How are “selling their game on its own merits” and “gunning for continued parity with WotC” in any way mutually exclusive?
Aside from the "continued" part being gone already, as D&D has been back to out-selling PF since the moment 5e hit the shelves, we have 40 or so years of history illustrating that "selling a game on its own merits" results in, at best, a successful niche game that doesn't come any where near parity with D&D. OTOH, selling a game to people who have been convinced they hate D&D (because it was demonized as "Roll Playing," or edition-warred against by it's own fans, for the two instances where it worked) /can/ flirt with parity with D&D... especially when D&D is already in trouble on the business side (as happened in both those instances, too).
Now, because it did also happen in the 90s, we can't say that the opportunity PF1 cashed in on was 'unique' - but it's been fairly rare.
So, yeah, barring D&D imploding again, "sell your game based on it's own merits" and "seek parity with D&D" are mutually exclusive. Sad but truism of the industry.
The fact that no one will come for the brand name alone is why they need to establish a strong identity for their game. Because no one will come for “D&D, but still 3e” any more either.
PF had a brand name before it became a full 3.5 clone in it's own right - and a well-respected one, for producing top-notch adventures.
3.x, by virtue of the OGL, can always be cloned for those interested in continuing to play that iteration of D&D - if PF2 isn't that, someone else can take up the mantle.
“D&D, but crunchier?” Sure, that’s a good selling point - crunch is something the current edition of D&D is lacking in, which is precisely why PF2 caught my interest. But that’s what I’m saying, PF2 needs to do things D&D isn’t already doing, otherwise people will just stick with D&D. If they continue to just barely iterate on 3e’s design, they’re shooting themselves in the foot. They need to instead make a game that appeals in ways D&D 5e doesn’t. Being like D&D isn’t one of those ways.
I'm beginning to think, thanks to points made in this discussion, that a better course might have been to return to PF as a brand for adventures and expansions - more crunch, and more challenging adventures that let you enjoy crunching it. So more the Judges Guild model than the Arduin Grimoire model.