Authored by Anshita Dhingra, Sr.Content Curator and Editor, Madchatter Brand Solutions in Mumbai, India
Artificial intelligence has made it possible to create an abundance of content in seconds. A marketer can now generate campaign variations, social posts, product descriptions, video scripts and first drafts all in one day. A 2025 Ahrefs survey of 879 marketers found that 87% use AI to help create content, while companies using AI published a median of 17 articles a month, compared with 12 among those that did not. So, the efficiency is there. But does every piece of content being produced actually create value?
AI can generate translations, variations, and new formats at scale. What is harder to replicate is the understanding behind the content: why a message will work in one market, what a consumer will read between the lines, which cultural reference feels natural, and what local context can make an idea genuinely relevant. Especially when everyone has access to similar models, prompts, workflows, and content-production mechanics, the wording and language can change, but the context behind the content can still be repetitive.
Readers notice this. When they come across another article that covers the same basics or tells them something they have already read elsewhere, they move on, particularly when retention power is already difficult. This is where local agencies have an opportunity to own the context and create a real difference. They do not need to compete with AI on speed. They can use that speed to their advantage while bringing context to their draft.
Shift from production to interpretation
According to the 2025 SAS report, 77% of marketers use Large Language Models (LLMs), and content generation is among the leading use cases. The outputs it creates can be competent, but also similar. This is because LLMs are built to recognise patterns and generate plausible language based on those patterns. A global brand can now ask AI for five social media concepts for a product launch, or a thought-leadership article on an emerging industry trend, and generate, test and refine content at a scale traditional processes rarely allow.
But that advantage belongs to everyone. When every brand in a category can produce at the same speed and volume, output stops being the thing that sets anyone apart. The value moves upstream, to the decision made before anything gets generated: what this audience actually needs to hear, and why it should come from this brand. That decision is interpretation, and it’s where an agency earns its place. AI can generate ten ways to say something. Interpretation determines which thing is worth saying in the first place.
Local Expertise is More Important for Context
Interpretation also depends on local context. A global content strategy can create consistency, but consistency does not always translate into relevance. When a message crosses borders perfectly in terms of language but still misses the audience, it is because the cultural reference, consumer behaviour, channel or even the reason for engaging with the content is different. A brand cannot assume that the same audience needs the same language strategy across every touchpoint. That is where local expertise becomes valuable:
Audience language
Language itself is more nuanced than translation. The IAMAI-Kantar Internet in India 2024 report found that 870 million internet users, or 98% of India’s internet users, accessed content in Indic languages. The same audience can move between languages depending on what it is watching, searching for or trying to understand. That means localisation cannot stop at translating an English message into Hindi, Tamil or another regional language. The local agency has to understand how the audience naturally communicates in that context, including the words, tone, references and expressions that make the content feel native rather than translated.
Cultural context
A reference can be understandable without being relevant. A global campaign may use a cultural moment because it performed well elsewhere. But a local team can assess whether it carries the same meaning in the market or whether the reference is already overused.
Consumer behaviour
Consumer preference changes by activity. For example, 81% of users used Indic languages to watch videos, compared with 69% for listening to music, 36% for social networking, 23% for online shopping, and just 19% for online search. This variation shows that language preference is closely tied to the activities. The language and style that help a brand earn attention through video is not the same as what helps someone evaluate a product or complete a purchase. A local agency can read these differences across the customer journey and determine where a brand needs regional-language content.
Media and credibility
The most influential voice is not always the biggest publication or creator. Local agencies understand which publications shape industry conversations, which regional outlets reach particular communities and which voices audiences actually trust. That knowledge can influence not only where a story is distributed, but how it should be told.
Industry context
Local relevance also depends on what is happening within the market. Regulations, terminology, business practices, and competitive dynamics can change how an audience understands a proposition. In sectors such as financial services, healthcare or technology, a locally informed team can recognise when a global claim, example or terminology needs to be adapted to the market’s regulatory and business environment.
Cultural timing
A local team can also distinguish between participating in a cultural moment and simply decorating a campaign with local cues. A festive campaign, for example, becomes more relevant when it reflects how the audience actually experiences the occasion and gives the brand a credible reason to participate.
These decisions are hard to reduce to a prompt because they are shaped by accumulated market exposure: following local conversations, seeing how audiences respond, understanding industry nuances, and recognising the small details that can change how a message is received. A local agency, therefore, brings judgement shaped by being in that market.
Context Matters as AI Discovery Grows
Context matters more now as the way people find information changes. They ask AI tools for recommendations, comparisons, and explanations, then decide what to read, buy, or look into next. That puts pressure on brands to consider what information exists about them and whether it answers the questions people are actually asking. Local agencies can find the gaps and create material for the local market. Take a global technology company preparing to enter the Indian market. Its global website probably explains the product well, but it may not get to the questions Indian customers or industry decision-makers are asking.
A local team can see those gaps and build content around them. AEO works the same way. Showing up in an AI-generated answer takes more than keywords. The information has to be clear, useful, properly supported, and relevant to what was asked. A local team can spot where the global narrative falls short in India and bring in the content, experts, media coverage, and evidence that give the brand more depth.
What Global Brands Should Expect From Local Agencies
Multinational companies should consider local firms’ input before customising their content. The local agency can protect the brand’s core idea while also assessing how appropriate it is for the local market. This might require changing cultural references, selecting a different spokesperson, choosing a different channel, or completely revising the story.
It also means that market intelligence should be a part of the strategy. Local agencies know what topics are trending, how the audience reacts, which publications are influential, and where the global assumption doesn’t match local reality. Artificial intelligence can assist with many tasks. AI can streamline research, create drafts, provide translation services, and offer multiple text variations. Yet, the agency must check all created content for correctness and relevance.
If they are sure that an international campaign cannot succeed in a certain market, they must provide the rationale and present other options. They are responsible to offer more value than just providing texts in masterful form.
