Great brands are mad. They are mad in both senses of the word. On the one hand they break conventions, ignoring the conventional wisdom of their industry. Some might call this insane.

On the other hand, great brands have to be angry sometimes. Angry about the status quo. Angry that their products may still not be good enough. Angry that they’re not providing their audience with enough entertainment.

That’s why they’re constantly striving to improve their brand behavior. Great brands care about what they do – in everything they do.

The concepts of Media Arts and Disruption seem to be the best way to create success for brands. I am sure that some of the most admired brands in the world understand this. Some do it naturally, others have incorporated that way of working after experiencing how their performance in the market has changed after doing so.

Great brands have a clear belief-system, and they have a vision about their future. But they also understand the value of three fundamental thoughts that lead everything they do:

(1) They don‘t hunt for target groups. They entertain an audience.

(2) They know that the HOW and the WHERE are as important as the WHAT for a brand.

(3) They say good-bye to 360 degrees communication and welcome the 365 day approach of constant communication.

This changes dramatically how they behave in the world: these brands are artists in the way they use media.

For one year we have been celebrating big disruptive ideas as well as outstanding examples of brand behavior. More than 7.500 people have signed up to our feed and the incredible number of 4.500 individuals have visited the blog more than 200 times. Thank you all very very much.

Let‘s continue to be mad.

Ulrich

TBWA Worldwide has been recognized by Fast Company as an Innovation All-star. As part of the Most Innovative Companies issue, the 59 Innovation All-stars were culled from past Top 50 honorees, as companies that have “fought a dour economy with renewed creativity and bold initiatives.” TBWA Worldwide was first cited in Fast Company’s Top 50 Most Innovative Companies in 2009.

The Innovation All-stars report specifically calls out TBWA for getting “huge props for its work over the past 10 years – Adweek called “Get a Mac” the Campaign of the Decade; and iPod “Silhouettes” the Out-of-Home Ad of the Decade. Ad Age named TBWA the decade’s third-best agency also citing its work for Pedigree and Mars.”

Fast Company’s annual Most Innovative Companies issue honors major brands including Cisco, Disney, and GE along with such rising newcomers as Spotify, Gilt Groupe, HTC, and the Indian Premier League. Facebook leads the annual ranking of the Top 50, after growing its user-base from 150 million to 350 million in just one year.

Overall, Fast Company recognized 250 plus companies, including more than 75 non-U.S. businesses.

To create this year’s Most Innovative Companies issue, Fast Company’s editorial team analyzed information on thousands of businesses across the globe. The result is a package unlike that of any other business media. It’s not just about revenue growth and profit margins; it’s about identifying creative models and progressive cultures – to define the many forms of innovation that exist across the business landscape.

“It was invigorating to engage with so many exciting new ideas and developments,” said Fast Company editor Robert Safian.  “Our goal was to offer a snapshot of the creativity at work in the global marketplace, and to inspire the Fast Company audience with illustrations of how powerful and effective business can be.”

From Walk-In Fridge to Walking Fridge. Enjoy the complete story how a viral film turned into one of the most successful examples of brilliant brand behavior. Congratulations to Heineken and TBWA\NEBOKO.

If you have any comments or suggestions please email Jeroen Konings.

The death of the fashion designer Alexander McQueen is disturbing partly because it seems so apt. There has always been a shiver of darkness running through McQueen’s brand: from the shocking Highland Rape collection – recalling the bloody history of the English and the Scots – to warrior women on the runway with live wolves, or a menswear collection that alluded to spooky Victoriana, with a touch of Jack the Ripper. It’s as if the designer famed for his sharp cuts was always aware that the ultimate cutter lurked just over his shoulder.

Yet McQueen was also provocative and spirited. When he worked as a tailor on Britain’s legendary Savile Row, he allegedly sewed the words “I am a c***” into the lining of a suit jacket destined for Prince Charles. He created the “bumster” jean, which deliberately showed a large crack of the wearer’s rear, and even flashed his derriere at the audience on one occasion. As he grew older, he learned to channel this insolent streak into fashion that was bold, brave and challenging. The dumpy bad boy of the early years had grown into a risk-taking designer admired by his contemporaries.

There has already been much speculation about the reasons for McQueen’s depression. But they are none of our business. What matters is that another talent has chosen to end his story far too soon – in an industry where this happens far too often. McQueen may have calmed down in recent years. But this time, his many fans wish he’d given the Grim Reaper the finger.

Mark Tungate reports for mad-blog.com from Paris

The theme of the TED conference this year “What the World Needs Now…”. PUR believes the world needs water. Working with TBWA\Chiat\Day LA, is providing all attendees at TED with a Sigg water bottle and water filtration stations throughout the conference in an effort to exclude bottled water from the event and the waste that they produce. Once attendees receive their bottle, they will be encouraged to go to a photo kiosk and have their picture taken with their bottle to post to social media sites.

Every time a photo is posted, clean water will be donated to people that need it. Every time someone tweets about it, water will be donated. And when you visit the PUR Facebook page, you can click to donate water (at no personal cost) on a daily basis.

Here are a few facts about why it is important to get behind this initiative.

(1) A billion people have no clean water to drink.

(2) PUR’s goal is to raise 200,000 liters of clean drinking water during the TED conference.

(3) 200,000 liters = enough water to provide a village of 250 people clean water for an entire year.

(4) 200,000 liters = enough to avert 8,000 days of illness from dirty water.

(5) 100 liters, which is given for each photo taken at the conference, can provide 50 days of clean water to someone who would otherwise go without.

So here is how you can help.

ON TWITTER (@PURtweets):

Tweet to Donate 10 Liters of Clean Water by clicking: http://is.gd/7Yt0J

ON FACEBOOK (Facebook.com/PUR):

Visit the album on Facebook and share to your profile: http://bit.ly/dDrztz

So go tweet, go to Facebook and go give water to people that need it.

This is one of the coolest examples of todays brand behavior: The Pepsi Refresh Everything Project. See, what they say about themselves: “We’re looking for people, businesses, and non-profits with ideas that will have a positive impact. Look around your community and think about how you want to change it.” and check it out. Simply click HERE for all the necessary information.

FYI: The Pepsi Refresh Project Round 1 Voting and Round 2 Submissions are NOW OPEN! It’s time to start campaigning for the ideas you like, voting for the ideas that will make the world better, and submitting your ideas for Round 2!

If you have any comments or suggestions please email Rob Schwartz.

Fortune Magazine named him “Master of Disruption” in 2006. Now he has been named “CEO of the Decade” by the same publication. Steve Jobs has turned around basically everything he and Apple touched over the last years: personal computing, how people enjoy music and how the stay connected on the move. By using digital technology in way that it helps and entertain human beings, he was the key driver of one of the most amazing success stories in business.

Check out Steve Jobs’ hits and misses in an amazing online timeline. Click here.

Fred Vogelstein reported in 2006 in Fortune Magazine: “Apple’s trick has been not just its game-changing tech breakthroughs (music and computers made easy) but its relentless push to disrupt itself before others have a chance to do so. “The thing that most people don’t realize about Steve is that he is not only really good at taking technology and turning it into good-looking, easy-to-use products, he’s really good at doing it faster than anyone else,” says Paul Saffo of the Institute of the Future in Palo Alto.”

Consumers who have never picked up an annual report or even a business magazine gush about his design taste, his elegant retail stores, and his outside-the-box approach to advertising. (“Think different,” indeed.)

Fortune Magazine says: “It’s as if his signature “one more thing” line now applies to him as well.” So, let’s wait for the next chapters of “one more thing”. But first, check out some of the most iconic examples of Apples brand behavior, some advertising developed by TBWA\Chiat\Day and TBWA\Media Arts Lab.

Or enjoy all “Get a Mac” commercials on apple.com. Enjoy and remember, get one.

Less than four weeks away from Christmas, the Kraft Food‘s brand Tassimo has launched a new TVC called „Gift“, executing another expression of the brand‘s big idea: Together is Better. And just like during the celebrations at the Brandenburg Gate earlier in November, this time the audience gets involved again.

Just days after the spot was launched in the UK and Germany, people approached Kraft Foods to look for the sweater used in the spot.

Do you like it too? If so, contact the Tassimo team at TBWA in Berlin.

Actually, if you think about ordering one, rethink. Remember: Together is Better. Get two.

If you have any comments or suggestions please email Richard Breaux.