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Originally found more than 150 years ago in the oil fields of Pennsylvania, the modest tin of Vaseline may not seem like an natural focus for social media algorithms.

Nonetheless, its ascent as a TikTok talking point has thrust it into the lead of an marketing transformation, in which large companies are investing heavily in content creators and putting fewer resources into promoting products in conventional outlets.

A Journey from Drilling to Digital

Originally produced in the 1870s by scientist Robert Cheeseborough, who observed drillers rubbing their skin with a byproduct of the drilling process. Now, a flood of amateur-created clips have recorded its extensive utilization in “everyday tips”.

It has been touted as a fix for dirty sneakers or making fragrance last longer, as well as a fix for squeaky doors. Users have even applied it to combat the nuisance of chip seasoning clinging to fingers.

Capitalising on the Conversation

Detecting the product’s new life online, marketers at Unilever enhanced the tricks by asking their own scientists to test them and sharing the findings with influencers.

Suggestions that it lessened the sensation of spicy food on lips were given the thumbs up. Similarly supported were ideas it could prolong perfume and restore leather handbags. Suggestions it could whiten teeth or lengthen eyelashes were debunked.

The ‘Digital Ear’ Approach

Print ads and broadcast spots would once have been the cornerstone of its marketing push. Yet this viral episode has helped convince executives to turbocharge spending on content creators.

This tracking of digital spaces to shape commercial tactics has been dubbed “social listening”. Fernando Fernández, 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

A leading Unilever executive, who is spearheading the social media effort, said the company was merely adjusting to novel methods of connecting with customers. She said participating on platforms “without dampening the fun” was essential.

“How do brands authentically become part of the conversation? This remains our core objective as brands, back to when people were hanging out their laundry and sharing usage tips.

“The trend is shifting from a one-to-many model, where we would just broadcast out … Today, it's numerous dialogues, many communities. The evolution of platform algorithms means that these communities feel niche, yet they are vast.

“Having your brand advocated by consumers, mentioned by individuals, that fosters reliability and pertinence. Creators are critical to that. We’re really scaling this advocacy model.”

A Revolutionary Change in Media

The approach indicates profound shifts taking place in media consumption, with Gen Z and millennial audiences allocating more attention to social media platforms than legacy broadcast and print media.

The shift is reflected in falling revenues for TV and print advertising. In the UK, ad revenues for major broadcasters have fallen by more than £600m in inflation-adjusted terms since 2019.

Influencer Marketing Expansion

Additionally, it points to a media convergence as corporations essentially turn into content studios, partnering with hundreds of content creators to enhance their items.

An industry expert from a leading agency said: “Clearly, there is a migration of viewers out of certain traditional media outlets and they’re spending a lot more time on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube than they are viewing scheduled television or reading physical magazines.

“A lot of brands are telling us consumers have more faith in suggestions from the personalities they subscribe to over traditional advertisements. This is a persistent pattern.”

He said brands could also save money by targeting content creators over big traditional media campaigns, which also allows them to tweak their content more easily to gauge performance.

This strategy is expanding. Promotional expenditure on the creator economy is rising at quadruple the rate than the broader media sector. Across the United States, it has over doubled since 2021 and is expected to hit substantial figures in 2025.

The Enduring Power of Broadcast

Even with this transformation, industry figures said they believed broadcast ads retained significant importance to play, as networks still held the capability to shape the national conversation.

Sykes said: “One of the highest return-on-investment media opportunities 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.”