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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 digital platform algorithms.

Yet the brand’s emergence as a TikTok talking point has thrust it into the lead of an marketing transformation, where major corporations are spending big on content creators and putting fewer resources into marketing items in legacy broadcasters.

The Path from Petroleum to Platforms

The petroleum jelly was first manufactured in the 1870s by a chemist, Robert Cheeseborough, who observed drillers using on their skin with a byproduct of the drilling process. Today, a spree of amateur-created clips have recorded its extensive utilization in “everyday tips”.

Hailed as a remedy for cleaning shoes or prolonging the scent of perfume, and also a remedy for squeaky doors. Users have even applied it to stop the scourge of chip seasoning clinging to fingers.

Capitalising on the Conversation

Spotting its digital renaissance, executives at the multinational amplified the hacks by having their research teams evaluate the claims and sharing the findings with influencers.

Assertions that it diminished the sting of chili on the mouth were validated. Similarly supported were ideas it could prolong perfume and rejuvenate purses. Suggestions it could whiten teeth or make eyelashes longer were refuted.

The ‘Digital Ear’ Approach

Billboards and TV ads would once have dominated Unilever’s advertising drive. Yet this viral episode has helped convince executives to ramp up funding for content creators.

This monitoring of online platforms to guide corporate planning has been labeled “social listening”. Unilever's CEO, recently appointed, has stated the intention is to spend a full fifty percent of its huge ad budget on social media content.

Evolving With Audience Behavior

A leading Unilever executive, who is leading the online push, said the company was simply adapting to new ways of connecting with customers. She said engaging on social media “without killing the party” was crucial.

“What is the key to genuine brand integration? This has perpetually been our aim as brands, since the era of community gossip and talking about what they used.

“We are witnessing a departure from a one-to-many model, where we would just transmit messages … Now it’s many conversations, diverse communities. The shift of the algorithms means that these groups seem specialized, however, they are large.

“Ensuring your product is discussed by users, recommended by peers, this builds credibility and connection. Content makers are key. We are expanding this endorsement system.”

A Seismic Media Shift

This plan mirrors dramatic transformations happening in audience habits, with Gen Z and millennial audiences spending more time on social media platforms than television, magazines or radio.

This change is evidenced by declines in broadcast and newspaper ads. Across Britain, ad revenues for leading TV channels have dropped substantially in inflation-adjusted terms since 2019.

The Rise of the Creator Economy

It also reflects a media convergence as brands effectively act as media producers, partnering with a multitude of digital creators to promote their goods.

An industry expert from a leading agency said: “Naturally, an exodus of attention away from some legacy media and their time is increasingly on social platforms like Instagram, TikTok and YouTube than they are consuming linear broadcasts or printed matter.

“Numerous corporations inform us consumers have more faith in suggestions from the personalities they subscribe to compared to commercial messages. This is a persistent pattern.”

He noted companies can reduce costs by investing in creators over large-scale legacy ad buys, which also enables easier content adjustment to see what works.

Such methods are increasing. Advertising spending on influencer marketing is growing fourfold quicker than total media spending. Across the United States, it has over doubled since 2021 and is expected to hit tens of billions in 2025.

The Enduring Power of Broadcast

Regardless of the massive shift, executives said they believed television commercials still played a key part to play, as TV channels continued to possess the influence to drive countrywide discourse.

The executive noted: “One of the highest return-on-investment media opportunities is still major broadcast spectacles. It's not a matter of networks declaring: ‘We are no longer pertinent.’ It concerns who commands eyeballs … There is undoubtedly a future for traditional media.”