~80/20
StatBrand & Creativity
The most successful new products and ads blend about 80% happiness with 20% surprise
System1's innovation testing puts numbers on the MAYA principle: five-star product concepts (highest chance of in-market success) average about 78% happiness to 22% surprise in their emotional profile, while the riskiest failures run about 64/36. The most effective ads sit at the same roughly 80/20 blend - surprise works in service of happiness, not instead of it.
Source
The Startling Power of Surprise - eatbigfish x Uncensored CMO webinar (Cannes 2026 session) (2026)
Adam Morgan (eatbigfish), Jon Evans (Uncensored CMO)
00:36:00 chart; System1 innovation and advertising databases
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