Context-Led Content Strategy: Why Swiggy's Memes Work and Your Content Doesn't

Last Tuesday, I watched a street vendor in Connaught Place do something fascinating. A tourist asked for "authentic Indian chai." Without missing a beat, he pointed to his thermos and said, "Sir, this is not tourist chai. This is 6 AM railway platform chai. The kind that makes you miss your train because it's too good." The tourist laughed. Bought two cups. Took a selfie. Posted it on Instagram. That vendor understood something most brands spend lakhs on agencies to figure out: context is everything.

The Wedding Card That Taught Me Everything

Remember when Zomato wished everyone "Happy Eid" with a creative featuring biryani? Or when Amul's topical ads on the Chandrayaan landing appeared within hours? These weren't just clever posts. They were context in action. But here's what happened last Diwali at a mid-sized D2C brand I was consulting with. They had planned their festive campaign six months in advance. Beautiful creatives. Professional photography. Generous discounts. It flopped. Why? Because while they were posting generic "Happy Diwali" wishes, Swiggy Instamart was running ads about delivering forgotten hing packets at 11 PM when your mom suddenly remembers mid-cooking. One was content. The other was context.

What Actually Is Context-Led Content?

Think of it like this: Content is what you say. Context is why someone should care right now, in this moment, in their specific situation. When Nykaa posts a monsoon makeup tutorial, that's content. When they post "5-minute makeup that survives Mumbai local trains in July," that's context. The difference? One acknowledges that I'm not just a person who wears makeup—I'm someone fighting humidity at Dadar station at 9 AM. Context-led content strategy means creating material that fits into three concentric circles: The Temporal Context: What's happening right now?, The Cultural Context: What matters to your audience's world?, The Personal Context: What problem are they trying to solve at this exact moment?

The Cred Playbook: Context as Currency

Let's talk about how Cred became the most talked-about fintech brand in India without ever really talking about credit scores. During IPL 2021, while every brand was fighting for attention with celebrity endorsements, Cred did something different. They didn't just sponsor the IPL. They created ads featuring Rahul Dravid in road rage. Kapil Dev as a Gen-Z influencer. Jim Sarbh selling insurance. The context? Indians watching cricket were tired of the same repetitive ads. They understood nostalgia. They got the joke about "unlikely scenarios." Cred wedged their brand into that contextual gap—not by shouting about rewards, but by entertaining within the cultural context of cricket-watching India.

The Three Layers of Indian Context

Layer 1: The Calendar Context

Every Indian brand has access to the same festival calendar. Diwali, Holi, Eid, Christmas. But context-led brands go deeper. When Myntra runs sales, they don't just say "Diwali Sale." They understand that:

• Two weeks before Diwali: People are price comparing

• One week before: Panic buying begins

• Three days before: It's all about express delivery

• Day of Diwali: People are browsing on their phones between relatives visiting

Same festival. Four different contexts. Four different content strategies.

Layer 2: The Regional Context

Here's where most pan-India brands stumble. They create one campaign and translate it into regional languages. That's not context. That's localization. Real context? When Flipkart's Big Billion Days shows different products trending in different cities. Phone accessories in Tier 2 cities. Home decor in metros. Gold coins in Gujarat. Sarees during Durga Puja in Bengal. Or when Dunzo in Bangalore mentions "forgot your laptop charger at a café on Indiranagar 100ft Road?" versus "need coconut oil at 2 AM in Chennai?" Same problem (forgotten items), different contexts (lifestyle vs. traditional).

Layer 3: The Behavioral Context

This is the deepest layer. It's about understanding not just who your audience is, but what they're doing when they encounter your content. Zerodha's Varsity blog is a masterclass in behavioral context. They didn't create generic "learn stock market" content. They created content for the person who just opened a demat account and is scared. For the person comparing mutual funds at 11 PM. For the person who just made their first loss and is panicking. Each piece of content answers an unasked question: "What do I do NOW?"

The ABCD Framework for Context-Led Content

After years of watching what works (and mostly what doesn't), here's a framework that actually helps:

A - Anticipate the Moment

Don't react to trends. Anticipate them. When petrol prices rise, mobility startups should already have content ready about cost savings. When exam results are announced, edtech should have content about "what's next" ready to go.

B - Bridge to Relevance

Your product exists. The context exists. Your job is to build that bridge naturally.

Bad bridge: "It's hot. Buy our AC."Good bridge: "When your laptop overheats during your work-from-home meeting, and your face is sweating on camera—maybe it's time." (Context: WFH culture + summer + professional anxiety)

C - Create Concentric Conversations

Start with the broad context (monsoon is coming), narrow to your audience (Mumbai commuters), then zoom into your solution (waterproof bags that actually fit laptop + lunch + umbrella).

D - Deliver in the Right Dialect

This isn't about language. It's about speaking the vocabulary of the context. When Zomato tweets, they use food delivery frustration vocabulary. When Razorpay educates, they use small business owner vocabulary. When Boat targets youth, they use aspiration vocabulary.

The Everyday Context Strategy

You don't need IPL budgets to do this. Here's what works for smaller brands:

The 3 PM Context: Office workers are mentally checking out. Food delivery apps push snack offers. Beverage brands push refreshment content. Productivity apps push "finish strong" messages.

The Sunday Evening Context: That collective dread before Monday. Meal prep content trends. Motivational content gets engagement. "Fresh start" narratives work.

The Salary Day Context: First week of the month. E-commerce knows this. Finance apps know this. Bill payment reminders know this.

A friend runs a small homegrown skincare brand in Pune. Instead of posting generic "use our face wash" content, she posts:

• Monday morning: "For the skin that survived weekend shaadi functions and mithai"

• Thursday evening: "Pre-Friday glow up routine"

• Sunday: "Damage control after beach day in Goa"

Same products. Different contexts. 3x engagement.

When Context Goes Wrong

Not all context is good context. During the second COVID wave, brands that tried to be "contextual" with pandemic content faced backlash. Why? Because they mistook tragedy for opportunity. Context-led content requires sensitivity. When Chennai floods, water purifier brands shouldn't run ads. When farmers protest, food delivery apps shouldn't make light-hearted content about food. The rule: If the context involves genuine suffering, your content should either genuinely help or stay silent. There's no middle ground.

Building Your Context Library

Start maintaining what I call a "Context Calendar." It's not a content calendar. It's deeper.

Predictable Contexts:

• Festivals and holidays

• Exam seasons

• Sports events

• Weather patterns

• Salary cycles

• Weekend patterns

Cultural Contexts:

• Ongoing conversations in your industry

• Pop culture moments

• Regional events

• Community-specific occasions

Emergent Contexts:

• Trending topics

• News events

• Viral moments

• User-generated contexts

The magic happens when you map your content capabilities against these contexts. Not everything needs content. Only the ones where you have authentic relevance.

The Context Audit Question

Before publishing anything, ask: "If someone encounters this content three months from now, will it make sense? Or does it only matter RIGHT NOW?" If it only matters right now, it's context-led. If it's evergreen, it's content. Both have value. But context-led content drives 80% of your engagement because it meets people where they are, not where you wish they were.

The Real Secret

That chai vendor in CP? He's not just selling tea. He's selling the context: authenticity, timing, personality, moment. The tea is almost secondary. Your content is the tea. Context is why someone stops, listens, and buys. Most brands have good tea. Very few know when and how to serve it. The question isn't "What should we post?" The question is "What context are we serving?" Answer that, and your content stops being noise. It becomes the thing people were looking for without knowing they were looking for it. The next time you see a piece of content go viral, don't ask "What did they post?" Ask "What context did they tap into?" That's where the real strategy lives.