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As a product discovered over 150 years ago on a Pennsylvania oilfield, the simple jar of Vaseline might not appear as an natural focus for social media algorithms.

Yet the brand’s emergence as a viral TikTok topic has placed it at the forefront of an marketing transformation, where major corporations are investing heavily in content creators and reducing expenditure on advertising goods in traditional media.

A Journey from Drilling to Digital

Originally produced in the 1870s by a chemist, Robert Cheeseborough, who noticed oil rig workers using on their skin with a residue from oil extraction. Now, a flood of content from users have chronicled its broad application in “practical tricks”.

It has been touted as a fix for dirty sneakers or extending perfume longevity, as well as a fix for noisy doorways. Its use has even extended to combat the nuisance of snack dust adhering to hands.

Capitalising on the Conversation

Noticing its viral resurgence, strategists within the corporation enhanced the tricks by asking their own scientists to test them and providing creators with the outcome data.

Claims that Vaseline reduced the sting of chili on the mouth were validated. Similarly supported were ideas it could extend fragrance and revive leather bags. Suggestions it could whiten teeth or make eyelashes longer were debunked.

The ‘Digital Ear’ Approach

Billboards and TV ads would once have dominated Unilever’s advertising drive. However, this online trend has persuaded leaders to ramp up funding for content creators.

This tracking of digital spaces to guide corporate planning has been termed “social listening”. The company's chief executive, freshly instated, has suggested it is aiming to spend a full fifty percent of its huge ad budget on social media content.

Evolving With Audience Behavior

A leading Unilever executive, who is spearheading the social media effort, said the company was simply adapting to new ways of reaching consumers. She said engaging on social media “without dampening the fun” was essential.

“How do brands authentically become part of the conversation? This remains our core objective as brands, dating to when neighbors chatted over fences and sharing usage tips.

“There’s this moving away from a mass communication approach, where we would just send out ads … Currently, it's countless discussions, diverse communities. The shift of the algorithms means that these communities feel niche, but they’re not.

“If you can make sure your brand is shared by other people, talked about by other people, this builds credibility and connection. Content makers are key. We are expanding this endorsement system.”

A Revolutionary Change in Media

The strategy reflects dramatic transformations occurring in how media is consumed, with Gen Z and millennial audiences spending more time on social media platforms than traditional TV, print, or radio.

This change is evidenced by declines in traditional media advertising. Across Britain, ad revenues for major broadcasters have declined by over six hundred million pounds in inflation-adjusted terms since 2019.

Influencer Marketing Expansion

It also reflects a blurring of media roles as brands effectively act as media producers, partnering with hundreds of content creators to boost their products.

An industry expert from a leading agency said: “Clearly, there is a migration of viewers from conventional channels and they’re spending a lot more time on digital video and image apps than they are watching live TV or reading print.

“Numerous corporations inform us people trust recommendations from the personalities they subscribe to compared to commercial messages. It's an ongoing shift.”

He noted companies can reduce costs by focusing on influencers over large-scale legacy ad buys, which also allows them to tweak their content more easily to see what works.

This strategy is expanding. Marketing investment on digital creator partnerships is growing fourfold quicker 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.

The Enduring Power of Broadcast

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

Sykes said: “Among the most effective advertising investments 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.”