In this thought-provoking episode of The Experience Perspective, host Helen Bywater-Smith sits down with Sue Phillips, Ipsos's Global Lead for ESG, and James Bland, Commercial Director for Travel, Hospitality and Leisure, to explore the critical intersection of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) principles and customer experience.

Why ESG Matters for CX

Despite headlines suggesting companies are retreating from sustainability commitments, the reality tells a different story: 87% of companies actually increased their ESG investment in 2025. Meanwhile, 78% of customers agree we're heading toward environmental disaster without rapid change. The challenge? Customers feel overwhelmed and expect brands to take the lead. This creates a powerful opportunity for CX leaders to differentiate through meaningful ESG integration that enhances, rather than compromises, the customer experience.

Three Key Insights

1.Mind the Say-Do Gap

While public ESG communication has quietened, private action continues. But be aware: if you promise sustainable practices, you must deliver consistently. Misaligned frontline incentives can break promises and erode trust through cognitive dissonance.

2.ESG is the Tiebreaker That Pays

Sustainability won't override core experience factors, but it decides close calls. Research shows that customers, particularly those in luxury tiers, will pay up to 30% more for genuinely sustainable experiences. And the Ipsos CX Force "Belonging”, doing good for people, society, and planet, directly drives advocacy and retention.

3.Shift From Morality to Materiality

Move beyond "it's the right thing to do" to "it's a business imperative." Frame sustainability around customer benefits, adopt a service mindset "we'll do it for you" beats "you should do it", and remember: even climate sceptics adopt sustainable behaviours when they save money.

On the podcast we discussed our CX paper on ESG https://www.ipsos.com/en-uk/embedding-esg-experience

If you’d like to reach out and discuss how Ipsos can help to connect your CX strategy with ESG goals, reach out to Helen, Sue and James.

Join Helen Bywater-Smith, Global Head of CX Advisory, Francisco Acuña, Head of CX in Latin America, Maura Howley, Senior Vice President, CX & EX in North America and Cyrille Dagorn, CX Service Line Leader, Ipsos BVA in France as they delve into the exclusive insights from our recent Global Voices survey. Where only 57% of organisations report consistently delivering customer experiences aligned with their brand promise.

They explore the shifting landscape of customer and employee experience (CX & EX) and discover how well you’re keeping pace in a rapidly evolving world.

What’s Inside This Episode:

• Fresh Insights: Uncover the newest trends and changes in experience priorities from our extensive global research.

• Global Perspectives: Gain insights from our Ipsos experts in France, Latin America, and the US as they share regional differences and common global themes.

Whether you’re addressing employee experience challenges, refining customer journeys, or simply seeking an understanding of the current and future experience landscape, this podcast episode provides actionable insights.

'Want to check out some additional insights from our Global Voices of Experience 2026 survey?' Download the survey report: What keeps CX and EX leaders up at night? | Ipsos

Join ⁠Bhavna Sawnani⁠ in conversation with ⁠Hannah Short⁠, Inclusion and Diversity Manager at Leeds Building Society in the UK and ⁠Grace Tong⁠, Vice President and Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Lead at Ipsos Canada, as they explore why women's health is becoming impossible for organisations to ignore.

Menstruation, menopause, fertility, pregnancy loss, experiences that shape how women navigate work, yet are rarely discussed openly. Grace and Hannah share the personal moments that sparked their advocacy, and why silence comes at a cost.

They discuss what it really takes to move from awareness to action, the cultural barriers that persist, and one bold initiative that gave male leaders a taste of what many women experience daily. Hannah also shares how Leeds Building Society is putting policy into practise, from tailored support and resources to creating a culture where colleagues feel genuinely seen and supported at every life stage. The conversation touches on allyship, intersectionality, and the role of data in driving meaningful change, along with honest reflections on pushback, progress, and what's still left to do.

This episode offers candid insights and a compelling case for why listening to women's health experiences isn't just the right thing to do, it's essential for building workplaces where everyone can thrive.

In today's fast-paced and competitive business environment, the ability to excel in customer experience is not merely a choice but a necessity for sustainable success. The latest episode of the Ipsos Experience Perspective Podcast provides an in-depth exploration of cutting-edge strategies and insights centred around the role of customer advocacy as a key driver in the acquisition of new customers.

Host Helen Bywater-Smith chats to Lorraine Rough and Jean Francois Damais about the recent R&D and paper they have authored “Advocacy Ripple Effect” which found:

- Emotionally connected customers recommend brands 4x more often

- Recommendations directly influence 1 in 3 new customer acquisitions

- Referred customers have a higher lifetime value and refer more new business

The podcast redefines the scope of Customer Experience (CX) by emphasising its crucial position not only in retaining existing customers but also in creating advocate-driven growth.

CX leaders will benefit from understanding how to leverage moments of service recovery and effective onboarding to foster moments of loyalty and advocacy.

Listen to the full episode and embark on a journey to reshape your customer experience initiatives into a catalyst for growth.

In this Employee Experience episode of The Experience Perspective, Bhavna is joined by Albrecht Küfner, Team Lead for Employee Experience at Deutsche Bahn, to explore what it really takes to move from running employee surveys to becoming a genuinely insight-led employee experience professional, while successfully operating in a highly unionised, works-council-led environment.

Drawing on his journey from academic psychology into large-scale organisational research, Albrecht reflects on how his role evolved from being highly operational to becoming deeply strategic, political, and people centred. Together, they unpack what “insight-led” means in practice, particularly within a complex, state-owned organisation, where unions and works councils play a critical role in shaping employee experience programmes.

The conversation goes beyond theory, offering a candid look at trust-building, stakeholder partnership, and the realities of designing and running employee listening programmes in environments shaped by strong external influence and competing priorities. Albrecht explains why operational excellence is necessary but not sufficient, how letting go of the “survey manager” identity creates space for strategic impact, and why genuine connection (across hierarchy levels, functions, and perspectives) is the foundation of effective employee experience.

Key takeaways from the episode:

1. Operational excellence is essential, but impact comes from translating employee data into insight that leaders understand, trust, and act on.

2. Insight-led practitioners must connect shop-floor realities with C-suite priorities, acting as interpreters rather than just analysts.

3. Early involvement, honesty, and shared ownership turn works councils into ambassadors rather than blockers of EX programmes.

4. Long-term success depends on open dialogue, clear boundaries, and the willingness to say no, while maintaining respect and transparency.

This episode is essential listening for anyone running employee listening or experience programmes in complex, unionised organisations and for EX professionals looking to elevate their role from execution to strategic influence.

Happy New Year! And welcome to Season 9 of The Experience Perspective Podcast!

For the first episode of our new season, join Rob Rose as he explores the many different roles that Mystery Shopping can play for businesses and organisations, in the company of Craig Bradley, Global Service Line Leader for Channel Performance at Ipsos.

In this episode, Craig shares how ‘Real people, going to real places, to deliver real impact’ sits at the heart of the work Ipsos do, and provides insights on the Ipsos ‘Better Promise’.

Learn how these approaches not only help the clients we partner with to identify and measure the ‘moments of truth’ within their customer interactions, but also how this data enables clients to develop strategies to further improve their performance and elevate their levels of customer service.

Please use the link below to learn more:

Channel Performance | Ipsos

At Ipsos, we combine research excellence with deep CX expertise. We know the quality of insight depends on the quality—and the experience—of the questions you ask, and that real impact comes from the governance that surrounds your listening ecosystem.

In this episode, we reset survey programmes for 2026 by treating surveys as a designed service and a true part of the customer journey. Host Helen Bywater‑Smith is joined by Mariam Nabilsi, SVP, Ipsos CX Canada. Together they apply a service design mindset to the entire survey micro‑journey—from invite timing and value exchange to mobile‑first flow, thank‑you and follow‑up—so your measurement drives action, not fatigue.

Tune in to learn how to blueprint your survey experience, visualise from the customer perspective, set smart KPIs, and streamline questions to improve response, completion, and trust. Reset your CX programmes for 2026, kick off the year right and unlock the Experience Advantage.

Join Bhavna Sawnani in conversation with Ena Rivera, Chief People Officer for Asia Pacific at Ipsos, as they explore what it takes to transform people teams into strategic, future-focused partners. Drawing on insights from Ipsos 2025 Empowering People Teams report, they discuss the shift from transactional HR to influencing organisational priorities and shaping long-term success.

Ena and Bhavna talk about the importance of turning culture into observable behaviours, and why financial fluency and strategic courage are essential for earning credibility at the decision-making table.

The conversation also looks at today’s talent landscape, from the rise of skills-based hiring to the need for building capability within existing teams and creating meaningful, growth-oriented work environments that attract high performers.

They touch on future readiness, the growing role of AI and the powerful combination of artificial and human intelligence in elevating impact across organisations.

This episode provides strategic depth, practical guidance and a bold vision for how HR and People teams can lead organisations into the future: stronger, smarter and more human.