Here’s a few things that will really change the business world — most of them are way out of our control. In three years China will consume more energy and produce more greenhouse gas than the U.S.
They already produce more steel and use more coal than we do. Most of China’s coal plants and steel mills have no scrubbers or other pollution control systems.
China and India will buy more cars than the U.S. and Europe combined in just a few years. Automobile sales grew 60% in China last year, and could top 80% growth next year. The growth rate isn’t just fast because they’re starting from a small base — 2,400,000 cars were sold in China last year. Imagine being surrounded by millions of novice Chinese drivers. No surprise that China now has 300 to 600 traffic deaths per day.
China has the fastest growing middle class in history, with over 200 million people in their affluent middle. The entire U.S. population is 298 million and while middle class is a vaguely defined term, our middle class is roughly 45 to 49% of households, or 150 million people.
These numbers are staggering, yet they are a small part of the dramatic shift in power and influence we will see over the next 20 years. What does that mean for business and marketing?
I can’t begin to answer that question, but agility is going to be critical for business survival. Marketing is astonishingly global today, and even very small businesses may confront an international audience and international competitors. The world is flat, and information has not only enabled the global marketplace, but it has become more necessary every day to stay in the game.
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