If you avoid the rejection, you avoid the opportunity. - Dave Trott

And Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? went on to pull in bigger audiences than EastEnders. And it only happened because Paul Smith stopped expecting his client to understand his idea rationally, and got his client to feel it. Because that’s where the sell happens. Paul Smith moved the sell from what Kahneman calls System Two thinking (the slow, rational mind) to System One thinking (the fast, emotional mind). As in any sell, desire must precede permission

Gentlemen, you’ve just experienced what the public’s impression of British Rail is. Now, if you’ll come this way, we’ll show you exactly how we’re going to turn that around.

Steve Jobs, founder of Apple, had a similar view. He didn’t believe in research. He said, ‘It’s not the public’s job to know what they’re going to want. It’s my job to know what they’re going to want.