Content may be king, but context reigns supreme

Marketers have always known that content is king, and spend a huge part of their days at work creating, re-purposing and responding to compelling content. Most of it, for many months now, and almost all of it just now - is digital. This has led to an inescapable digital content overload, and to differentiate is getting progressively harder. All of this serves as a nudge to remember that context has, and shall more so in the future, dominate content as the engagement filter. Contextual content has immense potential to stand out and deliver for the brand. Let me make the point with some examples:  

1. Context makes it personal: Communication thrives when it connects with the audience. Contextual communication hits where it matters. If you look at the now famous ‘Don’t Do it’ ad by Nike during the BLM movement in the US, it touches you in an authentic way and it doesn’t take long for the wordplay to stick, and play on the mind.
2. Context generates engagement, but is a double-edged sword: While Nike’s contextual communication earned for the brand over 900K views on YouTube alone and a ton of goodwill across channels, one will also recall the brand has always adopted this narrative. On the contrary, brands like L’Oréal faced massive backlash trying to ride the ‘context’ bandwagon because its actions in the past did not demonstrate alignment with the current position of the company.
3. Millennials and Gen Z are especially context-conscious: The Deloitte Global Millennial Survey of 2020 reveals that the pandemic has brought about an even stronger sense of individual responsibility. Nearly three-fourths said the pandemic has made them more sympathetic toward others’ needs and that they intend to take actions to have a positive impact on their communities. And they continue to push for a world in which businesses and governments mirror that same commitment to society, putting people ahead of profits. Not surprisingly, we are seeing some of the most renowned consumer brands joining the #StopHateForProfit cause and going dark on Facebook and other social channels.
4. Context is an opportunity for brands to take a stand that reinforces their purpose: New York Times articulates that its mission is to seek the truth and help people understand the world. Therefore, when it came to the ongoing pandemic, its ‘Truth is Essential’ advertising didn’t miss a beat to reinforce that purpose in the context of the need of the hour. No wonder that the ad generated over 4 million views on YouTube!
5. Content in context can get ‘em to smile: And brands that make us smile, are hard to resist. Who remembers the 2013 Super Bowl tweet from Oreo ‘you can still dunk in the dark’? It has been touted amongst the finest marketing moments of all time – smart contextual content that became history. For the Indian marketer, Amul is possibly the best example of a brand that has contextualized current events smartly. Their recent ‘Exit the Dragon’ ad undoubtedly created controversy, but lovers of the brand took it in their stride.
6. In the post-GDPR world, context facilitates targeting too: For the tech-oriented and compliant marketers, contextual communication can also help address the privacy challenge. AI-powered marketing tech can today decipher a page visit to almost the same level of understanding as a human. As a result, the context of what a visitor is consuming can offer real-time knowledge about the TG’s online behavior. This enables marketers to target the most contextual communication to drive meaningful and sticky engagement across third party channels while respecting privacy and compliance considerations. 

Have you experienced other dynamics that build on or offer a counter view to these thoughts? I look forward to hearing and learning from you.