The problem with pandering
Marketing-focused almost never works.
That's because no one actually understands what the market wants. When you choose to make something magical instead, when you bring passion instead of calculation to your work, you're as least as likely to get it right as the guy who is selling out.
Hence Charlie's Angels gets cancelled and that derivative movie at the cineplex closes after a week.
Chasing the market is hard, because you're wearing a blindfold.
The real difference between the two approaches is that you're having a ball along the way. The market can sense that.