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As a product discovered more than 150 years ago within a Pennsylvania drilling site, the modest tin of Vaseline may not seem like an clear candidate for social media algorithms.

Yet the brand’s emergence as a viral TikTok topic has placed it at the forefront of an marketing transformation, seeing big businesses spending big on content creators and putting fewer resources into promoting products in legacy broadcasters.

From Oil Rigs to Online Hacks

Originally produced in the 1870s by a chemist, Robert Cheeseborough, who noticed oil rig workers applying to their skin with a residue from oil extraction. Today, a spree of amateur-created clips have recorded its extensive utilization in “everyday tips”.

Hailed as a fix for dirty sneakers or extending perfume longevity, as well as a fix for noisy doorways. It has even been deployed to combat the nuisance of chip seasoning clinging to fingers.

Harnessing the Hype

Detecting the product’s new life online, executives at the multinational enhanced the tricks 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 confirmed. Similarly supported were ideas it could lengthen scent duration and restore leather handbags. Claims that it would whiten teeth or make eyelashes longer were refuted.

A Plan Built on ‘Social Listening’

Billboards and TV ads would once have formed the bulk of its promotional efforts. Yet this viral episode has helped convince executives to dramatically increase investment in content creators.

This observation of social channels to inform business strategy has been termed “social listening”. Fernando Fernández, newly named, 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 spearheading the social media effort, said the company was simply adapting to new ways of engaging audiences. She said interacting online “without dampening the fun” was paramount.

“What is the key to genuine brand integration? This has perpetually been our aim as brands, dating to when neighbors chatted over fences and talking about what they used.

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

“Ensuring your product is discussed by consumers, recommended by peers, that fosters reliability and pertinence. Creators are critical to that. This word-of-mouth strategy is being amplified.”

A Seismic Media Shift

This plan mirrors seismic changes taking place in media consumption, with Gen Z and millennial audiences devoting greater hours to social media platforms than traditional TV, print, or radio.

The transition is visible in falling revenues for broadcast and newspaper ads. Within the United Kingdom, ad revenues for major broadcasters have fallen by more than £600m in real terms since 2019.

The Creator Economy Boom

This further signifies a media convergence as corporations essentially turn into content studios, linking up with numerous influencers to promote their goods.

Leon Harlow 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.

“Numerous corporations inform us audiences believe endorsements from the individuals they follow more than they trust ads. That’s a consistent trend.”

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 gauge performance.

This strategy is expanding. Marketing investment on the creator economy is growing fourfold quicker than the broader media sector. In the US, it has more than doubled since 2021 and is expected to hit multi-billion dollar sums in 2025.

Traditional Media's Continued Place

Even with this transformation, executives said they believed broadcast ads retained significant importance to play, as TV channels continued to possess the influence to drive countrywide discourse.

The executive noted: “A top-tier ROI marketing event is still major broadcast spectacles. The issue isn't broadcasters claiming: ‘We are no longer pertinent.’ It’s about who’s capturing attention … There is undoubtedly a future for traditional media.”