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Hello and welcome to the 191st edition of Fresh Salmon.

If you’re new here, swim back through past issues 👉 they’ll get you caught up.

Today’s thesis is simple: most of what we call “branding” is noise.

The game-changer - the 1% that actually moves markets - is your contrarian belief plus how you deliver it and wrap it.

Everything else is set dressing.

Meet our primary partner for today’s edition: Roku. Check them out 👇

Shoppers are adding to cart for the holidays

Over the next year, Roku predicts that 100% of the streaming audience will see ads. For growth marketers in 2026, CTV will remain an important “safe space” as AI creates widespread disruption in the search and social channels. Plus, easier access to self-serve CTV ad buying tools and targeting options will lead to a surge in locally-targeted streaming campaigns.

Read our guide to find out why growth marketers should make sure CTV is part of their 2026 media mix.

Learn more.

The 1%: Your Contrarian Belief

That’s the 1% that becomes gravity.

It’s what made early Gary Vee stand out (Facebook > TV for Fortune 500s when Madison Ave said the opposite).

It’s why some creators with lo-fi production still broke through substance outran polish.

Rules of the road:

• It must be true to you. Manufactured controversy (hot takes for clicks) burns trust.

• It must differentiate. If your POV doesn’t separate you from the chorus, it’s not contrarian - it’s warmed-over consensus.

• It must be repeatable. You’ll say it in long-form, you’ll say it in shorts, you’ll say it on stage. That repetition is how markets learn.

The 3 Levers: Belief, Delivery, Packaging

Think of brand growth as a stack:

1. Contrarian Belief
   The idea that can only come from you - anchored in lived experience.

2. Delivery
   The way you say the thing: cadence, metaphors, pacing, the formats you choose (video, audio, written, visual). This is taste.

3. Packaging
   Titles, hooks, thumbnails, cover art - the stuff that earns the first click.

Most teams over-invest in #3.

Pros get #1 right, then make #2 lovable and #3 legible.

Meet our seconday partner for today’s edition: guidde. Check them out 👇

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Checklist for next publish:

• Belief: Can a competitor say this and sound credible? If yes, sharpen it.

• Delivery: Could this only sound like you? Add story, metaphor, or a surprising example.

• Packaging: Can a cold scroller grasp the promise in 2 seconds? Trim adjectives; surface the payoff.

“Build in Public” vs “Learn in Public”

If you’ve got deep reps, build in public (teach from experience).
If you’re earlier in the arc, learn in public (be the guinea pig). Both build trust if you’re honest about where you are.

Learn-in-public template:

• Goal I’m chasing → Hypothesis → What I tried → What broke → What worked → What I’ll try next.

• Publish weekly. You’ll compound trust faster than another generic “how to” carousel.

Trust > Virality

Brand is when people click because it’s you even without a hook. That’s trust.

A working definition: Trust = consistent prediction.
If your content reliably starts the audience’s “engine” (they try it → it works), trust goes up. Do that long enough and your brand outruns your packaging.

Operating rule: optimize the system that creates outcomes for your audience, not the single video that spikes views.

Pillars: Pick 2-3 and Crowd-Test

You don’t need 12 content pillars. Pick 2-3 contrarian beliefs that are true to your core, publish across formats, then watch what the market mirrors back (shares, stitches, comment summaries).

Double-down on what gets referenced by others. That’s the market voting on your signal.

Signal vs Noise (For Creators and Teams)

Noise (the default): copying the top 1%, optimizing only for viral hooks, chasing thumbnails, borrowing “guru” title formats, speaking to “everyone.”

Signal (the work):

• A POV you’d argue in a room of peers.

• Cohesive delivery style (voice, metaphors, pacing).

• Packaging that doesn’t cosplay the scammy neighbors.

• A cadence you can sustain for years, not weeks.

Views vs Business: Two Content Lanes

Have two lanes — and know which you’re in before you hit record:

• Lane A: Ideal-Customer Content
  Specific problems for a specific buyer. Might underperform on views. Must overperform on sales.

• Lane B: Niche-Wide Content
  Broader topics inside your niche to grow surface area. Higher view ceiling. Goal is reach and goodwill, not immediate pipeline.

If views climb and revenue doesn’t, you’re feeding ego, not business. Adjust the mix.

Meet our seconday partner for today’s edition: guidde. Check them out 👇

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The best part? The browser extension is 100% free.

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The Media-First System (One Story, Three Cuts)

Stop building different content for each funnel stage. One story should travel the whole system:

1. Attention (shorts, carousels): same belief in snackable form.

2. Trust (long-form, podcast, essays): the depth behind the belief.

3. Customer (proof assets): case study, ROI teardown, product walkthrough of that same story.

Consistency beats novelty. Familiarity breeds belief.

The Key Takeaways:

• Your contrarian belief is the 1%. Guard it. Sharpen it. Ship it everywhere.

• Delivery makes it memorable; wrapping makes it clickable. In that order.

• Trust beats virality. Views that don’t become customers are expensive hobbies.

• Longevity over volume. A jog you can sustain will outrun a sprint you can’t.

Different is greater than louder.
Useful is greater than viral.
Posted beats perfect.

That’s it for this week! If you found this newsletter valuable, share it with a friend.

See you next time!

Do what is good for your soul ❤️

All the best,

Vivek

PS. Whenever you are ready, here are 3 ways in which I can help you and your business:

#1: B2B Marketing and Go-To-Market Advisory for your business.

#2: 1-on-1 Personal Coaching and Mentoring on anything related to Marketing and Go-To-Market Strategies for you.

#3: Promoting you or your brand via this newsletter.

For any of these things just shoot me a reply, and we will arrange a time to chat.