Celebrating 35 Years

Join GlobeScan as we reflect on how we have evolved over the past 35 years to achieve our goal of co-creating a more sustainable and equitable future.

Join GlobeScan as we reflect on how we have evolved over the past 35 years to achieve our goal of co-creating a more sustainable and equitable future.

Celebrating 35 Years of Impact

December 2022 marks a significant milestone for GlobeScan as we celebrate 35 years of impact.

Established in 1987, GlobeScan is a global insights and advisory consultancy working at the intersection of brand, purpose, sustainability, and trust.

We partner with leading businesses, NGOs and governmental organizations around the globe to deliver insights that guide decision-making and build strategies that contribute to a sustainable and equitable future.

client testimonials

We are proud to celebrate our anniversary alongside leading businesses and NGOs that have trusted us in their mission to lead a more sustainable and equitable future.

Amita Chaudhury, Group Head of Sustainability (ESG), AIA

“It’s been terrific to partner with GlobeScan, firstly to build our excellent benchmarking report for AIA and secondly, to glean insights, and advice based on the rich and diverse experience that they bring to embed sustainability into global businesses.”

Aleix Busquets Gonzalez, Head of Global Sustainability, C&A

“Since 2015, we have partnered with GlobeScan on a yearly basis for sustainability customer insights surveys. The data and insights provided by GlobeScan have been instrumental to acting on the issues that matter most to our customers in regard to more sustainable fashion and enabling us to tailor our activities toward the needs of our customers.”

Rupert Howes, CEO, Marine Stewardship Council (MSC)

“GlobeScan have done an outstanding job of helping the MSC with consumer and stakeholder research. They have helped us to better understand not only the rising consumer interest in sustainable seafood around the world, but also the views and interests of our partners and stakeholders.”

Katie Fergusson, Senior Vice President, Sustainable Impact, De Beers Group

“De Beers has worked with GlobeScan as a trusted partner for many years on a wide range of research and stakeholder engagement deliverables across our value chain. Their high-quality work always brings fresh and strategic insight into the business and to our sustainability ambition, while the team is an absolute pleasure to work with.”

Sven Lunsche, Vice-President, Corporate Affairs, Gold Fields

“During 2020 and 2021, the GlobeScan team undertook Gold Fields’ most extensive stakeholder survey to date, canvassing thousands of our stakeholders in five countries. The findings from this survey, put together comprehensively and expertly by the GlobeScan team, have provided the basis for our stakeholder engagement strategies for years to come. Based on the professionalism, enthusiasm, and dedication by the team, we will undoubtedly work with GlobeScan in years to come.”

Anik Michaud, Group Director, Corporate Relations, Anglo American

“Our purpose is to re-imagine mining to improve people’s lives, and we can only live up to our purpose and remain a trusted partner by truly listening and engaging with our stakeholders. Throughout our many years of partnership, GlobeScan has been pivotal to the work we do – shaping our understanding of how stakeholders perceive and experience our business, and how that translates into our business strategy, our sustainable mining plan, and our main goals as an organization.”

Mzila Mthenjane, Executive Head, Stakeholder Affairs, Exxaro

“I have known and worked with GlobeScan for more than five years and established good knowledge relationships from their research and advice. It has been an honor to witness their brand transformation and adaptation to a changing stakeholder and global environment. The work completed on behalf of Exxaro in the 2018 and 2022 stakeholder survey has been seminal and significant to Exxaro’s strategic plans and outlook. It has been a relationship of partnership and mutual development and support.”

Brian Sullivan, Executive Director, Ipieca

“GlobeScan has played a major role in placing our strategy in context and encouraging Ipieca to make bold steps with our membership from the global oil and gas industry on the energy transition and sustainable development.”

Our historical timeline

1987: GlobeScan is launched

Doug Miller launched GlobeScan to help companies, NGOs and governmental organizations better navigate the challenges and opportunities of the emerging sustainable development agenda.

1994: Survey of Sustainability Experts

Now produced in partnership with SustainAbility, we started this survey of business, government, NGO and institutional leaders to examine the evolving sustainable development agenda and leadership in the field.

1997: GlobeScan Radar

We launched the GlobeScan Radar survey, an ongoing public opinion survey exploring the views of the global public on a range of critical issues facing the world from sustainable development to the relationship between business and society.

2003: London office

The GlobeScan London office is opened to better serve our growing list of European clients and partners.

2004: UN Global Compact

We officially became participants of this important United Nations initiative to put a framework around our sustainable and socially responsible policies, and to report on implementation.

2005: Reputation management system

We partnered with the global brewing and beverage company SABMiller to create what would become a staple service of ours: a customized reputation management system to integrate stakeholder perceptions and corporate performance.

2005: BBC World Service poll

We launched our first BBC World Service Poll of ~20,000 people in 20+ countries to gain insights on broad trends as well as regional and demographic-specific perspectives of important social and political issues.

2008: Greendex

In collaboration with National Geographic, we launched Greendex, a study to measure, compare and track sustainable consumer behaviour across 17 countries.

2009: San Francisco office

We opened our first permanent US office in San Francisco to cater to our expanding list of American clients – many of which are headquartered in the Bay area.

2012: Regeneration Roadmap

We partnered with SustainAbility on the Regeneration Roadmap – a collaborative initiative aimed at providing a path for achieving sustainable development for future generation.

2012: Collaboration Forum

We partnered with Unilever to help them engage their stakeholders at scale through the Unilever Sustainable Living Lab via our Collaboration Forum tool, an online moderated dialogue platform to co-create solutions to global sustainability challenges.

2014: Cape Town office

The opening of our Cape Town office marked an important commitment to the work we conduct with African clients.

2014: São Paulo office

We opened our São Paulo office to expand our global reach into another important region of the world.

2015: Hong Kong office

We expanded our presence in the Asia-Pacific region and appointed our Hong Kong director.

2015: Aspirationals Consumer Index

In partnership with BBMG, we launched the Aspirationals Consumer Index, a report that revealed a profound marketplace shift toward authenticity, wellbeing, sustainability and social purpose.

2016: Corporate Affairs Survey

We launched the Corporate Affairs Survey, our global survey of corporate affairs professionals, to gain insight on their experience and approach, as well as on the challenges they face in managing trust.

2017: GlobeScan Radar anniversary

After 20 years, GlobeScan Radar continues to look at long-term trends related to the role of business in society, as well as citizen perceptions of environmental, economic and other global issues.

2017: 10,000th webinar attendee

We regularly convene free online webinars to share our latest research, commentary and perspectives on global trends, reputation management, branding, sustainability and stakeholder engagement.

2017: Survey of the Poor

In partnership with Oxfam, the GlobeScan Foundation released results from its initiative to conduct the Survey of the Poor, a seminal study to explore the realities, hopes, concerns and expectations of low income people in India.

2017: 20th Anniversary of GSS Leaders

The Sustainability Leaders Survey has tracked expert opinions globally on the evolution of the sustainability agenda for two decades, along with views on the leading organizations most responsible for driving it forward.

2017: Certification as a B Corp

In 2017, GlobeScan certified as a B Corporation and joined the global movement of people using business as a force for good.

2018: Launch of SDG Leadership Series

In March, we launched our SDG Leadership Series of open, interactive, online collaboration forums on each of the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

2018: Launch of New Book – All In: The Future of Business Leadership

The book, co-authored by GlobeScan CEO Chris Coulter, Mark Lee (SustainAbility) and David Grayson (Cranfield School of Management), identifies the essential attributes of high-impact corporate sustainability leadership and describes how companies can combine and apply those characteristics for future success.

2019: Paris office

The GlobeScan Paris office is opened to better support our growing client network in France, and Western Europe.

2019: Healthy and Sustainable Living

We launched our Healthy & Sustainable Living global consumer insights research program to provide brands with global and comparative research on the trends shaping consumer attitudes and behaviors related to sustainability.

2020: Oxford-GlobeScan partnership

Our partnership with the Säid Business School at Oxford University leverages our combined expertise in Corporate Affairs. We conduct an annual survey of Corporate Affairs professionals on how to build enduring trust and strong reputations.

2021: GlobeScan launches new branding

We launched a new look for the GlobeScan brand and introduced a new tagline – Know your world, Lead the future. We are committed to redoubling our efforts to serve our clients and community for a new era of leadership and fulfilling our purpose: to co-create a sustainable and equitable future.

2022: Launch of New Book – The Sustainable Business Handbook

The second book co-authored by GlobeScan CEO Chris Coulter, Mark Lee (SustainAbility) and David Grayson (Cranfield School of Management), provides guidance on how to become more innovative, resilient and successful.

2022: GlobeScan turns 35

Celebrating 35 years of impact.

2023: Singapore office

The GlobeScan Singapore office is opened to expand our global footprint to nine offices across all regions of the world and strengthening our presence in Asia.

an unparalleled global expert community

We are able to identify, understand and engage stakeholders and the general public all over the world. We have worked across more than 100 countries, conducting over one million interviews. We have unlimited reach to get the international insights and local context our global clients need.

We are an independent, employee-owned company with offices in Cape Town, Hong Kong, Hyderabad, London, Paris, San Francisco, São Paulo, Singapore, and Toronto.