Mayur Hola on building the brand that doesn’t take itself seriously

In a session that was equal parts unfiltered and insightful, Mayur Hola, VP - Brand at Swiggy, offered a peek behind the curtain of how the food delivery giant approaches creativity, AI, and culture.

“We take our work seriously, but we don’t take ourselves seriously,” he said, setting the tone for the conversation about building a brand that’s deeply embedded in the cultural zeitgeist, without trying too hard to ‘fit in’.

Hola shared how Swiggy's meme-infused product drop, Memeverse, sold out despite spending ₹16 lakh on marketing.

“We used AI to ideate, but ultimately you still have to do the work,” he said. He shared that for Swiggy, the goal is clear: be real, be weird, and be culturally fluent, even if that means embracing absurdity.

When asked whether Swiggy is trying too hard to be relevant, Hola responded candidly: “Sometimes it does feel like we’re trying too hard to fit in. Maybe even appropriating culture. But we take it on the chin and move on. Who cares? A minute after you’ve seen it, you’ve forgotten it anyway.”

We’ve learnt the hard way that force-fitting another vibe just doesn’t land.

He also broke down how Instamart and Swiggy target different cohorts. Instamart leans slightly older and more ‘mainline’, and Swiggy’s social content unapologetically Gen Z. The brand’s regional creator strategy, meme-fuelled campaigns, and experimental tone all serve a singular goal: to stay top-of-mind without blending into the scroll.

"Imagination is the only differentiator,” Hola concluded. “Everyone’s got the same tools. What you make with them is what counts.”

From AI-fuelled absurdity to authentic internet chaos, Hola shared that Swiggy’s brand playbook is to keep it real, meme unapologetically, and never take themselves too seriously.

Not every brand needs to be quirky, but every brand should be unabashed. It needs to be sharply pointed in who it is and how it talks to its audience. You just need to know who you are and own it.

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