The phrase, "Drinking the Kool-Aid" is frequently used whenever a company is so attached to its own products and services that if fails to consider the needs of its customers or the media. I have caused companies whose belief in their own offerings and philosophies made them blind to real life, and worse yet, finished up offending the many stakeholders upon whom their success and failure depends."Drinking the Kool-Aid" is not the same thing as "team spirit." Passion for one's organizational vision and mission is an excellent thing. I'm talking about the C-Suite executive or business proprietor who forgets their company will there be to satisfy an unmet need that their audience actually wants.Think about the Ford Edsel story. The "Edsel" has gone down in history as a colossal marketing faux pas, or failure to gauge what their customers wanted. T here are several known reasons for its failure:The Edsel was created by a very large committee. Time magazine called it, "irrational groupthink." The Edsel designers were focused on designing a vehicle for a segment whose needs had recently been met. They called it, "Edsel," which didn't help either.They misinterpreted the study. The Ford company spent thousands on general market trends. What they didn't know then was that folks tend to lie on surveys, telling researchers what they think others, not themselves, want. Some argue that the survey data was viable, but Ford's interpretation of it was incorrect.The automobile was, well, ugly, and had many mechanical flaws. The assembly lines had trouble putting it together. There have been complaints concerning the tail lights. website of all, however, was about the appearance of the front grille. One of many nicer insults was that it appeared as if "an Oldsmobile sucking a lemon," and there have been other snarky anatomical references.Consider Ford's mistakes when planning your next story pitch to the media.1. Take your head from the sand. The media and your target audience are hungry for interesting stories, educational content and how your unique expertise solves problems. Find ways to provide information, products and services that meet the needs of the media, not the fiscal need of one's business. Quite simply, think about the interests of the media outlet you need to pitch instead of push a tale that meets your agenda alone.2. Target the media who are interested in your industry. Among my editor friends vented the other day at lunch. She covers women's issues and wellness, but daily in her email inbox she gets press releases and pitches about animals, auto racing, food along with other unrelated topics. She said she used to forward the releases to the correct news desks, but lately, she's just deleting them. Before you send pr announcements or requests for coverage to any media outlet, do a bit of research first. Find out what they need to do their jobs. It'll be appreciated and yield good karma.3. Test your service or product thoroughly before rolling it out to the media. The press had a field day with the Edsel. It became the "fun thing to criticize." If there's any fault whatsoever with your product, how it's delivered, or the quality of your customer service, there could be a storm of controversy in the form of customer complaints in social media or bad reviews from well-intentioned consumer advocacy reporters. Be sure your offering is a well-oiled machine with a lot of support from your friendly, well-trained employees.The Edsel was dubbed, "the incorrect car at the incorrect time." So, stay away from the Kool-Aid and look after your stakeholders first.