Is branding utmostly necessary for a small digital affiliate product?
Well it depends on the product. Its a common sy that branding is necessary but if you can get sales anyway then why spend money and time doing branding.
The main question here is that can customers of yours trust you and your product just on the name basis?
Branding means increasing trust. More trust means more sales. Do the math yourself.
Branding is always necessary because its the foundation of your business name that establish trust and relationship from the users.
According to the product, definitely. It's a well-known fact that branding is essential, but if you can make sales without it, there's no use in spending money and time on branding.