Why tools made me a worse brand strategist

I was halfway through my americano when it hit me. Not the caffeine. But the conversation.

I was sitting across from Yuvaraj Muthu, the design mind behind Kissflow’s entire design system. Brilliant guy. Humble too. The kind who doesn’t talk about pixels — but about purpose.

Fifteen minutes in, I realized something:

It had been months since I spoke to someone who actually got it, not just branding, not just business but the beautiful mess where both collide.

Most people are either playing with colors or chasing KPIs. Yuvi? He saw branding as a bridge — not a silo.

Somewhere in the middle of our two-hour jam session, he said something I can't stop thinking about:

“Believe in ideas, not tools.”

Simple. But a punch to the gut because if I’m being honest… I used to worship tools.

Notion. Figma. ChatGPT. Framer. Funnels. Frameworks. The works. If someone asked, “How are you going to grow this brand?”

I’d open 7 tabs. Share 3 checklists. Show off my stack. But here’s the thing:

Tools don’t build belief. Ideas do.

Let me take you back to my early agency days. I once spent 3 weeks building the perfect mood board. Beautiful fonts. Color swatches. Animations. Even a sonic logo.

The client looked at it and said, “Cool… but why does any of this matter?”

That question haunted me. Because back then, I couldn’t answer it. I had focused so much on how it looked… I forgot to explain why it mattered.

No clarity. No conviction. No concept. Just… decoration.

That’s the trap.

When you skip the idea and hide behind the tool, you might impress someone — but you won’t move them and branding that doesn’t move is branding that dies.

The best brands?

They don’t sell tools. They sell tension. They solve problems people can’t name but desperately feel.

And the only way to do that is to start with an idea. A belief. A stand. Everything else, from your logo to your landing page — just amplifies that.

So yeah, I’m rethinking everything. Not what I use, but what I believe. What’s the idea behind the brand? What truth am I trying to spread?

And if your answer starts with “I use…” instead of “I believe…”

Maybe you’re starting in the wrong place too.

If this resonated, I’d love to hear your take.

What’s one idea you believe in so deeply that tools feel secondary?

Just hit reply and share it with me. Let’s talk ideas — not apps.

— shashank

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