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Originally found over 150 years ago in the oil fields of Pennsylvania, the humble pot of Vaseline might not appear as an natural focus for online content feeds.

Nonetheless, its ascent as a TikTok talking point has positioned it at the vanguard of an advertising revolution, seeing big businesses investing heavily in content creators and devoting less capital to promoting products in traditional media.

A Journey from Drilling to Digital

First created commercially in the 1870s by a chemist, Robert Cheeseborough, who saw laborers rubbing their skin with a derivative of drilling. Currently, a wave of amateur-created clips have recorded its extensive utilization in “life hacks”.

It has been touted as a fix for dirty sneakers or extending perfume longevity, and also a remedy for squeaky doors. Users have even applied it to prevent the annoyance of chip seasoning clinging to fingers.

Leveraging the Buzz

Detecting the product’s new life online, strategists within the corporation boosted the tips by tasking their in-house experts with verification and letting the content creators in on the results.

Suggestions that it lessened the sensation of spicy food on lips were confirmed. This was also the case for ideas it could extend fragrance and restore leather handbags. Proposals that it might bleach teeth or make eyelashes longer were debunked.

The ‘Digital Ear’ Approach

Print ads and broadcast spots would once have dominated Unilever’s advertising drive. However, this online trend has persuaded leaders to dramatically increase investment in content creators.

This observation of social channels to guide corporate planning has been dubbed “social listening”. Unilever's CEO, newly named, has stated the intention is to spend half of its colossal advertising budget on digital creator content.

Shifting to Modern Engagement

Selina Sykes, who is leading the online push, said the company was simply adapting to new ways of connecting with customers. She said interacting online “without killing the party” was paramount.

“How do brands authentically become part of the conversation? That’s always what we’ve been trying to do as brands, since the era of community gossip and talking about what they used.

“We are witnessing a departure from a broadcast model, where we would just send out ads … Currently, it's countless discussions, diverse communities. Changes in digital feeds means that these audiences appear specific, yet they are vast.

“If you can make sure your brand is shared by other people, mentioned by individuals, that fosters reliability and pertinence. Influencers are vital for this. This word-of-mouth strategy is being amplified.”

A Seismic Media Shift

The strategy reflects seismic changes happening in audience habits, with younger consumers allocating more attention to digital networks than television, magazines or radio.

The transition is visible in falling revenues for traditional media advertising. Within the United Kingdom, ad revenues for leading TV channels have fallen by more than £600m in real terms since 2019.

The Rise of the Creator Economy

It also reflects a blurring of media roles as brands effectively act as media producers, linking up with hundreds of content creators to promote their goods.

Leon Harlow said: “Obviously there’s a flow of audiences from conventional channels and they’re spending a lot more time on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube than they are consuming linear broadcasts or printed matter.

“Numerous corporations inform us audiences believe endorsements from the personalities they subscribe to compared to commercial messages. It's an ongoing shift.”

He said brands could also save money by targeting content creators over big traditional media campaigns, which also permits simpler message refinement to gauge performance.

The approach is growing. Advertising spending on influencer marketing is growing fourfold quicker than the broader media sector. Across the United States, it has more than doubled since 2021 and is expected to hit multi-billion dollar sums in 2025.

The Enduring Power of Broadcast

Regardless of the massive shift, executives said they believed TV advertising still had a prominent role to play, as broadcasters retained the power to shape the national conversation.

She added: “A top-tier ROI marketing event is still events like the Super Bowl. The issue isn't broadcasters claiming: ‘We are no longer pertinent.’ It’s about who’s capturing attention … I think there’s 100% a place for them.”