🔗 Share this article

First identified over 150 years ago on a Pennsylvania oilfield, the simple jar of Vaseline might not appear as an clear candidate for digital platform algorithms.

However, its rise as a viral TikTok topic has placed it at the forefront of an advertising revolution, where major corporations are spending big on content creators and devoting less capital to marketing items in traditional media.

The Path from Petroleum to Platforms

Originally produced in the 1870s by a chemist, Robert Cheeseborough, who noticed oil rig workers rubbing their skin with a derivative of drilling. Currently, a wave of content from users have documented the product’s widespread use in “everyday tips”.

Hailed as a fix for dirty sneakers or prolonging the scent of perfume, and also a remedy for squeaky doors. Users have even applied it to combat the nuisance of crisp flavouring sticking to fingers.

Harnessing the Hype

Noticing its viral resurgence, executives at the multinational amplified the hacks by tasking their in-house experts with verification and letting the content creators in on the results.

Claims that Vaseline reduced the sensation of spicy food on lips were validated. So too were ideas it could lengthen scent duration and restore leather handbags. Claims that it would brighten smiles or make eyelashes longer were debunked.

A Plan Built on ‘Social Listening’

Outdoor advertising and television commercials would once have formed the bulk of its promotional efforts. Yet this viral episode has persuaded leaders to ramp up funding for content creators.

This tracking of digital spaces to inform business strategy has been termed “social listening”. Fernando Fernández, recently appointed, has suggested it is aiming to spend a full fifty percent of its huge ad budget on digital creator content.

Adapting to New Consumer Habits

A leading Unilever executive, who is heading the digital initiative, said the company was merely adjusting to novel methods of connecting with customers. She said interacting online “without killing the party” 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 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, however, they are large.

“Ensuring your product is discussed by other people, talked about by other people, this builds credibility and connection. Creators are critical to that. This word-of-mouth strategy is being amplified.”

A Revolutionary Change in Media

The strategy reflects dramatic transformations happening in audience habits, with the youth demographic allocating more attention to digital networks than traditional TV, print, or radio.

This change is evidenced by drops in broadcast and newspaper ads. Within the United Kingdom, ad revenues for leading TV channels have declined by over six hundred million pounds in inflation-adjusted terms since 2019.

Influencer Marketing Expansion

This further signifies a media convergence as corporations essentially turn into content studios, partnering with a multitude of digital creators to promote their goods.

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 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 creators they engage with more than they trust ads. That’s a consistent trend.”

He added firms may also cut expenditures by focusing on influencers over large-scale legacy ad buys, which also permits simpler message refinement to test effectiveness.

The approach is growing. Marketing investment on the creator economy is rising at quadruple the rate than the broader media sector. In the US, it has more than doubled since 2021 and is forecast to attain tens of billions in 2025.

Traditional Media's Continued Place

Even with this transformation, industry figures said they believed television commercials still played a key part to play, as TV channels continued to possess the influence to shape the national conversation.

She added: “Among the most effective advertising investments is still major broadcast spectacles. It's not a matter of networks declaring: ‘We are no longer pertinent.’ The focus is on who seizes focus … I think there’s 100% a place for them.”