Does branding matter more in crypto than in normal businesses?

I used to think branding was mostly logos, colors and making a website look expensive.

Crypto kind of changed my mind.

There are thousands of projects offering roughly the same promises, and most people obviously aren't going to dig through the code before forming an opinion. They see the name, website, community, how the team communicates, and whether the whole thing looks like it'll still exist six months from now.

A project can have solid tech and still struggle if nobody remembers what it is. On the other hand, we've all seen mediocre projects build huge communities because they nailed the story and identity around them.

I wouldn't say branding can replace a good product, but in crypto it feels like it's much closer to the product than in most industries.

How much does branding influence whether you even bother researching a project?