It's madness I tell ya!

So… it’s been a little longer than I’d like since my last blog, but all for good reason. Let’s just say that life can be sometimes bendy, 3 cars, 2 floods, 1 hospital visit and a partride stuck in a pear tree! HAH! Apologies all round!

Anyway, I have been super interested in watching the economic state we all find ourselves in and for the purpose of this post, I will point out that I have been diligently seeking out the good! So what have I found? Well a few things come to mind: McDonalds up 7%, Dollar Store sales are up considerably – want to say 12% but the exact number escapes me so we’ll have to just go with – up!

… Apple has launched it’s perfectly timed negative ad campaign to protect and grow their market share. Their ads were targeted at Microsoft users. Their message? Apple is easier than PC.  Dangerous ground when you consider research tells us consumers despise b2b fighting in the marketplace… but this isn’t fighting as much as it is poking fun – non?  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgzbhEc6VVo&feature=related

It’s worth noticing that Apple will enter 2009 in a strong position. The company’s revenues for Q4, which ended September 30, were $7.895 billion, up from $6.22 billion for the previous year. Apple’s net profit jumped from $904 million to $1.14 billion. Compared with 2007, Apple’s desktop sales were up 39 percent, laptop sales were up 38 percent, software and services revenues rose 46 percent, and peripherals revenues were up 32 percent in the 2008 fiscal year — all product categories that benefitted from the “Get a Mac” campaign. Plus, according to research group NPD, Apple now owns more than a 60 percent share of the retail market for desktop and laptop computers selling for over $1,000.

Home Depot has recently come to market with “Back to Basics”. Interesting. Did you also know that Home Depot’s former head of the family was recently replaced. Did you know that HD had literally the worst customer service records ever! So… enter new HD captain/CEO Frank Blake.

I blog cap in hand… Mr. Blake walked into a ridiculous mess. He has since rolled up his sleeves and literally got back to basics. So… for a time when do-it-yourself makes most <$$> sense… HD has rounded up 3000 plus experts to provide relevant expertise on home projects. Even though numbers have still headed South… HD has been doing better than expected and there is hope that it will do a full 180 in no time. Nicely done Mr. Blake.