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As a product discovered over 150 years ago on a Pennsylvania oilfield, the humble pot of Vaseline could hardly be considered an clear candidate 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 investing heavily in content creators and putting fewer resources into promoting products in conventional outlets.

The Path from Petroleum to Platforms

The petroleum jelly was first manufactured in the 1870s by a chemist, Robert Cheeseborough, who saw laborers applying to their skin with a derivative of drilling. Today, a spree of amateur-created clips have documented the product’s widespread use in “life hacks”.

Promoted as a solution for polishing footwear or making fragrance last longer, along with a cure for creaky hinges. Its use has even extended to stop the scourge of crisp flavouring sticking to fingers.

Capitalising on the Conversation

Detecting the product’s new life online, strategists within the corporation amplified the hacks by asking their own scientists to test them and letting the content creators in on the results.

Assertions that it diminished the sensation of spicy food on lips were validated. So too were ideas it could lengthen scent duration and revive leather bags. Proposals that it might whiten teeth or lengthen eyelashes were disproven.

The ‘Social Listening’ Strategy

Outdoor advertising and television commercials would once have been the cornerstone of its marketing push. Yet this viral episode has helped convince executives to turbocharge spending on content creators.

This tracking of digital spaces to shape commercial tactics has been dubbed “social listening”. The company's chief executive, newly named, has indicated the goal is to spend a full fifty percent of its huge ad budget on digital creator 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 participating on platforms “without dampening the fun” was paramount.

“What is the key to genuine brand integration? That’s always what we’ve been trying to do as brands, back to when people were hanging out their laundry and discussing household products.

“The trend is shifting from a broadcast model, where we would just broadcast out … Currently, it's countless discussions, many communities. The shift of the algorithms means that these groups seem specialized, but they’re not.

“Having your brand advocated by users, recommended by peers, that fosters reliability and pertinence. Content makers are key. This word-of-mouth strategy is being amplified.”

A Fundamental Consumption Turn

The strategy reflects dramatic transformations occurring in how media is consumed, with the youth demographic devoting greater hours to apps like TikTok and Instagram than legacy broadcast and print media.

The shift is reflected in falling revenues for broadcast and newspaper ads. Across Britain, commercial funding for primary networks have declined by over six hundred million pounds in inflation-adjusted terms since 2019.

The Rise of the Creator Economy

This further signifies a merging of functions as corporations essentially turn into content studios, partnering with numerous influencers to boost their products.

Leon Harlow said: “Obviously there’s a flow of audiences 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.

“Numerous corporations inform us people trust recommendations from the personalities they subscribe to more than they trust ads. This is a persistent pattern.”

He noted companies can reduce costs by targeting content creators over big traditional media campaigns, which also permits simpler message refinement to test effectiveness.

Such methods are increasing. Advertising spending on digital creator partnerships is rising at quadruple the rate than total media spending. In the US, it has over doubled since 2021 and is expected to hit substantial figures in 2025.

The Enduring Power of Broadcast

Regardless of the massive shift, industry figures 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 major broadcast spectacles. It's not a matter of networks declaring: ‘We are no longer pertinent.’ It concerns who commands eyeballs … I think there’s 100% a place for them.”