I think the article is trying to say "Your employees have to play along with you...

I think the article is trying to say "Your employees have to play along with your chosen image" much like google requires employees to project a light and playful image of the company when working on its behalf.

Steve Yegge gave a great explanation of branding at OSCON 2007: http://blip.tv/file/319044/ (and his ramblings about it at http://steve-yegge.blogspot.com/2007/08/how-to-make-funny-ta... )