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Originally found more than 150 years ago in the oil fields of Pennsylvania, the modest tin of Vaseline might not appear as an obvious target 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 allocating substantial funds to content creators and devoting less capital to promoting products in conventional outlets.

The Path from Petroleum to Platforms

The petroleum jelly was first manufactured in the 1870s by chemist Robert Cheeseborough, who noticed oil rig workers applying to their skin with a byproduct of the drilling process. Currently, a wave of user-generated videos have documented the product’s widespread use in “everyday tips”.

It has been touted as a fix for dirty sneakers or prolonging the scent of perfume, as well as a fix for creaky hinges. Users have even applied it to prevent the annoyance of crisp flavouring sticking to fingers.

Leveraging the Buzz

Detecting the product’s new life online, executives at the multinational amplified the hacks by asking their own scientists to test them and providing creators with the outcome data.

Assertions that it diminished the burn from hot food on the lips were given the thumbs up. This was also the case for ideas it could extend fragrance and revive leather bags. Proposals that it might brighten smiles or lengthen eyelashes were refuted.

The ‘Social Listening’ Strategy

Print ads and broadcast spots would once have formed the bulk of its promotional efforts. But the Vaseline phenomenon has helped convince executives to ramp up funding for content creators.

This tracking of digital spaces to shape commercial tactics has been dubbed “social listening”. The company's chief executive, recently appointed, has suggested it is aiming to spend a full fifty percent of its huge ad budget 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 simply adapting to new ways of engaging audiences. She said participating on platforms “without dampening the fun” was paramount.

“What is the key to genuine brand integration? That’s always what we’ve been trying to do as brands, dating to when neighbors chatted over fences and talking about what they used.

“There’s this moving away from a broadcast model, where we would just transmit messages … Currently, it's countless discussions, diverse communities. Changes in digital feeds means that these communities feel niche, however, they are large.

“If you can make sure your brand is shared by users, talked about by other people, this builds credibility and connection. Content makers are key. We’re really scaling this advocacy model.”

A Revolutionary Change in Media

The strategy reflects seismic changes occurring in how media is consumed, with younger consumers devoting greater hours to social media platforms than television, magazines or radio.

This change is evidenced by drops in TV and print advertising. In the UK, advertising income for leading TV channels have dropped substantially in inflation-adjusted terms since 2019.

Influencer Marketing Expansion

It also reflects a blurring of media roles as large companies almost become production houses themselves, linking up with numerous influencers to promote their goods.

Leon Harlow said: “Clearly, there is a migration of viewers 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.

“Many companies report to us people trust recommendations from the creators they engage with compared to commercial messages. It's an ongoing shift.”

He noted companies can reduce costs by investing in creators over expensive broadcast campaigns, which also permits simpler message refinement to test effectiveness.

This strategy is expanding. Promotional expenditure on digital creator partnerships is growing fourfold quicker than the broader media sector. 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 TV advertising still had a prominent role to play, as TV channels continued to possess the influence to shape the national conversation.

She added: “One of the highest return-on-investment media opportunities 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.”