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Originally found more than 150 years ago within a Pennsylvania drilling site, the modest tin of Vaseline could hardly be considered an natural focus for digital platform algorithms.

However, its rise as a popular subject on TikTok has positioned it at the vanguard of an marketing transformation, seeing big businesses spending big on content creators and putting fewer resources into marketing items in traditional media.

The Path from Petroleum to Platforms

Originally produced in the 1870s by chemist Robert Cheeseborough, who noticed oil rig workers applying to their skin with a byproduct of the drilling process. Today, a spree of content from users have documented the product’s widespread use in “practical tricks”.

Hailed as a fix for dirty sneakers or extending perfume longevity, and also a remedy for noisy doorways. Users have even applied it to combat the nuisance of chip seasoning clinging to fingers.

Harnessing the Hype

Detecting the product’s new life online, strategists within the corporation boosted the tips by asking their own scientists to test them and providing creators with the outcome data.

Claims that Vaseline reduced the burn from hot food on the lips were validated. Similarly supported were ideas it could extend fragrance and rejuvenate purses. Proposals that it might brighten smiles or make eyelashes longer were debunked.

A Plan Built on ‘Social Listening’

Billboards and TV ads would once have been the cornerstone of its marketing push. But the Vaseline phenomenon has helped convince executives to ramp up funding for content creators.

This tracking of digital spaces to shape commercial tactics has been dubbed “social listening”. Unilever's CEO, newly named, has suggested it is aiming 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 merely adjusting to novel methods of reaching consumers. She said participating on platforms “without dampening the fun” was paramount.

“How can companies join discussions credibly? That’s always what we’ve been trying to do as brands, back to when people were hanging out their laundry and talking about what they used.

“We are witnessing a departure from a one-to-many model, where we would just transmit messages … Currently, it's countless discussions, various groups. The evolution of platform algorithms means that these groups seem specialized, yet they are vast.

“If you can make sure your brand is shared by other people, talked about by other people, that is how you can build trust and relevance. Content makers are key. We’re really scaling this advocacy model.”

A Seismic Media Shift

The approach indicates profound shifts occurring in how media is consumed, with Gen Z and millennial audiences allocating more attention to digital networks than traditional TV, print, or radio.

The transition is visible in declines in traditional media advertising. In the UK, advertising income for leading TV channels have fallen by more than £600m in actual value since the end of the last decade.

The Creator Economy Boom

It also reflects a blurring of media roles as brands effectively act as media producers, linking up with a multitude of digital creators to enhance their items.

Leon Harlow said: “Obviously there’s a flow of audiences out of certain traditional media outlets and they’re spending a lot more time on digital video and image apps than they are viewing scheduled television or reading physical magazines.

“A lot of brands are telling us audiences believe endorsements from the individuals they follow over traditional advertisements. That’s a consistent trend.”

He said brands could also save money by investing in creators over expensive broadcast campaigns, which also enables easier content adjustment to see what works.

The approach is growing. Marketing investment on digital creator partnerships is increasing four times faster than the broader media sector. In the US, it has over doubled since 2021 and is projected to reach substantial figures in 2025.

The Enduring Power of Broadcast

Regardless of the massive shift, experts said they believed TV advertising still had a prominent role to play, as networks still held the capability to frame public debate.

The executive noted: “A top-tier ROI marketing event 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 … There is undoubtedly a future for traditional media.”