Anshita Bansal of Squared Pegs on Why Underdog Brands Win by Putting the Customer First
Anshita Bansal is the Founder and Creative Director of Squared Pegs, a creative agency for challenger brands that builds brands, social content, paid campaigns and websites for underdog founders. She brings about a decade of experience in marketing and branding, having worked in agencies, in-house teams and as a freelancer.
In this Q&A, Anshita shares why she built an agency model that gives mission-driven founders proper support at a fair cost, the mistake underdog brands make most often when they try to stand out, and what is next for Squared Pegs, along with her advice to women thinking about starting their own agency.
Her perspective is a reminder that the brands that break through are the ones that show who their product is for and why it matters to them, rather than only explaining what it does.
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Q: What made you start Squared Pegs, and why a creative agency for challenger brands?
I’ve spent about a decade in marketing and branding, and I’ve worked it from every side: agency, in-house and freelance. That gave me a clear view of where the system lets growing brands down. I also grew up in a family of entrepreneurs, so I know first-hand how far a young business has to stretch every pound.
The gap I kept seeing was one of understanding. Agencies and freelancers often don’t grasp the efficiency a startup needs in order to grow. Being cash-strapped is common, but it shouldn’t hold a brand back. Right now the options are poor: figure everything out alone, hand it to an intern, pay for an expensive retainer, or lean on AI and hope for the best.
I wanted to fix that for the founders building things that matter, whether that’s mental health, the environment or opportunities for people from minority backgrounds. Brands doing good deserve proper support, and a £15k retainer shouldn’t be the price of it.
So I built a model that lets me run a high-growth agency while working with challenger brands at a fair cost. Squared Pegs is how I get to back the people doing good in the world and, through them, be part of the change they’re creating.
Q: What do underdog brands most often get wrong when they try to stand out?
Underdog brands, and early-stage ones in particular, tend to make the same mistake: they put the product at the center of everything and the customer at the edge.
Look at the social feed of almost any young brand and you’ll see it. Product shots, product demos, a list of features. It’s all accurate, yet it rarely gives anyone a reason to care.
Today’s customers are surrounded by ads and content from every direction. In a single aisle, they may face twenty brands selling much the same thing. Being new or innovative is no longer enough to stand out. What earns attention is emotional resonance: the sense that a brand understands who you are, shares what you value and is on your side.
People choose the brands they feel connected to. The underdogs that break through are the ones that spend less time explaining what their product is and more time showing who it’s for and why it matters to them.
Q: What's next for Squared Pegs, and what would you tell women thinking about starting their own agency?
There are lots of exciting things coming up for Squared Pegs. We're expanding our product offerings by introducing two apps that cover a better CRM approach made for 2026, and competitive scoping + inspirations for social media. The idea is to turn the agency into a full-stack end-to-end ecosystem for growth.
Three things I'd suggest to women thinking of starting their own agency:
- Start before you feel ready. It'll never be enough.
- Grow your network on both the potential client side and the talent side.
- Don't let anyone tell you that you can't do it.
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