Empathy consists of an ability to reflect back to the other person the feelings being expressed. Before an empathic response can actually occur, however, the listener must imagine a point of view other than one's own. As a person "feels into" the presence of expressive cues given off by another, this empathic intent fosters physiological synchrony or a mimicry of the emotions and physical reactions being conveyed. For example, suppose you are talking to a friend who is happy and begins to laugh. Your facial muscles automatically, without your conscious awareness, start to mirror or mimic your friend's expression, triggering a corresponding smile:-) The emotional cues being expressed also stimulate cognitive content in the listener, prompting language- and icon-mediated associations. The meaning expressed through these words and images triggers correlations with comparable feelings and experiences stored in the listener's memory. In the end, the attentive listener recognizes (or 're-cognizes') the other person's experience and reflects this understanding back, creating an intimacy that can often be disarming and sometimes quite pleasurable. appliedempathics uses data uncovered in empathic inquiry to shape the brand's "look and feel" so that it mirrors back dominate emotional cues expressed by the customer. People recognized the brand as empathic and naturally feel validated. This is the "face" that customers will "find appealing" and "get acquainted with" as their purchasing or charitable relationship develops. It will also be the impetus for the familiar experience called brand recognition. Wherever the brand's face appears in the marketplace, whether in the form of a logo, ad, website, direct mail piece, descriptive literature, or point-of-purchase display, the same empathic sentiments are expressed. Since real people communicate through multiple "arousal modes" (i.e. visual, auditory, physical), the brand identity is constructed with reference to the four arousal modes that most closely mimic human communication, specifically: perceptual semantic affective physical = = = = graphic design narrative, story emotional content events or 'touch points'