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First identified over 150 years ago within a Pennsylvania drilling site, the modest tin of Vaseline could hardly be considered an natural focus for online content feeds.

Yet the brand’s emergence as a viral TikTok topic has positioned it at the vanguard of an marketing transformation, seeing big businesses investing heavily in content creators and putting fewer resources into advertising goods in traditional media.

The Path from Petroleum to Platforms

First created commercially in the 1870s by scientist Robert Cheeseborough, who noticed oil rig workers applying to their skin with a byproduct of the drilling process. Now, a flood of user-generated videos have documented the product’s widespread use in “practical tricks”.

Promoted as a solution for polishing footwear or prolonging the scent of perfume, as well as a fix for squeaky doors. Users have even applied it to stop the scourge of crisp flavouring sticking to fingers.

Leveraging the Buzz

Spotting its digital renaissance, strategists within the corporation boosted the tips by asking their own scientists to test them and sharing the findings with influencers.

Claims that Vaseline reduced the burn from hot food on the lips were confirmed. Similarly supported were ideas it could prolong perfume and revive leather bags. Suggestions it could whiten teeth or make eyelashes longer were refuted.

The ‘Social Listening’ Strategy

Billboards and TV ads would once have formed the bulk of its promotional efforts. However, this online trend has helped convince executives to turbocharge spending on content creators.

This tracking of digital spaces to inform business strategy has been dubbed “social listening”. Fernando Fernández, recently appointed, has stated the intention is to spend 50% of its massive marketing spend on digital creator content.

Evolving With Audience Behavior

The company's social media lead, who is spearheading the social media effort, said the company was just evolving with contemporary approaches of connecting with customers. She said participating on platforms “without dampening the fun” 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.

“We are witnessing a departure from a mass communication approach, where we would just broadcast out … Today, it's numerous dialogues, diverse communities. Changes in digital feeds means that these audiences appear specific, yet they are vast.

“Ensuring your product is discussed by users, recommended by peers, that fosters reliability and pertinence. Influencers are vital for this. We’re really scaling this advocacy model.”

A Seismic Media Shift

This plan mirrors profound shifts taking place in media consumption, with Gen Z and millennial audiences spending more time on social media platforms than legacy broadcast and print media.

This change is evidenced by falling revenues for TV and print advertising. Within the United Kingdom, advertising income for leading TV channels have declined by over six hundred million pounds in inflation-adjusted terms since 2019.

Influencer Marketing Expansion

It also reflects a media convergence as large companies almost become production houses themselves, collaborating with numerous influencers to promote their goods.

An industry expert from a leading agency said: “Obviously there’s a flow of audiences from conventional channels and they’re spending a lot more time on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube 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 personalities they subscribe to compared to commercial messages. This is a persistent pattern.”

He noted companies can reduce costs by investing in creators over large-scale legacy ad buys, which also enables easier content adjustment to test effectiveness.

The approach is growing. Advertising spending on the creator economy is increasing four times faster than the media industry overall. In the US, it has over doubled since 2021 and is projected to reach multi-billion dollar sums in 2025.

TV's Lasting Role

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.

The executive noted: “Among the most effective advertising investments is still events like the Super Bowl. It’s not about those broadcasters saying: ‘Oh, we’re not relevant any more.’ It’s about who’s capturing attention … I think there’s 100% a place for them.”