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As a product discovered more than 150 years ago within a Pennsylvania drilling site, the simple jar of Vaseline could hardly be considered an clear candidate for social media algorithms.

Yet the brand’s emergence as a TikTok talking point has thrust it into the lead of an advertising revolution, where major corporations are spending big on content creators and putting fewer resources into advertising goods in legacy broadcasters.

From Oil Rigs to Online Hacks

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. Now, a flood of amateur-created clips have documented the product’s widespread use in “life hacks”.

It has been touted as a solution for polishing footwear or prolonging the scent of perfume, along with a cure for squeaky doors. It has even been deployed to combat the nuisance of snack dust adhering to hands.

Leveraging the Buzz

Detecting the product’s new life online, marketers at Unilever amplified the hacks 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. So too were ideas it could lengthen scent duration and rejuvenate purses. Proposals that it might bleach teeth or lengthen eyelashes were refuted.

The ‘Digital Ear’ Approach

Print ads and broadcast spots would once have dominated Unilever’s advertising drive. 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 labeled “social listening”. Unilever's CEO, recently appointed, has suggested it is aiming to spend a full fifty percent of its huge ad budget on digital creator content.

Shifting to Modern Engagement

A leading Unilever executive, who is heading the digital initiative, said the company was simply adapting to new ways of reaching consumers. She said interacting online “without spoiling the atmosphere” was crucial.

“How do brands authentically become part of the conversation? This remains our core objective as brands, back to when people were hanging out their laundry and discussing household products.

“There’s this moving away from a broadcast model, where we would just send out ads … Currently, it's countless discussions, various groups. The evolution of platform algorithms means that these audiences appear specific, yet they are vast.

“If you can make sure your brand is shared by consumers, recommended by peers, that fosters reliability and pertinence. Creators are critical to that. We’re really scaling this advocacy model.”

A Seismic Media Shift

The strategy reflects seismic changes taking place in media consumption, with younger consumers devoting greater hours to digital networks than legacy broadcast and print media.

This change is evidenced by drops in traditional media advertising. In the UK, ad revenues for major broadcasters have declined by over six hundred million pounds in actual value since the end of the last decade.

The Rise of the Creator Economy

This further signifies a merging of functions as brands effectively act as media producers, linking up with hundreds of content creators to boost their products.

Leon Harlow said: “Obviously there’s a flow of audiences away from some legacy media and their time is increasingly on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube than they are consuming linear broadcasts or printed matter.

“Numerous corporations inform us people trust recommendations from the creators they engage with over traditional advertisements. This is a persistent pattern.”

He said brands could also save money by investing in creators over big traditional media campaigns, which also allows them to tweak their content more easily to see what works.

This strategy is expanding. Advertising spending on digital creator partnerships is rising at quadruple the rate than total media spending. Stateside, it has over doubled since 2021 and is expected to hit multi-billion dollar sums in 2025.

The Enduring Power of Broadcast

Regardless of the massive shift, experts said they believed television commercials still played a key part to play, as networks still held the capability to shape the national conversation.

She added: “One of the highest return-on-investment media opportunities is still the Super Bowl. It's not a matter of networks declaring: ‘Our relevance has faded.’ It’s about who’s capturing attention … I think there’s 100% a place for them.”