🔗 Share this article

Originally found over 150 years ago within a Pennsylvania drilling site, the modest tin of Vaseline might not appear as an obvious target for online content feeds.

Yet the brand’s emergence as a TikTok talking point has thrust it into the lead of an marketing transformation, where major corporations are spending big on content creators and reducing expenditure on advertising goods in traditional media.

From Oil Rigs to Online Hacks

The petroleum jelly was first manufactured in the 1870s by a chemist, Robert Cheeseborough, who observed drillers rubbing their skin with a byproduct of the drilling process. Today, a spree of content from users have chronicled its broad application in “practical tricks”.

Hailed as a solution for polishing footwear or prolonging the scent of perfume, as well as a fix for squeaky doors. Its use has even extended to prevent the annoyance of crisp flavouring sticking to fingers.

Leveraging the Buzz

Noticing its viral resurgence, strategists within the corporation enhanced the tricks by having their research teams evaluate the claims and providing creators with the outcome data.

Assertions that it diminished the sting of chili on the mouth were given the thumbs up. Similarly supported were ideas it could prolong perfume and restore leather handbags. Proposals that it might bleach teeth or lengthen eyelashes were debunked.

The ‘Digital Ear’ Approach

Outdoor advertising and television commercials would once have dominated Unilever’s advertising drive. Yet this viral episode has helped convince executives to ramp up funding for content creators.

This observation of social channels to inform business strategy has been termed “social listening”. Unilever's CEO, freshly instated, has indicated the goal is to spend a full fifty percent of its huge ad budget on platform-based material.

Adapting to New Consumer Habits

A leading Unilever executive, 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 spoiling the atmosphere” was essential.

“How do brands authentically become part of the conversation? That’s always what we’ve been trying to do as brands, dating to when neighbors chatted over fences and discussing household products.

“The trend is shifting from a one-to-many model, where we would just transmit messages … Now it’s many conversations, various groups. Changes in digital feeds means that these communities feel niche, however, they are large.

“Ensuring your product is discussed by other people, recommended by peers, that fosters reliability and pertinence. Content makers are key. This word-of-mouth strategy is being amplified.”

A Seismic Media Shift

This plan mirrors dramatic transformations taking place in media consumption, with younger consumers allocating more attention to social media platforms than legacy broadcast and print media.

The shift is reflected in declines in TV and print advertising. Across Britain, commercial funding for leading TV channels have declined by over six hundred million pounds in real 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 a multitude of digital creators to boost their products.

A commercial director at a major talent agency said: “Naturally, an exodus of attention out of certain traditional media outlets and they are dedicating far more hours to social platforms like Instagram, TikTok and YouTube than they are watching live TV or reading print.

“Numerous corporations inform us audiences believe endorsements 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 see what works.

Such methods are increasing. Promotional expenditure on the creator economy is increasing four times faster than the media industry overall. Across the United States, it has increased by over 100% since 2021 and is expected to hit multi-billion dollar sums in 2025.

Traditional Media's Continued Place

Even with this transformation, experts said they believed broadcast ads retained significant importance to play, as TV channels continued to possess the influence to drive countrywide discourse.

Sykes said: “One of the highest return-on-investment media opportunities is still events like the Super Bowl. It's not a matter of networks declaring: ‘We are no longer pertinent.’ The focus is on who seizes focus … There is undoubtedly a future for traditional media.”