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Originally found more than 150 years ago on a Pennsylvania oilfield, the humble pot of Vaseline could hardly be considered an obvious target for online content feeds.

However, its rise as a viral TikTok topic has positioned it at the vanguard of an marketing transformation, in which large companies are allocating substantial funds to content creators and devoting less capital to promoting products in traditional media.

The Path from Petroleum to Platforms

First created commercially in the 1870s by chemist Robert Cheeseborough, who observed drillers using on their skin with a byproduct of the drilling process. Now, a flood of user-generated videos have documented the product’s widespread use in “everyday tips”.

Hailed as a solution for polishing footwear or prolonging the scent of perfume, as well as a fix for noisy doorways. Users have even applied it to stop the scourge of crisp flavouring sticking to fingers.

Harnessing the Hype

Detecting the product’s new life online, strategists within the corporation boosted the tips by tasking their in-house experts with verification and providing creators with the outcome data.

Suggestions that it lessened the sting of chili on the mouth were given the thumbs up. Similarly supported were ideas it could prolong perfume and restore leather handbags. Claims that it would bleach teeth or lengthen eyelashes were disproven.

The ‘Social Listening’ Strategy

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

This observation of social channels to guide corporate planning has been dubbed “social listening”. The company's chief executive, freshly instated, has indicated the goal is to spend 50% of its massive marketing spend on platform-based material.

Evolving With Audience Behavior

The company's social media lead, who is spearheading the social media effort, said the company was just evolving with contemporary approaches of connecting with customers. She said interacting online “without spoiling the atmosphere” was paramount.

“How can companies join discussions credibly? This has perpetually been our aim as brands, back to when people were hanging out their laundry and sharing usage tips.

“The trend is shifting from a one-to-many model, where we would just send out ads … Now it’s many conversations, many communities. Changes in digital feeds means that these groups seem specialized, but they’re not.

“Having your brand advocated by other people, talked about by other people, that fosters reliability and pertinence. Creators are critical to that. We’re really scaling this advocacy model.”

A Seismic Media Shift

This plan mirrors dramatic transformations taking place in media consumption, with the youth demographic devoting greater hours to apps like TikTok and Instagram than legacy broadcast and print media.

The transition is visible in falling revenues for broadcast and newspaper ads. Across Britain, ad revenues for major broadcasters have fallen by more than £600m in actual value since the end of the last decade.

Influencer Marketing Expansion

This further signifies a media convergence as large companies almost become production houses themselves, linking up with numerous influencers to boost their products.

Leon Harlow said: “Naturally, an exodus of attention out of certain traditional media outlets and they’re spending a lot more time on social platforms like Instagram, TikTok and YouTube than they are watching live TV or reading print.

“A lot of brands are telling us consumers have more faith in suggestions from the individuals they follow compared to commercial messages. This is a persistent pattern.”

He noted companies can reduce costs by targeting content creators over big traditional media campaigns, which also enables easier content adjustment to see what works.

Such methods are increasing. Promotional expenditure on influencer marketing is growing fourfold quicker than total media spending. In the US, it has more than doubled since 2021 and is forecast to attain substantial figures in 2025.

TV's Lasting Role

Even with this transformation, industry figures said they believed TV advertising still had a prominent role to play, as broadcasters retained the power to drive countrywide discourse.

The executive noted: “Among the most effective advertising investments is still events like the Super Bowl. It's not a matter of networks declaring: ‘Our relevance has faded.’ It concerns who commands eyeballs … I think there’s 100% a place for them.”