🔗 Share this article

First identified more than 150 years ago within a Pennsylvania drilling site, the simple jar of Vaseline may not seem like an natural focus for online content feeds.

Nonetheless, its ascent as a viral TikTok topic has placed it at the forefront of an promotional upheaval, seeing big businesses spending big on content creators and putting fewer resources into advertising goods in traditional media.

From Oil Rigs to Online Hacks

Originally produced in the 1870s by chemist Robert Cheeseborough, who saw laborers applying to their skin with a byproduct of the drilling process. Now, a flood of content from users have chronicled its broad application in “everyday tips”.

Hailed as a remedy for cleaning shoes or extending perfume longevity, and also a remedy for creaky hinges. Users have even applied it to stop the scourge of snack dust adhering to hands.

Harnessing the Hype

Detecting the product’s new life online, executives at the multinational amplified the hacks by tasking their in-house experts with verification and sharing the findings with influencers.

Assertions that it diminished the sting of chili on the mouth were validated. This was also the case for ideas it could prolong perfume and rejuvenate purses. Proposals that it might bleach teeth or lengthen eyelashes were disproven.

A Plan Built on ‘Social Listening’

Billboards and TV ads would once have formed the bulk of its promotional efforts. However, this online trend has helped convince executives to dramatically increase investment in content creators.

This observation of social channels to shape commercial tactics has been termed “social listening”. Fernando Fernández, recently appointed, has stated the intention is to spend a full fifty percent of its huge ad budget on digital creator content.

Shifting to Modern Engagement

Selina Sykes, who is leading the online push, said the company was simply adapting to new ways of engaging audiences. She said interacting online “without killing the party” 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 talking about what they used.

“We are witnessing a departure from a mass communication approach, where we would just send out ads … Now it’s many conversations, diverse communities. Changes in digital feeds means that these audiences appear specific, but they’re not.

“If you can make sure your brand is shared by consumers, talked about by other people, that is how you can build trust and relevance. Creators are critical to that. We’re really scaling this advocacy model.”

A Fundamental Consumption Turn

The approach indicates profound shifts happening in audience habits, with younger consumers spending more time on social media platforms than traditional TV, print, or radio.

This change is evidenced by drops in broadcast and newspaper ads. Within the United Kingdom, advertising income for major broadcasters have fallen by more than £600m in inflation-adjusted terms since 2019.

The Rise of the Creator Economy

This further signifies a blurring of media roles as corporations essentially turn into content studios, partnering with hundreds of content creators to boost their products.

Leon Harlow said: “Naturally, an exodus of attention from conventional channels and their time is increasingly on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube than they are viewing scheduled television or reading physical magazines.

“A lot of brands are telling us audiences believe endorsements from the individuals they follow over traditional advertisements. It's an ongoing shift.”

He noted companies can reduce costs by focusing on influencers over large-scale legacy ad buys, which also enables easier content adjustment to gauge performance.

This strategy is expanding. Marketing investment on the creator economy is rising at quadruple the rate than the media industry overall. Stateside, it has increased by over 100% since 2021 and is expected to hit substantial figures in 2025.

TV's Lasting Role

Regardless of the massive shift, executives said they believed broadcast ads retained significant importance to play, as TV channels continued to possess the influence to drive countrywide discourse.

Sykes said: “A top-tier ROI marketing event is still the Super Bowl. 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.”