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Originally found over 150 years ago within a Pennsylvania drilling site, the modest tin of Vaseline could hardly be considered an clear candidate 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, in which large companies are spending big on content creators and reducing expenditure on marketing items in legacy broadcasters.

A Journey from Drilling to Digital

The petroleum jelly was first manufactured in the 1870s by scientist Robert Cheeseborough, who saw laborers using on their skin with a byproduct of the drilling process. Currently, a wave of user-generated videos have recorded its extensive utilization in “life hacks”.

Hailed as a remedy for cleaning shoes or prolonging the scent of perfume, and also a remedy for creaky hinges. Its use has even extended to combat the nuisance of snack dust adhering to hands.

Harnessing the Hype

Spotting its digital renaissance, executives at the multinational enhanced the tricks by tasking their in-house experts with verification and providing creators with the outcome data.

Claims that Vaseline reduced the burn from hot food on the lips were given the thumbs up. Similarly supported were ideas it could prolong perfume and rejuvenate purses. Suggestions it could whiten teeth or extend lashes were disproven.

A Plan Built on ‘Social Listening’

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 monitoring of online platforms to guide corporate planning has been dubbed “social listening”. Unilever's CEO, recently appointed, has stated the intention is to spend half of its colossal advertising budget on social media content.

Shifting to Modern Engagement

The company's social media lead, who is leading the online push, said the company was just evolving with contemporary approaches of engaging audiences. She said engaging on social media “without spoiling the atmosphere” was essential.

“What is the key to genuine brand integration? This has perpetually been our aim as brands, back to when people were hanging out their laundry and talking about what they used.

“There’s this moving away from a one-to-many model, where we would just send out ads … Today, it's numerous dialogues, many communities. Changes in digital feeds means that these groups seem specialized, yet they are vast.

“If you can make sure your brand is shared by other people, talked about by other people, this builds credibility and connection. Creators are critical to that. This word-of-mouth strategy is being amplified.”

A Fundamental Consumption Turn

The strategy reflects seismic changes taking place in media consumption, with Gen Z and millennial audiences devoting greater hours to apps like TikTok and Instagram than legacy broadcast and print media.

The shift is reflected in falling revenues for TV and print advertising. Across Britain, advertising income for primary networks have dropped substantially in inflation-adjusted terms since 2019.

Influencer Marketing Expansion

It also reflects a blurring of media roles as corporations essentially turn into content studios, collaborating with hundreds of content creators to boost their products.

An industry expert from a leading agency said: “Obviously there’s a flow of audiences out of certain traditional media outlets and they’re spending a lot more time on digital video and image apps than they are consuming linear broadcasts or printed matter.

“Many companies report to us consumers have more faith in suggestions from the individuals they follow compared to commercial messages. This is a persistent pattern.”

He added firms may also cut expenditures by targeting content creators over big traditional media campaigns, which also permits simpler message refinement to test effectiveness.

The approach is growing. Advertising spending on digital creator partnerships is growing fourfold quicker than total media spending. Stateside, it has over doubled since 2021 and is forecast to attain tens of billions in 2025.

TV's Lasting Role

Despite the huge changes, 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.

She added: “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.”