The New Middle Class

“Brilliant business models are never anonymous – they reach out to local communities and enable people to connect across borders.”

Glocal Economies and Businesses

Global Balance
Rising Economies are altering economic and geopolitical global balance. As well as shifting manufacturing centres, they bring a fast-growing middle class and, according to McKinsey, by 2025 as many as 50% of the world’s population will have joined the so-called ‘consuming classes’ and annual consumption in rising economies may hit $30 trillion. ICT is playing a central role in economic development and the telecom industry in emergent markets. According to Johannes M. Bauer at Michigan State University, advanced ICTs promise enormous benefits for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and human rights, including smart agriculture, smart cities, environmental stewardship, individual empowerment, better government and improved education among others.

Local Contexts
The great challenge for businesses is to adapt to local contexts because cultural capital and regional heritage are essential components in a flourishing economy of the future. Business must invest in local skills to gain an edge over global competition and resonate with local cultural values. Signs are that this is already happening because, in a survey of 100 global corporations conducted by Worldwide ERC, 95% of senior executives who responded reported that national cultures play an important or very important role in the success of their business mission. Brilliant business models are never anonymous – they reach out to local communities and enable people to connect across borders – so winners of the future will be the organisations that are agile enough to adapt and tap into the power of ‘Glocalisation’.

People and a New Middle Class

Guidance and Encouragement
In a report called Macroeconomic Foresights, The Futures Company said that: “In developed markets, consumers feel threatened by the loss of status in declining economies. In emerging markets, consumers feel threatened by a relentless push into an unknown future because of rapidly growing economies. In both cases, consumers want reassurance, guidance and encouragement.” Provenance and heritage give brands an edge and people a sense of belonging. Local craft, storytelling and specialties will grow in value as a commodity, in tangent with an emerging need to reconnect to narratives rooted in locality. People will seek out a guide or a partner, a ‘familiar anchor’, in an increasingly fragmented, mobile and globalised world.

Shared Values
New communities or ‘tribes’ will be formed based on shared values and lifestyle sets and there will be a growing emphasis on balancing the need for self-expression and individuality against the rising WE mindset of tomorrow’s society. By employing global connectivity and social media applications, people can communicate across traditional geographical borders, absorbing new regional flavours, sharing knowledge and creating authentic narratives with the potential to change concepts of belonging.

All Images by Kjaer Global
1. The Next Generation – Shanghai 2015
2. SPeak Local, Kunsthalle Poster – Zurich 2016
3. Evolution of design in a global/local context – Copenhagen 2016
4. MACS & Co. Communication Design Degree Show, Central St. Martins – London 2016

Sources
* Winning the $30 trillion decathlon – McKinsey & Company
* Johannes M. Bauer – Michigan State University >>
* Emerging Markets Telecom Operators – Delta Partners
* Transfer Volume & Cost Survey – Worldwide ERC
* Macroeconomic Foresights: Global MONITOR Quarterly Update – The Futures Company
* Multipolarity: The New Global Economy –The World Bank

Book Contribution: There’s a Future – Visions for a Better World 2030+ Free Download >>
Published by BBVA OpenMind Books