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As a product discovered more than 150 years ago within a Pennsylvania drilling site, the humble pot of Vaseline may not seem like an obvious target for online content feeds.

However, its rise as a viral TikTok topic has positioned it at the vanguard of an advertising revolution, seeing big businesses spending big on content creators and reducing expenditure on advertising goods in traditional media.

The Path from Petroleum to Platforms

The petroleum jelly was first manufactured in the 1870s by chemist Robert Cheeseborough, who noticed oil rig workers applying to their skin with a residue from oil extraction. Currently, a wave of amateur-created clips have recorded its extensive utilization in “practical tricks”.

Promoted as a fix for dirty sneakers or making fragrance last longer, as well as a fix for squeaky doors. Its use has even extended to combat the nuisance of snack dust adhering to hands.

Harnessing the Hype

Noticing its viral resurgence, marketers at Unilever amplified the hacks by tasking their in-house experts with verification and sharing the findings with influencers.

Suggestions that it lessened the sensation of spicy food on lips were given the thumbs up. This was also the case for ideas it could extend fragrance and restore leather handbags. Suggestions it could bleach teeth or make eyelashes longer were debunked.

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 ramp up funding for content creators.

This monitoring of online platforms to shape commercial tactics has been dubbed “social listening”. The company's chief executive, newly named, has stated the intention is to spend half of its colossal advertising budget on social media content.

Shifting to Modern Engagement

A leading Unilever executive, who is spearheading the social media effort, said the company was just evolving with contemporary approaches of engaging audiences. She said participating on platforms “without killing the party” was paramount.

“How do brands authentically become part of the conversation? 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 one-to-many model, where we would just transmit messages … Today, it's numerous dialogues, diverse communities. Changes in digital feeds means that these communities feel niche, yet they are vast.

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

A Revolutionary Change in Media

The strategy reflects seismic changes occurring in how media is consumed, with Gen Z and millennial audiences allocating more attention to social media platforms than television, magazines or radio.

This change is evidenced by drops in TV and print advertising. Across Britain, commercial funding for major broadcasters have declined by over six hundred million pounds in inflation-adjusted terms since 2019.

The Creator Economy Boom

It also reflects a media convergence as corporations essentially turn into content studios, collaborating with hundreds of content creators to boost their products.

An industry expert from a leading agency said: “Obviously there’s a flow of audiences away from some legacy media and they are dedicating far more hours to Instagram, TikTok and YouTube than they are consuming linear broadcasts or printed matter.

“Numerous corporations inform us audiences believe endorsements from the creators they engage with more than they trust ads. That’s a consistent trend.”

He added firms may also cut expenditures by targeting content creators over big traditional media campaigns, which also permits simpler message refinement to see what works.

Such methods are increasing. Advertising spending on the creator economy is growing fourfold quicker than the media industry overall. Stateside, it has more than doubled since 2021 and is projected to reach 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 drive countrywide discourse.

She added: “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.”