Branding isn't art. It's chess

I was at a college fest, sitting with a bunch of other startup founders, waiting for our turn to pitch.

It was a branding competition. One of those events where students play investors and give you fake money for your fake valuation.

I was nervous. Not because of the pitch — I had that down.

But because of who I was following.

The guy before me walked up in a blazer, perfect posture, and opened with a killer line: "Let me take you to the future of fintech."

The crowd cheered.

I was next.

I walked up. No blazer. A little sweaty. Opened with: "So... we’re building a coffee brand."

Silence.

I powered through. Shared the origin story. Our focus on sourcing. The community. The story. The brand.

A few nods. One polite clap.

Afterwards, a student came up and said: "Hey, I liked your idea... but that fintech guy? Man, he looked like a founder."

That line stuck with me for months.

Because I believed branding was about being better. Better product. Better design. Better values.

But that day, I realized something uncomfortable:

Branding is not about being better. It’s about being different in a way that matters.

And not just to you — but to them.

That’s where game theory comes in.

Most people think branding is a solo game. You sit. You brainstorm. You pick your fonts. You polish your story.

But branding is a strategic game, played with other players in the market. What you do affects others. What they do affects you.

And the smartest brands? They don’t fight harder. They just play a different game.

Look at CRED. Everyone else was shouting rewards. CRED whispered luxury.

boAt saw audio as fashion, not sound. Zomato turned food delivery into meme culture.

They all played against expectations. They didn’t try to be better players. They chose better positions.

That’s the game.

There’s a concept in game theory called Nash Equilibrium. It means: sometimes, everyone sticks to a strategy because changing it doesn’t help — unless everyone else changes too.

Sound familiar?

That’s what happens when every founder picks the same tone, same Canva templates, same buzzwords. You’re all stuck in a bland equilibrium.

The only way out? Break the script. Play a game they didn’t prepare for.

That’s what brand strategy does.

It helps you:

• Spot the crowded zones

• Study the player moves

• And then position yourself like a wild card they didn’t expect

Your brand doesn’t live in isolation. It lives in people’s minds — right next to your competitors.

So the question is: Will you sound like the rest? Or will you be the stall with the long queue, even when others are selling the same thing?

You don’t need to shout louder. You just need to play smarter.

And that begins by remembering this:

Branding is not art. It’s game theory in disguise.

Want to learn how to position your brand like a strategist, not just a stylist? Start by doing what most don’t:

Study the players. Find the gap. Make a move they didn’t see coming.

If you're tired of building brands that look good but don’t work — and you want a step-by-step system to finally fix that, get on the waitlist for The Brand Engine.

It’s not a course. It’s a compass.

Join the waitlist and get an awesome stupid bonus, and a brand that actually sells.

Pre-sale starts this 31st.

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