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First identified more than 150 years ago within a Pennsylvania drilling site, the simple jar of Vaseline could hardly be considered an natural focus for social media algorithms.

Yet the brand’s emergence as a viral TikTok topic has thrust it into the lead of an advertising revolution, in which large companies are allocating substantial funds to content creators and putting fewer resources into promoting products in legacy broadcasters.

From Oil Rigs to Online Hacks

First created commercially in the 1870s by a chemist, Robert Cheeseborough, who observed drillers using on their skin with a derivative of drilling. Today, a spree of user-generated videos have chronicled its broad application in “life hacks”.

It has been touted as a fix for dirty sneakers or extending perfume longevity, along with a cure for creaky hinges. Users have even applied it to stop the scourge of snack dust adhering to hands.

Leveraging the Buzz

Spotting its digital renaissance, marketers at Unilever amplified the hacks 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. This was also the case for ideas it could extend fragrance and rejuvenate purses. Suggestions it could whiten teeth or make eyelashes longer were disproven.

The ‘Digital Ear’ Approach

Outdoor advertising and television commercials would once have dominated Unilever’s advertising drive. However, this online trend has helped convince executives to turbocharge spending on content creators.

This observation of social channels to inform business strategy has been dubbed “social listening”. The company's chief executive, freshly instated, has stated the intention is to spend 50% of its massive marketing spend on social media content.

Shifting to Modern Engagement

Selina Sykes, who is spearheading the social media effort, said the company was merely adjusting to novel methods of reaching consumers. She said engaging on social media “without killing the party” was essential.

“How do brands authentically become part of the conversation? This has perpetually been our aim as brands, back to when people were hanging out their laundry and discussing household products.

“We are witnessing a departure from a mass communication approach, where we would just broadcast out … Currently, it's countless discussions, various groups. Changes in digital feeds means that these audiences appear specific, but they’re not.

“Having your brand advocated by other people, talked about by other people, that fosters reliability and pertinence. Content makers are key. We are expanding this endorsement system.”

A Seismic Media Shift

The approach indicates seismic changes happening in audience habits, with Gen Z and millennial audiences spending more time on apps like TikTok and Instagram than legacy broadcast and print media.

This change is evidenced by falling revenues for broadcast and newspaper ads. In the UK, ad revenues for primary networks have dropped substantially in real terms since 2019.

The Rise of the Creator Economy

This further signifies a merging of functions as brands effectively act as media producers, partnering with numerous influencers to enhance their items.

Leon Harlow said: “Naturally, an exodus of attention away from some legacy media and their time is increasingly on digital video and image apps than they are consuming linear broadcasts or printed matter.

“A lot of brands are telling us audiences believe endorsements from the creators they engage with compared to commercial messages. This is a persistent pattern.”

He added firms may also cut expenditures by focusing on influencers 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 the broader media sector. In the US, it has more than doubled since 2021 and is projected to reach substantial figures in 2025.

TV's Lasting Role

Even with this transformation, experts said they believed TV advertising still had a prominent role to play, as TV channels continued to possess the influence to drive countrywide discourse.

The executive noted: “Among the most effective advertising investments is still major broadcast spectacles. It’s not about those broadcasters saying: ‘Our relevance has faded.’ It’s about who’s capturing attention … There is undoubtedly a future for traditional media.”