🔗 Share this article

As a product discovered more than 150 years ago in the oil fields of Pennsylvania, the modest tin of Vaseline might not appear as an natural focus for online content feeds.

However, its rise as a popular subject on TikTok has positioned it at the vanguard of an marketing transformation, where major corporations are spending big on content creators and devoting less capital to marketing items in conventional outlets.

The Path from Petroleum to Platforms

The petroleum jelly was first manufactured in the 1870s by chemist Robert Cheeseborough, who saw laborers applying to their skin with a residue from oil extraction. Today, a spree of amateur-created clips have chronicled its broad application in “practical tricks”.

It has been touted as a remedy for cleaning shoes or extending perfume longevity, as well as a fix for squeaky doors. Its use has even extended 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 asking their own scientists to test them and sharing the findings with influencers.

Suggestions that it lessened the burn from hot food on the lips were given the thumbs up. Similarly supported were ideas it could extend fragrance and rejuvenate purses. Claims that it would brighten smiles or make eyelashes longer were disproven.

The ‘Social Listening’ Strategy

Print ads and broadcast spots would once have formed the bulk of its promotional efforts. However, this online trend has persuaded leaders to ramp up funding for content creators.

This observation of social channels to shape commercial tactics has been labeled “social listening”. The company's chief executive, recently appointed, has indicated the goal is to spend 50% of its massive marketing spend on social media content.

Shifting to Modern Engagement

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 interacting online “without spoiling the atmosphere” 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 discussing household products.

“We are witnessing a departure from a one-to-many model, where we would just transmit messages … Currently, it's countless discussions, many communities. The shift of the algorithms means that these audiences appear specific, yet they are vast.

“Having your brand advocated by consumers, talked about by other people, that fosters reliability and pertinence. Content makers are key. We’re really scaling this advocacy model.”

A Revolutionary Change in Media

The approach indicates profound shifts happening in audience habits, with Gen Z and millennial audiences devoting greater hours to social media platforms than traditional TV, print, or radio.

The shift is reflected in declines in traditional media advertising. Across Britain, advertising income for major broadcasters have declined by over six hundred million pounds in real terms since 2019.

Influencer Marketing Expansion

It also reflects a blurring of media roles as large companies almost become production houses themselves, collaborating with a multitude of digital creators to boost their products.

Leon Harlow said: “Obviously there’s a flow of audiences out of certain traditional media outlets and they’re spending a lot more time on digital video and image apps than they are consuming linear broadcasts or printed matter.

“Many companies report to us audiences believe endorsements from the creators they engage with compared to commercial messages. It's an ongoing shift.”

He noted companies can reduce costs by targeting content creators over big traditional media campaigns, which also allows them to tweak their content more easily to see what works.

Such methods are increasing. Promotional expenditure on digital creator partnerships is increasing four times faster than the media industry overall. Stateside, it has more than doubled since 2021 and is projected to reach multi-billion dollar sums in 2025.

TV's Lasting Role

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

Sykes said: “A top-tier ROI marketing event is still the Super Bowl. The issue isn't broadcasters claiming: ‘Our relevance has faded.’ It’s about who’s capturing attention … There is undoubtedly a future for traditional media.”