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First identified over 150 years ago within a Pennsylvania drilling site, the simple jar of Vaseline may not seem like an obvious target for online content feeds.

Nonetheless, its ascent as a TikTok talking point has thrust it into the lead of an promotional upheaval, in which large companies are allocating substantial funds to content creators and putting fewer resources into promoting products in legacy broadcasters.

The Path from Petroleum to Platforms

Originally produced in the 1870s by chemist Robert Cheeseborough, who saw laborers applying to their skin with a byproduct of the drilling process. Currently, a wave of user-generated videos have chronicled its broad application in “practical tricks”.

It has been touted as a solution for polishing footwear or extending perfume longevity, as well as a fix for noisy doorways. It has even been deployed to prevent the annoyance of crisp flavouring sticking to fingers.

Leveraging the Buzz

Detecting the product’s new life online, executives at the multinational boosted the tips by tasking their in-house experts with verification and letting the content creators in on the results.

Suggestions that it lessened the sensation of spicy food on lips were confirmed. So too were ideas it could extend fragrance and rejuvenate purses. Claims that it would brighten smiles or lengthen eyelashes were debunked.

The ‘Digital Ear’ Approach

Billboards and TV ads would once have formed the bulk of its promotional efforts. But the Vaseline phenomenon has persuaded leaders to ramp up funding for content creators.

This monitoring of online platforms to inform business strategy has been dubbed “social listening”. The company's chief executive, freshly instated, has suggested it is aiming to spend half of its colossal advertising budget on digital creator content.

Shifting to Modern Engagement

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

“How can companies join discussions credibly? This remains our core objective as brands, dating to when neighbors chatted over fences and discussing household products.

“There’s this moving away from a broadcast model, where we would just transmit messages … Today, it's numerous dialogues, various groups. The evolution of platform algorithms means that these groups seem specialized, but they’re not.

“Having your brand advocated by users, talked about by other people, this builds credibility and connection. Content makers are key. We’re really scaling this advocacy model.”

A Fundamental Consumption Turn

The approach indicates profound shifts taking place in media consumption, with Gen Z and millennial audiences devoting greater hours to digital networks than traditional TV, print, or radio.

The transition is visible in falling revenues for broadcast and newspaper ads. Within the United Kingdom, commercial funding 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 merging of functions as brands effectively act as media producers, linking up with a multitude of digital creators to boost their products.

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 watching live TV or reading print.

“Numerous corporations inform us people trust recommendations from the individuals they follow compared to commercial messages. This is a persistent pattern.”

He said brands could also save money by targeting content creators over expensive broadcast campaigns, which also permits simpler message refinement to see what works.

This strategy is expanding. Marketing investment on the creator economy is rising at quadruple the rate than total media spending. Stateside, it has over doubled since 2021 and is expected to hit multi-billion dollar sums in 2025.

Traditional Media's Continued Place

Even with this transformation, experts said they believed TV advertising still had a prominent role to play, as networks still held the capability 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.’ It’s about who’s capturing attention … There is undoubtedly a future for traditional media.”