A mere 20 years ago, a song typically stayed on the Billboard Top 100 charts for 20 weeks. Right now, it’s closer to two weeks. Similarly, the skillset that would once last your whole career now requires a complete refresh every three to five years. Corporate longevity is also rapidly changing: in 2020, the average company lifespan onwas just over 21 years, compared with 32 years in 1965. It’s expected to fall even further throughout the 2020s.
As they reconcile these changes with the practicalities of everyday life, consumers are making paradoxical decisions. They want to shop based on values like sustainability — but they also want good value for their money. They want to act in their own best interest — but also affect change for others. In the absence of perfect solutions, they’re making choices the best they can in the moment.
Meeting these needs — and unlocking the next great wave of growth for businesses globally — requires a new approach.Over time, businesses have moved from a product-centric approach focused on performance to a customer-centric strategy meant to prioritize experience. But now, the dynamics are more complicated. Companies need to accept their customers as ever-changing, complex people deeply impacted by unpredictable external forces.
Likewise, Microsoft saw a growing gulf between the number of organizations in need of digital upgrades and the number of skilled developers available to do the work. The company launched Power Pages, a tool to empower users to rapidly build high-end, data-centric websites for complex business scenarios to reach their customers and community at scale, without needing to know how to code.