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As a product discovered over 150 years ago in the oil fields of Pennsylvania, the modest tin of Vaseline may not seem like an clear candidate for online content feeds.

However, its rise as a TikTok talking point has placed it at the forefront of an promotional upheaval, seeing big businesses spending big on content creators and reducing expenditure on advertising goods in legacy broadcasters.

A Journey from Drilling to Digital

The petroleum jelly was first manufactured in the 1870s by chemist Robert Cheeseborough, who noticed oil rig workers applying to their skin with a derivative of drilling. Now, a flood of user-generated videos have documented the product’s widespread use in “practical tricks”.

Promoted as a remedy for cleaning shoes or extending perfume longevity, along with a cure for squeaky doors. Its use has even extended to prevent the annoyance of crisp flavouring sticking to fingers.

Harnessing the Hype

Detecting the product’s new life online, marketers at Unilever boosted the tips by asking their own scientists to test them and letting the content creators in on the results.

Assertions that it diminished the burn from hot food on the lips were given the thumbs up. Similarly supported were ideas it could lengthen scent duration and revive leather bags. Suggestions it could whiten teeth or extend lashes were debunked.

A Plan Built on ‘Social Listening’

Billboards and TV ads would once have dominated Unilever’s advertising drive. Yet this viral episode has persuaded leaders to ramp up funding for content creators.

This observation of social channels to guide corporate planning has been dubbed “social listening”. The company's chief executive, newly named, has indicated the goal is to spend a full fifty percent of its huge ad budget on digital creator content.

Evolving With Audience Behavior

A leading Unilever executive, who is heading the digital initiative, said the company was just evolving with contemporary approaches of connecting with customers. She said interacting online “without killing the party” was essential.

“How can companies join discussions credibly? This has perpetually been our aim as brands, since the era of community gossip and discussing household products.

“There’s this moving away from a one-to-many model, where we would just send out ads … Today, it's numerous dialogues, various groups. Changes in digital feeds means that these groups seem specialized, however, they are large.

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

A Seismic Media Shift

This plan mirrors dramatic transformations occurring in how media is consumed, with the youth demographic spending more time on digital networks than traditional TV, print, or radio.

The transition is visible in drops in broadcast and newspaper ads. In the UK, commercial funding for leading TV channels have fallen by more than £600m in inflation-adjusted terms since 2019.

Influencer Marketing Expansion

Additionally, it points to a merging of functions as brands effectively act as media producers, linking up with numerous influencers to boost their products.

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

“Numerous corporations inform us consumers have more faith in suggestions from the individuals they follow over traditional advertisements. It's an ongoing shift.”

He noted companies can reduce costs by investing in creators over expensive broadcast campaigns, which also allows them to tweak their content more easily to test effectiveness.

Such methods are increasing. Marketing investment on digital creator partnerships is increasing four times faster than the broader media sector. In the US, it has increased by over 100% since 2021 and is expected to hit tens of billions in 2025.

Traditional Media's Continued Place

Despite the huge changes, experts said they believed television commercials still played a key part to play, as TV channels continued to possess the influence to drive countrywide discourse.

Sykes said: “One of the highest return-on-investment media opportunities is still events like the Super Bowl. It's not a matter of networks declaring: ‘Oh, we’re not relevant any more.’ The focus is on who seizes focus … I think there’s 100% a place for them.”