India, July 3 -- There was a time when launching a consumer tech product with a sharp feature or a competitive price point was enough to carve out meaningful market share. That time has passed. Today, nearly every category from true wireless earbuds to smart home devices is crowded with options that are technically competent, reasonably priced, and visually indistinguishable from one another. The question facing consumer tech brands is no longer how to build a better product. It is how to build a brand that people actually choose to stay with.

The feature race is a dead end

For years, product differentiation in consumer tech was driven by specifications. Faster processors, longer battery life, better cameras, thinner profiles. Brands in...