Ipsos’ Channel Performance teams partner with clients across the world to understand and measure channels and shoppers, to drive sales conversion.  In our world of ‘convergent commerce’, they help improve performance across all sales and service channels – physical, contact centre, and digital – to deliver profitable growth. We’re joined by Craig Bradley, who leads Channel Performance, and Stuart Wood, product leader for ‘Shopper’. At the start of 2023, Ipsos’ Shopper Insights and Virtual...

Many financial services businesses deploy external intermediaries in one form or another. These B2B (business to business) relationships are typically between the financial institution and external salespeople, advisors, agents, brokers, wholesalers and such like.   In many cases, these businesses are then selling to other businesses, rather than the end consumer. Unfortunately, it can be easy to overlook people who don’t work directly for your firm, because you may not ‘see’ or have regular...

We’re delighted to welcome Emma Dark, Director of Customer Service at Estée Lauder, along with one of our favourite podcast co-hosts, Jamie Thorpe, Head of Experience Management at Ipsos in the UK.  Emma and her team have recently been crowned the Best Small Customer Contact Centre of the year, in the highly prestigious European Contact Centre and Customer Service Awards (ECCCSAs).  Our own Helen Wilson, CX and Channel Performance CXO and Customer Perspective host, is the ECCCSAs’ Chair of...

In some of our Customer Perspective podcasts over the past year or so, you may have heard us talking about Convergent Commerce – the blurring of physical and digital commerce environments and touchpoints. In this episode, we’re continuing our Convergent Commerce journey, but from the angle of the bricks and mortar store. You’d be forgiven for thinking that with all the talk about digital channels, the physical store is dead. Nothing could be further from the truth. Its roles are expanding...

We’re delighted to welcome Sybil Nicolson and Kristian Green to the first episode of our sixth season of Customer Perspective.  Sybil is an Insights Executive for Transport for London, which many of you will know as TfL.  Kristian is a Director in Ipsos’ UK Channel Performance – Mystery Shopping team, and a transport and tourism sector expert. For those of you not familiar with TfL, this is the organisation which runs the operation of London’s public transport network and manages London's...

We live in volatile times that are influencing customers’ expectations, needs and opinions. Understanding and empathising with customers and the context of ‘their world’ needs to be at the heart of experience design. We welcome experience design experts, Helen Bywater-Smith, Ipsos’ Global Head of CX Service Design and author of our latest Ipsos whitepaper, CX Service Design: Creating emotional attachment and driving brand growth, and Jean-Francois (JF) Damais, Global CX Chief Research...

We welcome Alison Chaltas, Ipsos’ Global Head of Shopper and Omnichannel, and Norrelle Goldring, global consultant, co-authors of a recently published Ipsos whitepaper, ‘Beyond omnichannel to convergent commerce ecosystems’. Last season (S4, Ep5), Alison joined us to speak about convergent commerce, including what this actually means, those emerging channels where convergent commerce is evident, and the impact on the consumer/customer journey.  In this episode, we take the conversation to...

We welcome Kate McLaren, General Manager - Customer Quality at Kia Motors UK to our Customer Perspective podcast.  David Hart, Kia Customer Experience Manager, joined us back in Season 3, speaking about some of the drivers of Kia’s success, and we’re delighted to share the next episode of that story, and to provide a glimpse of what the future holds for Kia.  We welcome back Jo Causon, CEO of The Institute of Customer Service, another season 3 favourite, as well as regular guest and host,...

We are delighted to welcome Attila Szabo, who is Managing Director at Ford of Poland, leading the national sales company. We’re also joined by  Annamária Földes, who leads our Ipsos Customer Experience and Channel Performance business in Hungary. Attila speaks to us about Ford’s electric future and what that means for the future Ford Customer Experience, including the opportunities afforded by the electric CX journey to further strengthen the customer relationship.  He describes some of the...

We are delighted to welcome Yvette Steyn who focuses on growth and innovation at Distell, Africa’s leading producer and marketer of alcoholic drinks, which are sold across the world. We’re also joined by Zibusiso Ngulube who heads up Ipsos’ Channel Performance business in South Africa.  Zibs is one of our experts in retail measurement, including within the indirect/informal channel. Distell’s purpose is ‘Creating memorable moments. Crafting a better future’, and in this episode Yvette and...

We’re dishing up a ‘mash-up’, between our Customer Perspective and Educated Conjecture Ipsos podcasts, to give a customer and citizen perspective on the world.  We’re joined by Mike Colledge, giving us the ‘citizen lens’, and Ray Kong, with the ‘customer lens’. Ray and Mike talk to us about what matters to today’s citizens – what’s keeping them awake at night, of course recognising that customers are citizens too. Among the topics covered are: customers’ expectations of brands in helping...

We are delighted to welcome Jasper Lam from TD, which serves 24 million customers around the globe, and is the sixth largest bank in North America, by branches. TD’s mission is to give clients the best banking experience possible, every day.  Jasper’s team is responsible for Customer Experience Strategy, Customer Experience Measurement and Analytics, CX Metric Operations and Transformation, and the Customer Journey Framework.  We’re also joined by Ray Kong, a President in our IpsosClient...

New Ipsos research shows men having expressed increased interest in purchasing male cosmetics in recent years, exposing an opening for brands to target this cohort, and signaling a likely evolution in the definition of masculinity. Overall, 15% of heterosexual men aged 18–65 in the U.S. currently use male cosmetics and makeup; an additional 17% would consider using it in the future. We’re joined by two expert guests, both from Ipsos in the U.S.: Carlos Aragon, a Vice President, in our...

The goal of regulators around the world is to ensure that the markets they regulate are functioning well, that the companies they oversee abide by the law, and that consumers do not suffer the consequences of malpractice. It is mandatory for compliance teams to ensure their organisations comply with regulatory requirements – and prove it. If organisations do not perform in line with regulatory expectations, and consumers suffer as a result, the commercial impact can be significant. The scale...

We are delighted to welcome Helen Campbell-Watt, a woman of many firsts, from Coutts, and Jamie Thorpe, our Ipsos UK Head of XM. Helen shares the genuinely fascinating story of Coutts, which was set up in 1692, and became one of the best-known private banks in the world. Serving the likes of royalty, politicians, business leaders…indeed, “history makers to penalty takers”, an incredibly diverse, high net worth customer base, with high expectations, brings, of course, unique challenges. But...

We are delighted to welcome Aimie Chapple, CEO of Capita Experience, to our opening episode of Season 5 of Customer Perspective; our first episode in 2022.  Aimie’s team at Capita, a consultation, transformation and digital services business, supports clients in creating frictionless experiences for their customers and stakeholders in the UK, and internationally. Jamie Thorpe, our Ipsos MORI Head of Experience Management, closed out Season 4, and he’s back to kick off the New Year.  Jamie...

Welcome to our final episode of Season 4, and 2021. Never fear, we’ll be back with Season 5 next year, in January (another great episode already lined-up). In this episode, we’re joined by Mark Billingham, Group Customer Operations & CX Director for The Very Group, with The Very Group being the UK's largest integrated retail and financial services provider – it’s the home of Very.co.uk and Littlewoods.com. We’re also delighted to be joined by Ipsos MORI’s head of XM, Jamie Thorpe. Mark...

The last few years have seen channels and consumer engagement touchpoints mushroom.  At the same time, digital and physical environments are converging. Today’s environment is all about channels that are simultaneously fragmented and coming together: convergent commerce. We are delighted to welcome Alison Chaltas, Ipsos’ global lead of Omnichannel, and co-author of recently published thought leadership paper, ‘Beyond omnichannel retail to convergent commerce’.  In our podcast, Alison ensures...

Our world is undergoing digital transformation and the Customer Experience is changing – from offline to online, from real life to virtual, from aided to self-administered, and so on.  Understanding the changing UX requirements, moments, pain points and areas of delight, are key. Our Ipsos UX teams have been working on many areas where UX can drive a more positive Customer Experience, for all members of society.  Katharine Davis, Head of UX, and Damian Rees, UX Director, both from our Europe...

We are delighted to welcome globe-trotting, mobility expert, Dominik Brinkmann of Stellantis, and Amrutha Murthy, who leads our Ipsos Channel Performance and Customer Experience business in Australia.  Stellantis is a leading global mobility player, formed from the merger of PSA and FCA, with an iconic brand portfolio, including Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, Citroen, Fiat, Jeep, to name but a few.   Dominik, wearing one of his 14 tops (one for each brand), and using the language of (organisation)...

Brand and experience are becoming increasingly intertwined, creating a powerful intersection to which organisations must pay attention. An explicit understanding of the role of Customer Experience (CX) and its impact on brand equity and growth is needed to build strong brands. This week, we are joined by Ipsos’ Catherine Burton, Global Equity Lead, Brand Health Tracking, and Jean-Francois Damais (JF), Global Chief Research Officer, Customer Experience, authors of our recently published...

We are delighted to welcome our first Ipsos Customer Perspective podcast guests from Kuwait to open Season 4.  Meet Hormuzda Davar, Managing Director, responsible for Trading, Manufacturing & Financial Services at Al Mulla Group, and Joel Fernandes, from our Ipsos CX business.  Al Mulla Group is a leading diversified privately held business group based in the State of Kuwait, and represents over 200 internationally renowned brands. Al Mulla Exchange was recently ranked 3rd in the entire...

During the pandemic, Ipsos research indicated US consumers were spending more at grocery stores, with 4 out of 10 spending $200 or more per month. However, as the pandemic subsides, nearly half (49%) expect to decrease their grocery store spend for meals. At the onset of COVID-19, grocers and big-box players implemented or expanded delivery and pickup services, to adapt to the pandemic environment, meet customers’ needs and grow meal spend. But winning space in consumers’ refrigerators and...

We are delighted to welcome David Hart, Customer Experience Manager for Kia, along with  our very own Jamie Thorpe, Head of XM.  David, with his wealth of auto and CX experience, speaks to us on the back of yet another record sales month at Kia, with market share now topping 5%.  He describes some of the keys to that success, with an unrelenting focus on the customer/employee and CX, of course, sitting at the very heart.   Inspired business foresight, brilliant product, super-strong...