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First identified over 150 years ago within a Pennsylvania drilling site, the modest tin of Vaseline may not seem like an natural focus for online content feeds.

Yet the brand’s emergence as a TikTok talking point has thrust it into the lead of an advertising revolution, where major corporations are allocating substantial funds to content creators and putting fewer resources into promoting products in traditional media.

A Journey from Drilling to Digital

First created commercially in the 1870s by scientist Robert Cheeseborough, who observed drillers applying to their skin with a residue from oil extraction. Currently, a wave of content from users have documented the product’s widespread use in “life hacks”.

It has been touted as a fix for dirty sneakers or extending perfume longevity, as well as a fix for squeaky doors. Users have even applied it to prevent the annoyance of chip seasoning clinging to fingers.

Harnessing the Hype

Detecting the product’s new life online, strategists within the corporation enhanced the tricks by tasking their in-house experts with verification 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. This was also the case for ideas it could extend fragrance and revive leather bags. Suggestions it could bleach teeth or extend lashes were disproven.

A Plan Built on ‘Social Listening’

Outdoor advertising and television commercials would once have dominated Unilever’s advertising drive. However, this online trend has helped convince executives to dramatically increase investment in content creators.

This monitoring of online platforms to inform business strategy has been labeled “social listening”. Fernando Fernández, newly named, has suggested it is aiming to spend 50% of its massive marketing spend on digital creator content.

Adapting to New Consumer Habits

Selina Sykes, who is leading the online push, said the company was just evolving with contemporary approaches of reaching consumers. She said engaging on social media “without dampening the fun” was paramount.

“What is the key to genuine brand integration? That’s always what we’ve been trying to do as brands, since the era of community gossip and sharing usage tips.

“There’s this moving away from a mass communication approach, where we would just transmit messages … Today, it's numerous dialogues, various groups. The evolution of platform algorithms means that these groups seem specialized, yet they are vast.

“Having your brand advocated by users, talked about by other people, this builds credibility and connection. Content makers are key. This word-of-mouth strategy is being amplified.”

A Seismic Media Shift

The approach indicates seismic changes happening in audience habits, with the youth demographic devoting greater hours to social media platforms than legacy broadcast and print media.

The transition is visible in declines in broadcast and newspaper ads. Within the United Kingdom, ad revenues for leading TV channels have dropped substantially in actual value since the end of the last decade.

The Creator Economy Boom

Additionally, it points to a merging of functions as large companies almost become production houses themselves, linking up with hundreds of content creators to enhance their items.

A commercial director at a major talent agency said: “Naturally, an exodus of attention away from some legacy media and they’re spending a lot more time on social platforms like Instagram, TikTok and YouTube than they are consuming linear broadcasts or printed matter.

“A lot of brands are telling us audiences believe endorsements from the individuals they follow more than they trust ads. It's an ongoing shift.”

He added firms may also cut expenditures by focusing on influencers over large-scale legacy ad buys, which also enables easier content adjustment to gauge performance.

The approach is growing. Advertising spending on digital creator partnerships is rising at quadruple the rate than total media spending. In the US, it has more than doubled since 2021 and is expected to hit tens of billions in 2025.

Traditional Media's Continued Place

Regardless of the massive shift, executives said they believed television commercials still played a key part to play, as broadcasters retained the power to drive countrywide discourse.

She added: “One of the highest return-on-investment media opportunities is still major broadcast spectacles. It’s not about those broadcasters saying: ‘Our relevance has faded.’ It’s about who’s capturing attention … There is undoubtedly a future for traditional media.”