Christmas 2009 in Central Massachusetts. A pair of well-meaning grandparents thoughtfully supply three young kids (ages four through six) with a neat, low-cost toy they’d picked up on a whim. Although the Whirl-O isn’t the fanciest or the flashiest toy any of the three youngsters receives, it’s the first all three ask their parents to open. And that’s the beginning of the end. The kids quickly learn that it’s not safe to put their Whirl-Os down. Leave it for more than a second, and it’s grabbed by a grownup. And there are always a lot of “just a minute” before you get it back. If you get it back.

That’s a heck of a toy. It’s also proof that Michael Perry, founder and owner of Rocket USA and inventor of the Whirl-O, is on to something important with his belief in creating toys that are simple, cool and fun. Like the Rocket USA web site says, “Be it in the office or at home, we all need more fun in our lives.”

Sometimes – scratch that; a lot of the time – that’s all it takes.

Here’s a branding case study from Advertising Age that bears reading no matter what business you’re in. The piece focuses on Pabst Blue Ribbon, the blue-collar beer that saw a 25 percent sales spike in 2009.

But the way we read it (and the way you should read it, too), the story isn’t about PBR; it’s about succeeding in business by embracing what you are instead of chasing what you want to be.

Look, there are times when you get to tell the world what you are. And times when you can get people to believe you. But there are also times – more and more of them (we’ll get to that in a minute) – when the relationship works the other way: When the world (or, in this case, the consumer has the power, when they tell you what you are. The trick is to know when you’re in that situation, because if you recognize it, as Pabst Brewing has, you can make it work to your advantage.

Pabst, as Ad Age points out, took an image that a lot of companies would bristle at and wore it like a badge. And by embracing what their product was, the positioned themselves to capture a major segment of the market, and one that’s growing like crazy at the moment.

Over the years, we’ve run into more than our fair share of prospects and clients who couldn’t let go of the idea that they were going to define their product or service – even in the face of evidence that their prospects had different ideas about who they were and what they were selling. In virtually every case, they would have been better off going the PBR route. And, hey, we get it. You’ve worked hard to build a business or create a product; it’s your baby; you don’t need someone else to tell you what it is. Thing is, sometimes it’s going to happen that way whether you like it or not.

That’s more true today than it’s ever been before. It’s going to continue to get truer, too, because it’s the way of the on-line culture, and that’s where the broader culture, and the broader economy, is taking its cues these days. There’s nothing to social media other than what users make of it. End users increasingly define gaming, entertainment, even their own consumer experiences, on the internet. That trend isn’t going to turn around. And as it becomes more and more common on line, it’s only going to increase the power of the prospect to decide what a business or a product means to them.

Pabst Blue Ribbon stories are the stuff of the future. It’s up to you to decide whether that’s a future you and your business want to be part of.

Yeah, OK, it hasn’t been a banner year for your wallet. Welcome to America, 2009. We’re all feeling it and we’re all a bit more stressed out than we’d like to be this holiday season. Here’s the deal, though. What goes for you goes for everybody. And as you think about those end of the year gratuities you’re considering cutting back on, keep in mind that … well, that the people who cut your hair, deliver your newspaper and clean your house (you have someone who cleans your house? good for you) didn’t work any less hard this year then they did in the past. And, you know, you found the money to get the haircut and get your house cleaned (seriously, good for you). So now it’s time to find the money to take care of those hard-working service providers. They’ve got gift lists to satisfy, too, you know.

Oh, and while we’re on the subject of service providers, it’s probably worth a few minutes of everybody’s time to check out Patrick Maguire’s blog Server Not Servant. Do it before you go out for your big holiday dinner. Maguire’s blog is all about remembering that the customer-server relationship is a two-way affair that involves actual humans on both sides. Read his 64 Suggestions for Restaurant Customers and if you recognize yourself in any of his “don’ts” – um, you know, cut it out already. And not just for Christmastime.

You might find it heartwarming or you might wonder if these people have heard about global warming. But you can’t deny that the Maspeth, Queens, neighbors profiled in The New York Times on Friday have some bigtime holiday spirit. (Don’t just read the piece, by the way. Check out the slide show..) At a time when everyone everywhere is pulling back, the folks on 60th Road by 69th Street are keeping up a tradition that makes them happy and that spreads joy – electric bills be damned. And there ain’t nothing wrong with that.

We’re big supporters of fun in the workplace.  No surprise there.  But recently, we’ve found the newly crowned World Champion New York Yankees to be a great example of how effective this practice can be.

Say what you will about them.  But from shaving-cream pies to the face to fresh cut mohawks, this year’s Yanks were having a blast.  Even more importantly, they were winning games.  And selling tickets.

Now fun at work doesn’t always mean pranks, mohawks and shenanigans.  It simply means having fun with work.  Because when you do, it tends to seep into the end product – your brand.  Not surprisingly, brands that have fun just so happen to engage customers on a deeper, more interesting level.

Volkswagen took this idea to heart.  And it is paying dividends.  Literally.  Check out more examples at TheFunTheory.com.

www.thefuntheory.com

You don’t have to win a World Series or be a world-class car company to make what you do fun.  It just takes a little imagination.  A little courage.  And, well, a little fun.  Because when you do, your customers will thank you with their attention.  And their dollars.

Ta-da.  The economy is still slow.  Unfortunately, that often means folks are ruled by economics and fear.  Many times ditching the very practices and lessons that made them successful in the first place.  Enter New York Times best-selling author Stephen Mansfield’s latest offering, The Search for God and Guinness.

In it, Mansfield sips into the life of the 250 year-old brewery’s founder, Arthur Guinness.  Ironically, Guinness launched his frothy, pint-sized icon during an even rougher time.  But he took this ‘craziness’ one step further.  Sticking to his laurels, he did what no one else would – invested in his people.  And 250 years later, Guinness’ employees still enjoy everything from onsite health care to life enrichment classes.  And of course, two free pints a day.

Are we suggesting you pull an Arthur?  Not quite. We simply want to encourage you to navigate through these rocky times without fear or overreaction.  To find and stick to what you really believe in.  And even invest in your people a bit.  Or as one Guinness heir once put it, “you cannot make money from people unless you are willing for people to make money from you.”  Because beer or not, your business and your brand both start with your frontline.