evolving with contemporary approaches of engaging audiences. She said interacting online “without killing the party” was crucial.

“What is the key to genuine brand integration? That’s always what we’ve been trying to do as brands, dating to when neighbors chatted over fences and talking about what they used.

“There’s this moving away from a mass communication approach, where we would just send out ads … Today, it's numerous dialogues, various groups. The evolution of platform algorithms means that these communities feel niche, however, they are large.

“Ensuring your product is discussed by users, talked about by other people, that fosters reliability and pertinence. Creators are critical to that. This word-of-mouth strategy is being amplified.”

A Seismic Media Shift

The strategy reflects profound shifts happening in audience habits, with younger consumers spending more time on apps like TikTok and Instagram than television, magazines or radio.

This change is evidenced by declines in broadcast and newspaper ads. In the UK, ad revenues for major broadcasters have declined by over six hundred million pounds in real terms since 2019.

The Creator Economy Boom

This further signifies a blurring of media roles as brands effectively act as media producers, partnering with numerous influencers to enhance their items.

An industry expert from a leading 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 consuming linear broadcasts or printed matter.

“A lot of brands are telling us consumers have more faith in suggestions from the creators they engage with over traditional advertisements. That’s a consistent trend.”

He noted companies can reduce costs by focusing on influencers over big traditional media campaigns, which also allows them to tweak their content more easily to gauge performance.

Such methods are increasing. Advertising spending on digital creator partnerships is growing fourfold quicker than the broader media sector. Stateside, it has over doubled since 2021 and is expected to hit tens of billions in 2025.

Traditional Media's Continued Place

Regardless of the massive shift, industry figures said they believed broadcast ads retained significant importance to play, as TV channels continued to possess the influence to shape the national conversation.

Sykes said: “One of the highest return-on-investment media opportunities is still major broadcast spectacles. The issue isn't broadcasters claiming: ‘We are no longer pertinent.’ It’s about who’s capturing attention … I think there’s 100% a place for them.”