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Originally found more than 150 years ago within a Pennsylvania drilling site, the humble pot of Vaseline may not seem like an obvious target for social media algorithms.

However, its rise as a TikTok talking point has thrust it into the lead of an marketing transformation, in which large companies are allocating substantial funds to 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 chemist Robert Cheeseborough, who noticed oil rig workers rubbing their skin with a derivative of drilling. Now, a flood of amateur-created clips have documented the product’s widespread use in “everyday tips”.

Hailed as a remedy for cleaning shoes or making fragrance last longer, and also a remedy for squeaky doors. Its use has even extended to combat the nuisance of chip seasoning clinging to fingers.

Capitalising on the Conversation

Spotting its digital renaissance, marketers at Unilever amplified the hacks by asking their own scientists to test them and sharing the findings with influencers.

Assertions that it diminished the burn from hot food on the lips were given the thumbs up. This was also the case for ideas it could prolong perfume and revive leather bags. Suggestions it could bleach teeth or make eyelashes longer were refuted.

A Plan Built on ‘Social Listening’

Billboards and TV ads would once have formed the bulk of its promotional efforts. However, this online trend has helped convince executives to ramp up funding for content creators.

This observation of social channels to guide corporate planning has been dubbed “social listening”. Fernando Fernández, freshly instated, has indicated the goal is to spend half of its colossal advertising budget on digital creator content.

Adapting to New Consumer Habits

The company's social media lead, who is spearheading the social media effort, said the company was simply adapting to new ways of connecting with customers. She said interacting online “without dampening the fun” was essential.

“What is the key to genuine brand integration? This remains our core objective as brands, dating to when neighbors chatted over fences and sharing usage tips.

“The trend is shifting from a one-to-many model, where we would just transmit messages … Now it’s many conversations, many communities. The evolution of platform algorithms means that these audiences appear specific, however, they are large.

“Ensuring your product is discussed by other people, recommended by peers, that is how you can build trust and relevance. Creators are critical to that. We’re really scaling this advocacy model.”

A Fundamental Consumption Turn

The approach indicates profound shifts taking place in media consumption, with the youth demographic devoting greater hours to social media platforms than television, magazines or radio.

This change is evidenced by drops in broadcast and newspaper ads. In the UK, advertising income for major broadcasters have dropped substantially in inflation-adjusted terms since 2019.

Influencer Marketing Expansion

This further signifies a blurring of media roles as large companies almost become production houses themselves, collaborating with a multitude of digital creators to promote their goods.

Leon Harlow said: “Obviously there’s a flow of audiences away from some legacy media and they’re spending a lot more time on digital video and image apps than they are watching live TV or reading print.

“Many companies report to us audiences believe endorsements from the individuals they follow compared to commercial messages. This is a persistent pattern.”

He said brands could also save money by targeting content creators over expensive broadcast campaigns, which also permits simpler message refinement to see what works.

This strategy is expanding. Promotional expenditure on influencer marketing is growing fourfold quicker than the broader media sector. 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, industry figures said they believed TV advertising still had a prominent role to play, as broadcasters retained the power to drive countrywide discourse.

The executive noted: “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.’ It concerns who commands eyeballs … I believe there is absolutely a role for them.”