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First identified over 150 years ago in the oil fields of Pennsylvania, the humble pot of Vaseline might not appear as an obvious target for online content feeds.

Yet the brand’s emergence as a viral TikTok topic has placed it at the forefront of an advertising revolution, seeing big businesses investing heavily in content creators and reducing expenditure on promoting products in legacy broadcasters.

The Path from Petroleum to Platforms

First created commercially in the 1870s by scientist Robert Cheeseborough, who noticed oil rig workers rubbing their skin with a derivative of drilling. Currently, a wave of content from users have documented the product’s widespread use in “everyday tips”.

Hailed as a fix for dirty sneakers or prolonging the scent of perfume, along with a cure for noisy doorways. Its use has even extended to prevent the annoyance of chip seasoning clinging to fingers.

Leveraging the Buzz

Detecting the product’s new life online, marketers at Unilever amplified the hacks by asking their own scientists to test them and providing creators with the outcome data.

Assertions that it diminished the burn from hot food on the lips were given the thumbs up. Similarly supported were ideas it could extend fragrance and rejuvenate purses. Suggestions it could brighten smiles or make eyelashes longer were refuted.

The ‘Digital Ear’ Approach

Print ads and broadcast spots would once have dominated Unilever’s advertising drive. However, this online trend has helped convince executives to turbocharge spending on content creators.

This tracking of digital spaces to inform business strategy has been termed “social listening”. Unilever's CEO, newly named, 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 leading the online push, said the company was just evolving with contemporary approaches of connecting with customers. She said engaging on social media “without killing the party” was paramount.

“How can companies join discussions credibly? That’s always what we’ve been trying to do 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 broadcast out … Today, it's numerous dialogues, various groups. The shift of the algorithms means that these groups seem specialized, but they’re not.

“If you can make sure your brand is shared by other people, mentioned by individuals, that is how you can build trust and relevance. Influencers are vital for this. We are expanding this endorsement system.”

A Revolutionary Change in Media

This plan mirrors dramatic transformations happening in audience habits, with Gen Z and millennial audiences devoting greater hours to apps like TikTok and Instagram than traditional TV, print, or radio.

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

The Creator Economy Boom

This further signifies a blurring of media roles as corporations essentially turn into content studios, partnering with a multitude of digital creators to enhance their items.

A commercial director at a major talent agency said: “Clearly, there is a migration of viewers from conventional channels and they’re spending a lot more time 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 personalities they subscribe to compared to commercial messages. That’s a consistent trend.”

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. Promotional expenditure on influencer marketing is increasing four times faster than the media industry overall. Across the United States, it has over doubled since 2021 and is expected to hit multi-billion dollar sums in 2025.

Traditional Media's Continued Place

Despite the huge changes, industry figures said they believed TV advertising still had a prominent role to play, as TV channels continued to possess the influence to shape the national conversation.

She added: “One of the highest return-on-investment media opportunities is still events like the Super Bowl. The issue isn't broadcasters claiming: ‘We are no longer pertinent.’ It’s about who’s capturing attention … I believe there is absolutely a role for them.”