🔗 Share this article

As a product discovered over 150 years ago on a Pennsylvania oilfield, the humble pot of Vaseline may not seem like an natural focus for online content feeds.

However, its rise as a popular subject on TikTok has placed it at the forefront of an advertising revolution, in which large companies are allocating substantial funds to content creators and reducing expenditure on advertising goods in traditional media.

From Oil Rigs to Online Hacks

First created commercially in the 1870s by a chemist, Robert Cheeseborough, who noticed oil rig workers using on their skin with a derivative of drilling. Today, a spree of amateur-created clips have documented the product’s widespread use in “everyday tips”.

Hailed as a fix for dirty sneakers or prolonging the scent of perfume, as well as a fix for squeaky doors. Its use has even extended to stop the scourge of crisp flavouring sticking to fingers.

Leveraging the Buzz

Detecting the product’s new life online, executives at the multinational boosted the tips by asking their own scientists to test them and letting the content creators in on the results.

Assertions that it diminished the sensation of spicy food on lips were given the thumbs up. So too were ideas it could lengthen scent duration and revive leather bags. Suggestions it could bleach teeth or lengthen eyelashes were disproven.

The ‘Social Listening’ Strategy

Outdoor advertising and television commercials would once have been the cornerstone of its marketing push. But the Vaseline phenomenon has helped convince executives to dramatically increase investment in content creators.

This tracking of digital spaces to inform business strategy 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.

Adapting to New Consumer Habits

Selina Sykes, who is spearheading the social media effort, said the company was just evolving with contemporary approaches of reaching consumers. She said participating on platforms “without dampening the fun” was crucial.

“How do brands authentically become part of the conversation? This has perpetually been our aim as brands, back to when people were hanging out their laundry and talking about what they used.

“There’s this moving away from a mass communication approach, where we would just transmit messages … Now it’s many conversations, many communities. The shift of the algorithms means that these communities feel niche, but they’re not.

“If you can make sure your brand is shared by users, mentioned by individuals, that is how you can build trust and relevance. Creators are critical to that. This word-of-mouth strategy is being amplified.”

A Fundamental Consumption Turn

This plan mirrors seismic changes happening in audience habits, with the youth demographic devoting greater hours to digital networks than traditional TV, print, or radio.

This change is evidenced by declines in traditional media advertising. Within the United Kingdom, advertising income for leading TV channels have fallen by more than £600m in real terms since 2019.

The Creator Economy Boom

This further signifies a blurring of media roles as large companies almost become production houses themselves, partnering with a multitude of digital creators to enhance their items.

Leon Harlow said: “Clearly, there is a migration of viewers from conventional channels and their time is increasingly on digital video and image apps than they are consuming linear broadcasts or printed matter.

“Many companies report to us people trust recommendations from the individuals they follow over traditional advertisements. It's an ongoing shift.”

He added firms may also cut expenditures by investing in creators over expensive broadcast campaigns, which also allows them to tweak their content more easily to see what works.

The approach is growing. Marketing investment on the creator economy is growing fourfold quicker than total media spending. In the US, it has increased by over 100% since 2021 and is projected to reach multi-billion dollar sums in 2025.

The Enduring Power of Broadcast

Regardless of the massive shift, experts 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.

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.”