Human Centered

Episode 20: Why the Experience Has Become the Brand On this episode of Human Centered, host Nick Brunker visits with VMLY&R's Chief Experience Design Officer, Eric Looney to discuss how CX leaders should think about imagining better futures for the customers they serve. They delve into why experience has become greater than the product itself - and the impact that has on design innovation. Plu...

Episode 19: How to rebound from post-pandemic CX declines On this episode of Human Centered, host Nick Brunker chats with VMLY&R Chief Strategy Officer, Ben Geheb, and Executive Director Technology, Martin Coady about the main takeaways from this year's Forrester CX North America Summit in Nashville, Tennessee. This year's Forrester CX Index showed that overall experience quality has declined...

Episode 18: Driving B2B Transformation Through Smart CX On this episode of Human Centered, host Nick Brunker chats with VMLY&R's Executive Director of B2B, Justin Smith about the importance of CX when driving B2B transformation. Fresh off a visit to Forrester's B2B North America Summit in Austin, Texas, Justin shares some of the key trends he saw - and shares how leaders can establish a path t...

Episode 17: Human Centered - On Location at SXSW 2022 - Recap On this special episode of Human Centered, host Nick Brunker visits with VMLY&R Chief Experience Officer in EMEA, Karen Boswell - who was on location at SXSW 2022 in Austin, Texas. Karen and Nick look back on the all the weekend activity and review some of the overarching takeaways. Among the topics, they dive into data ethics, the...

Episode 16: Human Centered - On Location at SXSW 2022 - Day 4 On this special episode of Human Centered, host Nick Brunker visits with VMLY&R Chief Experience Officer in EMEA, Karen Boswell and Andy Wardlaw, Global Managing Director of The Talent Business - who are on location at SXSW 2022 in Austin, Texas. They round out their long weekend of coverage by chatting about the increasingly compet...

Episode 15: Human Centered - On Location at SXSW 2022 - Day 3 On this special episode of Human Centered, host Nick Brunker visits with VMLY&R Chief Experience Officer in EMEA, Karen Boswell and Sol Rogers, the Global Director of Innovation at MAGNOPUS, a BAFTA immersive advisor, and the Chair of Immerse U.K. - who are on location at SXSW 2022 in Austin, Texas. They give a recap of the key acti...

Episode 14: Human Centered - On Location at SXSW 2022 - Day 2 On this special episode of Human Centered, host Nick Brunker visits with VMLY&R Chief Experience Officer in EMEA, Karen Boswell and Will O'Donnell, the Digital Twin Lead for The Mill - who are on location at SXSW 2022 in Austin, Texas. They give a recap of Day 2 and chat about some key themes, including how leaders can better bring...

Episode 13: Human Centered - On Location at SXSW 2022 - Day 1 On this special episode of Human Centered, host Nick Brunker visits with VMLY&R Chief Experience Officer in EMEA, Karen Boswell and Amanda Farmer, Chief Client Officer at The Pharm - who are on location at SXSW 2022 in Austin, Texas. They discuss the key takeaways from a busy first day of activity on the ground, share what resonated...

Episode 12: CES 2022 - How (and why) the world's largest technology expo is getting more human On this episode of Human Centered, host Nick Brunker visits with VMLY&R Commerce Chief Strategy Officer, Curt Munk, about some exciting trends coming out of CES 2022. From flying cars to smart everything - each year, CES seemingly gets more incredible than the last. But as customer behavior has shift...

Episode 11: The Importance (and Challenge) of Delivering Ethical CX On this episode of Human Centered, host Nick Brunker chats with VMLY&R's Global Lead, Human Centered Design & Executive Director of CX Transformation, Jason Gaikowski, about the importance (and the challenge) of delivering ethical CX. They discuss why it's a challenge worth tackling along with a simple, acronym-based frame...

Episode 10: Driving CX through EX - How Company Culture Can Deliver True Business Value On this episode of Human Centered, host Nick Brunker visits with VMLY&R's own John Mulvihill, Shanice Gipson and Lauren Ziegler about how the focus on employee experience and culture can drive positive customer experience outcomes -- and ultimately drive business value. Plus, they chat about the evolution o...

Episode 9: Designing the Future of Work On this episode of Human Centered, host Nick Brunker visits with VMLY&R Commerce Chief Innovation Officer Roy Armale about how leaders can plan to design & build the future of work - and a structure to follow that can keep employees safe, engaged and delivering winning experiences for their brands and the customers they serve. Plus, they talk about h...

Episode 8: Crafting a Strong Business Case for CX Transformation On this episode of Human Centered, host Nick Brunker chats with VMLY&R Managing Director, Advisory Colin McDowell about how leaders can build a compelling ROI case to lead CX transformation for their business, brands, and clients and the building blocks needed to tell the right story. They discuss the importance of focusing on Gu...

Episode 7: Guiding Principles to Build Great CX for Kids On this episode of Human Centered, host Nick Brunker is joined by fellow Director of Experience Strategy, Eric Ackley, to explore the guiding principles of building and delivering value-centered experiences for kids - which is a unique challenge as CX practitioners must balance privacy, regulations and of course, ethics to serve this type of...

Episode 6: Building Winning Experiences Through Bio-Centric Design On this episode of Human Centered, host Nick Brunker is joined by VMLY&R's Managing Director of Insights & Strategy Jennifer Bonhomme, who works across some of our blue chip technology clients. Together, they explore the potential for a paradigm shift in design thinking, expanding our human-centered view to include more of...

Episode 5: Building a Framework for Inclusive Design & Experiences On this episode of Human Centered, host Nick Brunker is joined by VMLY&R's Chief Integration Officer Myron King to dive deeper into how leaders can architect a framework for inclusive transformation and what are the building blocked needed to do it right. Plus, they chat about how leveraging advancing technology, such as ar...

Episode 4: Transformative CX Through Diversity & Inclusion On this episode of Human Centered, host Nick Brunker is joined by VMLY&R Executive Director, Experience Design Walter Geer, Associate Director, Experience Strategy Sarah Hodge, and Chief Integration Officer Myron King to discuss the importance of diversity and inclusion when chasing after truly transformative CX. The panel shares w...

Episode 3: Mapping For the Future With Empathy On this episode of Human Centered, host Nick Brunker visits with WPP Client Leader for Boots Lead & European CXO for VMLY&R, Karen Boswell, about journey mapping for the future and the importance of practicing true human empathy. Plus, they talk about how CX leaders should approach the delicate balance between technology and privacy when build...

Episode 2: Unmasking Commerce in The Experience Era On this episode of Human Centered, host Nick Brunker visits with Executive Vice President of VMLY&R Commerce, Jacquelyn Baker about the evolution of retail, how COVID-19 is impacting a busy, but very different holiday shopping season. Plus, she offers tips on how marketers can adapt their approach to winning the digital shelf amidst rapidly c...

-------- Episode 1: The Evolution of CX & Importance of Human Centered Design On the inaugural episode of VMLY&R’s Human Centered Design podcast, host Nick Brunker visits with VMLY&R Global CEO Jon Cook and Global Chief Experience Officer Jeff Geheb. The group chats about the evolution of CX, navigating change during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the importance of building a human-centere...