🔗 Share this article

Originally found more than 150 years ago in the oil fields of Pennsylvania, the simple jar of Vaseline may not seem like an obvious target for social media algorithms.

Nonetheless, its ascent as a TikTok talking point has placed it at the forefront of an promotional upheaval, in which large companies are allocating substantial funds to content creators and devoting less capital to advertising goods in conventional outlets.

From Oil Rigs to Online Hacks

First created commercially in the 1870s by a chemist, Robert Cheeseborough, who noticed oil rig workers rubbing their skin with a byproduct of the drilling process. Currently, a wave of amateur-created clips have recorded its extensive utilization in “life hacks”.

It has been touted as a remedy for cleaning shoes or prolonging the scent of perfume, as well as a fix for squeaky doors. Its use has even extended to stop the scourge of chip seasoning clinging to fingers.

Harnessing the Hype

Detecting the product’s new life online, strategists within the corporation enhanced the tricks by tasking their in-house experts with verification and letting the content creators in on the results.

Suggestions that it lessened the sting of chili on the mouth were given the thumbs up. Similarly supported were ideas it could extend fragrance and revive leather bags. Suggestions it could bleach teeth or lengthen eyelashes were disproven.

The ‘Digital Ear’ Approach

Print ads and broadcast spots would once have been the cornerstone of its marketing push. Yet this viral episode has persuaded leaders to ramp up funding for content creators.

This monitoring of online platforms to shape commercial tactics has been dubbed “social listening”. Fernando Fernández, recently appointed, has stated the intention is to spend half of its colossal advertising 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 participating on platforms “without spoiling the atmosphere” was paramount.

“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.

“There’s this moving away from a mass communication approach, where we would just transmit messages … Now it’s many conversations, many communities. Changes in digital feeds means that these communities feel niche, however, they are large.

“Ensuring your product is discussed by other people, recommended by peers, that fosters reliability and pertinence. Influencers are vital for this. This word-of-mouth strategy is being amplified.”

A Fundamental Consumption Turn

The approach indicates dramatic transformations happening in audience habits, with the youth demographic devoting greater hours to social media platforms than traditional TV, print, or radio.

The shift is reflected in drops in broadcast and newspaper ads. Across Britain, commercial funding for major broadcasters have fallen by more than £600m in inflation-adjusted terms since 2019.

Influencer Marketing Expansion

It also reflects a merging of functions as large companies almost become production houses themselves, partnering with a multitude of digital creators to boost their products.

An industry expert from a leading agency said: “Obviously there’s a flow of audiences from conventional channels and their time is increasingly on digital video and image apps than they are viewing scheduled television or reading physical magazines.

“Numerous corporations inform us people trust recommendations from the personalities they subscribe to more than they trust ads. This is a persistent pattern.”

He noted companies can reduce costs by focusing on influencers over big traditional media campaigns, which also allows them to tweak their content more easily to test effectiveness.

The approach is growing. Advertising spending on the creator economy is rising at quadruple the rate than the broader media sector. In the US, it has increased by over 100% since 2021 and is projected to reach substantial figures in 2025.

TV's Lasting Role

Even with this transformation, executives said they believed television commercials still played a key part to play, as networks still held the capability to drive countrywide discourse.

The executive noted: “A top-tier ROI marketing event is still major broadcast spectacles. The issue isn't broadcasters claiming: ‘Oh, we’re not relevant any more.’ The focus is on who seizes focus … I believe there is absolutely a role for them.”