Brands Solve Problems Products Can't
Brands Solve Problems Products Can't
Aug 16, 2025
Joao Henrique
Business
In product development, we often talk about the customer’s Job to Be Done (JTBD). It’s a powerful lens for understanding needs: the functional tasks customers want to accomplish, the progress they’re trying to make, and the obstacles standing in the way.
But the framework goes further. Customers also have emotional and social jobs:
How they want to feel.
How they want to be perceived.
What they love, hate, and believe.
This is where products alone fall short. You can ship features that check the functional box, but they won’t address the full spectrum of what customers truly seek.
The Role of Brand
This week I came across a video by Tay Dantas, a Brazilian branding and positioning strategist at Vinci Society, where she said something that stuck with me:
“The brand solves pain points no other product could.”
That line nails it. A product can be technically flawless, yet still fail to resonate. Why? Because customers are not just looking for functionality. They’re looking for meaning, identity, and trust.
A strong brand bridges the gap: it solves problems that are psychological, cultural, or emotional in nature. It solves problems that a feature update could never fix.
Where Branding Meets Product
Branding and positioning are not a layer you tack on at the end. They are part of the product experience itself.
GTM strategies need brand clarity to ensure the message lands with the right audience.
Technology choices shape what’s possible, but brand shapes why it matters.
Product roadmaps benefit from understanding not just what customers want to do, but also who they want to become.
Your Product roadmap needs to tell a story. Which one? That's up to branding to say.
When you view your brand ecosystem as a product in itself, your approach changes. Suddenly, marketing isn’t just about promotion, it becomes part of the customer journey. Every touchpoint, from your onboarding flow to your support tone, reflects your positioning and story.
Building Coherent Experiences
The interplay between technology, product, and brand is what creates coherence. Each discipline strengthens the others:
Product, Design and Tech makes experiences possible, useful and usable. Brand makes them desirable and memorable.
Your Product decisions express your brand promises, your design must feel like your brand's universe, your tech stack should enable this whole experience seamlessly.
Ignoring any part of this puzzle leaves gaps your competitors can exploit. Integrating them creates a defensible edge.
Final Thoughts
Products will always matter. But it’s brand that turns a product into a movement, a commodity into a category leader, and a tool into part of someone’s identity.
That’s why, when building companies today, we can’t just ask: “What does the product do?” We also have to ask: “What does the brand solve that the product alone never could?”
Do you want a partner that will help you think beyond pure tech and build automations and applications that will solve your main business problems? You just find Astra! Click here to schedule your call with us.
In product development, we often talk about the customer’s Job to Be Done (JTBD). It’s a powerful lens for understanding needs: the functional tasks customers want to accomplish, the progress they’re trying to make, and the obstacles standing in the way.
But the framework goes further. Customers also have emotional and social jobs:
How they want to feel.
How they want to be perceived.
What they love, hate, and believe.
This is where products alone fall short. You can ship features that check the functional box, but they won’t address the full spectrum of what customers truly seek.
The Role of Brand
This week I came across a video by Tay Dantas, a Brazilian branding and positioning strategist at Vinci Society, where she said something that stuck with me:
“The brand solves pain points no other product could.”
That line nails it. A product can be technically flawless, yet still fail to resonate. Why? Because customers are not just looking for functionality. They’re looking for meaning, identity, and trust.
A strong brand bridges the gap: it solves problems that are psychological, cultural, or emotional in nature. It solves problems that a feature update could never fix.
Where Branding Meets Product
Branding and positioning are not a layer you tack on at the end. They are part of the product experience itself.
GTM strategies need brand clarity to ensure the message lands with the right audience.
Technology choices shape what’s possible, but brand shapes why it matters.
Product roadmaps benefit from understanding not just what customers want to do, but also who they want to become.
Your Product roadmap needs to tell a story. Which one? That's up to branding to say.
When you view your brand ecosystem as a product in itself, your approach changes. Suddenly, marketing isn’t just about promotion, it becomes part of the customer journey. Every touchpoint, from your onboarding flow to your support tone, reflects your positioning and story.
Building Coherent Experiences
The interplay between technology, product, and brand is what creates coherence. Each discipline strengthens the others:
Product, Design and Tech makes experiences possible, useful and usable. Brand makes them desirable and memorable.
Your Product decisions express your brand promises, your design must feel like your brand's universe, your tech stack should enable this whole experience seamlessly.
Ignoring any part of this puzzle leaves gaps your competitors can exploit. Integrating them creates a defensible edge.
Final Thoughts
Products will always matter. But it’s brand that turns a product into a movement, a commodity into a category leader, and a tool into part of someone’s identity.
That’s why, when building companies today, we can’t just ask: “What does the product do?” We also have to ask: “What does the brand solve that the product alone never could?”
Do you want a partner that will help you think beyond pure tech and build automations and applications that will solve your main business problems? You just find Astra! Click here to schedule your call with us.