A great post! When I was in college I took some courses in marketing. I was taught about "marketing savvy" which is similar to what you describe above. People who understand and act at an intuitive level. The problem, my professors said, was that you can't count on this marketing savvy. It can bring great success but also great failure and you can't always find someone who has this magical quality. So, these ingenious academicians tried to define a new way, which involved turning marketing from an art into a science. Marketing research, focus groups, rigid methodologies to follow. The result is often mediocrity. When you apply science to human endeavors, you get a flatter curve ... less failures but also less spectacular awesomeness.

I'll take the crazy road any day. Think outside of the box? What box?