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First identified more than 150 years ago in the oil fields of Pennsylvania, the simple jar of Vaseline might not appear as an clear candidate for online content feeds.

Nonetheless, its ascent as a viral TikTok topic has placed it at the forefront of an advertising revolution, in which large companies are spending big on content creators and reducing expenditure on promoting products in conventional outlets.

From Oil Rigs to Online Hacks

The petroleum jelly was first manufactured in the 1870s by chemist Robert Cheeseborough, who saw laborers rubbing their skin with a byproduct of the drilling process. Today, a spree of amateur-created clips have documented the product’s widespread use in “life hacks”.

It has been touted as a fix for dirty sneakers or prolonging the scent of perfume, as well as a fix for creaky hinges. It has even been deployed to prevent the annoyance of crisp flavouring sticking to fingers.

Leveraging the Buzz

Spotting its digital renaissance, marketers at Unilever amplified the hacks by tasking their in-house experts with verification and sharing the findings with influencers.

Assertions that it diminished the burn from hot food on the lips were confirmed. This was also the case for ideas it could lengthen scent duration and rejuvenate purses. Suggestions it could bleach teeth or lengthen eyelashes were debunked.

The ‘Social Listening’ Strategy

Print ads and broadcast spots would once have dominated Unilever’s advertising drive. But the Vaseline phenomenon has persuaded leaders to dramatically increase investment in content creators.

This tracking of digital spaces to guide corporate planning has been termed “social listening”. Fernando Fernández, freshly instated, has suggested it is aiming to spend half of its colossal advertising budget on digital creator content.

Adapting to New Consumer Habits

A leading Unilever executive, who is heading the digital initiative, said the company was merely adjusting to novel methods of reaching consumers. She said participating on platforms “without spoiling the atmosphere” was paramount.

“What is the key to genuine brand integration? This remains our core objective as brands, dating to when neighbors chatted over fences and sharing usage tips.

“We are witnessing a departure from a one-to-many model, where we would just broadcast out … Currently, it's countless discussions, many communities. The shift of the algorithms means that these communities feel niche, yet they are vast.

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

A Seismic Media Shift

The approach indicates seismic changes taking place in media consumption, with Gen Z and millennial audiences devoting greater hours to digital networks than legacy broadcast and print media.

The transition is visible in declines in traditional media advertising. In the UK, ad revenues for major broadcasters have fallen by more than £600m in actual value since the end of the last decade.

The Rise of the Creator Economy

It also reflects a media convergence as corporations essentially turn into content studios, linking up with hundreds of content creators to promote their goods.

Leon Harlow said: “Obviously there’s a flow of audiences out of certain traditional media outlets and they are dedicating far more hours to digital video and image apps than they are consuming linear broadcasts or printed matter.

“Many companies report to us consumers have more faith in suggestions from the individuals they follow compared to commercial messages. This is a persistent pattern.”

He said brands could also save money by investing in creators over big traditional media campaigns, which also permits simpler message refinement to test effectiveness.

The approach is growing. Marketing investment on influencer marketing is increasing four times faster than the broader media sector. Stateside, it has over doubled since 2021 and is forecast to attain tens of billions in 2025.

The Enduring Power of Broadcast

Even with this transformation, experts said they believed TV advertising still had a prominent role to play, as TV channels continued to possess the influence to frame public debate.

She added: “A top-tier ROI marketing event is still major broadcast spectacles. It's not a matter of networks declaring: ‘We are no longer pertinent.’ The focus is on who seizes focus … I think there’s 100% a place for them.”