“ This sell something familiar, make it surprising. To sell something surprising, make it familiar. ”
Imitating recent successes is a game that everybody knows how to play. But seeing the next big thing before anybody else sees it is far more valuable... It means being a little bit wrong at just the right time.
~ Derek Thompson
This long-tail distribution of returns is why it's important to be bold. Big winners pay for so many experiments.
Quality, it seems, is a necessary, but insufficient attribute for success.
It is not merely the feeling that something is familiar. It is one step beyond that. It is something new, challenging, or surprising that opens a door into a feeling of comfort, meaning, or familiarity. It is called an aesthetic aha.