The Real Reason Nobody Cares About Your Startup (And How to Fix It) - Apolline Daimaru

You can have the best product in the market and still get completely ignored. In a world of AI copycats and accelerating competition, the startups that win aren't just the ones with the best features — they're the ones that occupy a specific, unmistakable place in people's minds.In this episode of the Produck Podcast, we sit down with Apolline Daimaru, co-founder of NowThen, a brand studio based in Tokyo working with growth-stage startups across Japan and Europe to help them build brands that actually drive traction.🧠 Why brand is a gut feeling, not a logo, and the exact three-step process to build one that sticks🌊 Why Japan is still a blue ocean for startups and how the branding challenge here is totally different from the US or Europe🚫 The biggest misconception founders have about branding ("it's just decoration") and why that thinking keeps them stuck👤 Why you must define your customer persona attitudinally, not just demographically, before you even think about a name📊 The one metric that tells you whether you have a brand problem: compare your retention rate against your cost of acquisition🎨 What the "fifth element" of visual identity is, why it matters more than your logo, and what Adidas can teach every startup founderApolline Daimaru is the co-founder of NowThen, a brand studio in Tokyo helping startups build magnetic brands through fast, high-craft sprints. With a background in traditional brand management across global agencies and client-side roles, Apolline brings a rare combination of strategic depth and startup-speed execution to founders who are ready to stop being ignored.Connect with Apolline Daimaru on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/apolline-coat/nowthen's website: https://nowthen.cc/Subscribe for weekly conversations with founders, builders, and unconventional thinkers doing extraordinary things in Japan and beyond.Support the Show: If you enjoy the Produck Podcast and want to help keep it going, becoming a Patreon supporter is the best way to do it. Starting at just $5/month, your support directly shapes the future of the show. We'd love to have you in the community: https://www.patreon.com/c/ProduckPodcast 🙏#produckpodcast #StartupBranding #BrandStrategy #NowThen #JapanStartup #ProductMarketing #FounderMindset #StartupMarketing #Entrepreneurship #TokyoStartup