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Originally found more than 150 years ago within a Pennsylvania drilling site, the simple jar of Vaseline may not seem like an natural focus for online content feeds.

Yet the brand’s emergence as a popular subject on TikTok has positioned it at the vanguard of an advertising revolution, seeing big businesses spending big on content creators and devoting less capital to promoting products in legacy broadcasters.

A Journey from Drilling to Digital

Originally produced in the 1870s by scientist Robert Cheeseborough, who observed drillers using on their skin with a derivative of drilling. Currently, a wave of user-generated videos have recorded its extensive utilization in “life hacks”.

It has been touted as a remedy for cleaning shoes or prolonging the scent of perfume, along with a cure for squeaky doors. Its use has even extended to prevent the annoyance of chip seasoning clinging to fingers.

Capitalising on the Conversation

Detecting the product’s new life online, strategists within the corporation boosted the tips by having their research teams evaluate the claims and sharing the findings with influencers.

Assertions that it diminished the burn from hot food on the lips were confirmed. Similarly supported were ideas it could prolong perfume and rejuvenate purses. Claims that it would bleach teeth or make eyelashes longer were disproven.

The ‘Digital Ear’ Approach

Billboards and TV ads would once have been the cornerstone of its marketing push. Yet this viral episode has led decision-makers to turbocharge spending on content creators.

This tracking of digital spaces to guide corporate planning has been dubbed “social listening”. Unilever's CEO, newly named, has indicated the goal is to spend half of its colossal advertising budget on platform-based material.

Adapting to New Consumer Habits

A leading Unilever executive, who is leading the online push, said the company was merely adjusting to novel methods 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 discussing household products.

“There’s this moving away from a one-to-many model, where we would just send out ads … Currently, it's countless discussions, various groups. Changes in digital feeds means that these communities feel niche, but they’re not.

“Having your brand advocated by users, talked about by other people, that is how you can build trust and relevance. Content makers are key. We are expanding this endorsement system.”

A Seismic Media Shift

The approach indicates profound shifts taking place in media consumption, with Gen Z and millennial audiences spending more time on apps like TikTok and Instagram than television, magazines or radio.

The shift is reflected in declines in broadcast and newspaper ads. Within the United Kingdom, commercial funding for primary networks have fallen by more than £600m in actual value since the end of the last decade.

Influencer Marketing Expansion

It also reflects a merging of functions as large companies almost become production houses themselves, collaborating with numerous influencers to enhance their items.

Leon Harlow said: “Clearly, there is a migration of viewers away from some legacy media and their time is increasingly on social platforms like Instagram, TikTok and YouTube than they are watching live TV or reading print.

“Numerous corporations inform us people trust recommendations from the personalities they subscribe to more than they trust ads. That’s a consistent trend.”

He noted companies can reduce costs by focusing on influencers over big traditional media campaigns, which also permits simpler message refinement to test effectiveness.

The approach is growing. Marketing investment on the creator economy is growing fourfold quicker than total media spending. Across the United States, it has over doubled since 2021 and is forecast to attain multi-billion dollar sums in 2025.

Traditional Media's Continued Place

Despite the huge changes, executives said they believed broadcast ads retained significant importance to play, as TV channels continued to possess the influence to shape the national conversation.

The executive noted: “One of the highest return-on-investment media opportunities is still events like the Super Bowl. It’s not about those broadcasters saying: ‘Our relevance has faded.’ The focus is on who seizes focus … I think there’s 100% a place for them.”