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Originally found over 150 years ago on a Pennsylvania oilfield, the simple jar of Vaseline may not seem like an obvious target for online content feeds.

Yet the brand’s emergence as a popular subject on TikTok has placed it at the forefront of an marketing transformation, where major corporations are spending big on content creators and putting fewer resources into promoting products in traditional media.

From Oil Rigs to Online Hacks

First created commercially in the 1870s by scientist Robert Cheeseborough, who saw laborers rubbing their skin with a residue from oil extraction. Currently, a wave of user-generated videos have chronicled its broad application in “life hacks”.

It has been touted as a solution for polishing footwear or prolonging the scent of perfume, as well as a fix for squeaky doors. It has even been deployed to prevent the annoyance of crisp flavouring sticking to fingers.

Harnessing the Hype

Detecting the product’s new life online, marketers at Unilever amplified the hacks by having their research teams evaluate the claims and providing creators with the outcome data.

Suggestions that it lessened the burn from hot food on the lips were validated. Similarly supported were ideas it could prolong perfume and rejuvenate purses. Proposals that it might brighten smiles or lengthen eyelashes were debunked.

A Plan Built on ‘Social Listening’

Billboards and TV ads would once have dominated Unilever’s advertising drive. Yet this viral episode has helped convince executives to turbocharge spending on content creators.

This tracking of digital spaces to guide corporate planning has been labeled “social listening”. The company's chief executive, recently appointed, has stated the intention is to spend 50% of its massive marketing spend on digital creator content.

Adapting to New Consumer Habits

Selina Sykes, who is heading the digital initiative, said the company was simply adapting to new ways of connecting with customers. She said participating on platforms “without spoiling the atmosphere” was essential.

“How do brands authentically become part of the conversation? This remains our core objective as brands, since the era of community gossip and sharing usage tips.

“The trend is shifting from a one-to-many model, where we would just send out ads … Currently, it's countless discussions, diverse communities. Changes in digital feeds means that these communities feel niche, but they’re not.

“If you can make sure your brand is shared by users, recommended by peers, that fosters reliability and pertinence. Creators are critical to that. This word-of-mouth strategy is being amplified.”

A Fundamental Consumption Turn

The strategy reflects dramatic transformations happening in audience habits, with Gen Z and millennial audiences allocating more attention to social media platforms than television, magazines or radio.

The transition is visible in falling revenues for TV and print advertising. Within the United Kingdom, commercial funding for leading TV channels have fallen by more than £600m in inflation-adjusted terms since 2019.

Influencer Marketing Expansion

It also reflects a media convergence as corporations essentially turn into content studios, partnering with a multitude of digital creators to enhance their items.

An industry expert from a leading agency said: “Obviously there’s a flow of audiences out of certain traditional media outlets and they’re spending a lot more time on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube than they are watching live TV or reading print.

“Many companies report to us consumers have more faith in suggestions from the personalities they subscribe to compared to commercial messages. It's an ongoing shift.”

He noted companies can reduce costs by investing in creators over expensive broadcast campaigns, which also allows them to tweak their content more easily to test effectiveness.

Such methods are increasing. Promotional expenditure on the creator economy is growing fourfold quicker than total media spending. Across the United States, it has increased by over 100% since 2021 and is projected to reach tens of billions in 2025.

The Enduring Power of Broadcast

Even with this transformation, experts said they believed television commercials still played a key part to play, as networks still held the capability to drive countrywide discourse.

Sykes said: “Among the most effective advertising investments is still the Super Bowl. It's not a matter of networks declaring: ‘We are no longer pertinent.’ It’s about who’s capturing attention … I believe there is absolutely a role for them.”