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First identified over 150 years ago on a Pennsylvania oilfield, the humble pot of Vaseline may not seem like an natural focus for social media algorithms.

Yet the brand’s emergence as a viral TikTok topic has positioned it at the vanguard of an advertising revolution, in which large companies are allocating substantial funds to content creators and reducing expenditure on marketing items in traditional media.

The Path from Petroleum to Platforms

Originally produced in the 1870s by scientist Robert Cheeseborough, who observed drillers using on their skin with a byproduct of the drilling process. Currently, a wave of content from users have chronicled its broad application in “life hacks”.

Promoted as a solution for polishing footwear or extending perfume longevity, as well as a fix for noisy doorways. Its use has even extended to prevent the annoyance of chip seasoning clinging to fingers.

Harnessing the Hype

Noticing its viral resurgence, strategists within the corporation amplified the hacks by asking their own scientists to test them and letting the content creators in on the results.

Claims that Vaseline reduced the sting of chili on the mouth were given the thumbs up. Similarly supported were ideas it could lengthen scent duration and rejuvenate purses. Claims that it would whiten teeth or lengthen eyelashes were disproven.

The ‘Social Listening’ Strategy

Billboards and TV ads would once have been the cornerstone of its marketing push. But the Vaseline phenomenon has helped convince executives to turbocharge spending on content creators.

This monitoring of online platforms to inform business strategy has been termed “social listening”. The company's chief executive, freshly instated, has stated the intention is to spend 50% of its massive marketing spend on platform-based material.

Evolving With Audience Behavior

Selina Sykes, who is spearheading the social media effort, said the company was merely adjusting to novel methods of engaging audiences. She said interacting online “without killing the party” was crucial.

“What is the key to genuine brand integration? This remains our core objective as brands, since the era of community gossip and discussing household products.

“There’s this moving away from a one-to-many model, where we would just broadcast out … Today, it's numerous dialogues, diverse communities. The evolution of platform algorithms means that these audiences appear specific, yet they are vast.

“Having your brand advocated by consumers, talked about by other people, this builds credibility and connection. Influencers are vital for this. We’re really scaling this advocacy model.”

A Revolutionary Change in Media

The strategy reflects profound shifts occurring in how media is consumed, with the youth demographic devoting greater hours to apps like TikTok and Instagram than traditional TV, print, or radio.

The transition is visible in declines in broadcast and newspaper ads. In the UK, advertising income for primary networks have declined by over six hundred million pounds in inflation-adjusted terms since 2019.

Influencer Marketing Expansion

Additionally, it points to a media convergence as corporations essentially turn into content studios, linking up with a multitude of digital creators to promote their goods.

An industry expert from a leading agency said: “Naturally, an exodus of attention from conventional channels and their time is increasingly on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube than they are consuming linear broadcasts or printed matter.

“Many companies report to us people trust recommendations from the personalities they subscribe to compared to commercial messages. This is a persistent pattern.”

He noted companies can reduce costs by focusing on influencers over big traditional media campaigns, which also enables easier content adjustment to gauge performance.

The approach is growing. Promotional expenditure on influencer marketing is growing fourfold quicker than the broader media sector. Stateside, it has more than doubled since 2021 and is projected to reach tens of billions in 2025.

The Enduring Power of Broadcast

Even with this transformation, industry figures said they believed TV advertising still had a prominent role to play, as broadcasters retained the power to drive countrywide discourse.

The executive noted: “One of the highest return-on-investment media opportunities is still major broadcast spectacles. It’s not about those broadcasters saying: ‘We are no longer pertinent.’ It concerns who commands eyeballs … There is undoubtedly a future for traditional media.”