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Originally found more than 150 years ago within a Pennsylvania drilling site, the modest tin of Vaseline might not appear as an obvious target for digital platform algorithms.

Yet the brand’s emergence as a popular subject on TikTok has placed it at the forefront of an advertising revolution, seeing big businesses investing heavily in content creators and reducing expenditure on promoting products in legacy broadcasters.

The Path from Petroleum to Platforms

The petroleum jelly was first manufactured in the 1870s by chemist Robert Cheeseborough, who saw laborers applying to their skin with a byproduct of the drilling process. Currently, a wave of amateur-created clips have chronicled its broad application in “practical tricks”.

It has been touted as a fix for dirty sneakers or making fragrance last longer, and also a remedy for squeaky doors. It has even been deployed to prevent the annoyance of crisp flavouring sticking to fingers.

Harnessing the Hype

Spotting its digital renaissance, marketers at Unilever amplified the hacks by tasking their in-house experts with verification and sharing the findings with influencers.

Suggestions that it lessened the sensation of spicy food on lips were confirmed. So too were ideas it could extend fragrance and rejuvenate purses. Claims that it would brighten smiles or extend lashes were debunked.

The ‘Social Listening’ Strategy

Billboards and TV ads would once have dominated Unilever’s advertising drive. But the Vaseline phenomenon has led decision-makers to dramatically increase investment in content creators.

This tracking of digital spaces to guide corporate planning has been termed “social listening”. Fernando Fernández, newly named, has suggested it is aiming to spend a full fifty percent of its huge ad budget on digital creator content.

Evolving With Audience Behavior

A leading Unilever executive, who is leading the online push, said the company was simply adapting to new ways of connecting with customers. She said participating on platforms “without spoiling the atmosphere” was crucial.

“How do brands authentically become part of the conversation? This has perpetually been our aim as brands, since the era of community gossip and talking about what they used.

“We are witnessing a departure from a one-to-many model, where we would just broadcast out … Today, it's numerous dialogues, many communities. The shift of the algorithms means that these audiences appear specific, but they’re not.

“Ensuring your product is discussed by consumers, mentioned by individuals, that fosters reliability and pertinence. Influencers are vital for this. We are expanding this endorsement system.”

A Fundamental Consumption Turn

The strategy reflects seismic changes taking place in media consumption, with younger consumers devoting greater hours to apps like TikTok and Instagram than traditional TV, print, or radio.

The shift is reflected in declines in TV and print advertising. In the UK, advertising income for leading TV channels have fallen by more than £600m in actual value since the end of the last decade.

Influencer Marketing Expansion

Additionally, it points to a blurring of media roles as brands effectively act as media producers, partnering with a multitude of digital creators to enhance their items.

An industry expert from a leading agency said: “Obviously there’s a flow of audiences out of certain traditional media outlets and they are dedicating far more hours to digital video and image apps than they are viewing scheduled television or reading physical magazines.

“A lot of brands are telling us consumers have more faith in suggestions from the creators they engage with more than they trust ads. It's an ongoing shift.”

He said brands could also save money by focusing on influencers over large-scale legacy ad buys, which also enables easier content adjustment to test effectiveness.

The approach is growing. Promotional expenditure on influencer marketing is growing fourfold quicker than the broader media sector. Across the United States, it has increased by over 100% since 2021 and is projected to reach substantial figures in 2025.

Traditional Media's Continued Place

Even with this transformation, industry figures said they believed broadcast ads retained significant importance to play, as broadcasters retained the power to frame public debate.

Sykes said: “A top-tier ROI marketing event is still major broadcast spectacles. It's not a matter of networks declaring: ‘Oh, we’re not relevant any more.’ The focus is on who seizes focus … I believe there is absolutely a role for them.”