1. POLARBLOG
Latitudes and Attitudes in Branding
Chris Wren is a brand
strategist and an agent
of change for the
evolution of brand
perception into brand
experience
Parlez-vous rapport?
the shared ideal
By Chris Wren
The word "rapport" sums up It's true of course, we like people who are like us. We are naturally
the Holy Grail for marketers. It drawn to relationships that have a component of rapport.
is taken from the French
verb rapporter, meaning "to bring Rapport = Trust
back, or refer." To marketers, it
means a lot more. Rapport is At the heart of rapport, is trust. Being "in sync" with someone
defined as a relationship of requires that you trust.
mutual trust and respect. The
very notion of "bringing back" For a high value of trust, credibility (the signals people send out to
as is described by the French show they are who they claim to be and as good as they say),
definition, closes what is reliability (delivery of what is promised on time) and intimacy (do you
hopefully a vibrant, continuous, feel comfortable around them?) are scaled up, while self-importance is
and even infinite loop of shared scaled
experiences.
Rapport is one of the most
important features of
subconscious communication. It
is commonality of perspective:
Being "in sync" with, or being
"on the same wavelength" as the
person with whom you're
communicating -- whether it's
face-to-face, on the phone,
texting, or emailing.
You know when you have
rapport with someone, and you
sure as heck know when you
don't.
1

2. Latitudes and Attitudes in Branding or a high value of trust, affected by the pressures the world exerts. These
credibility (the signals can be positive pressure as well as negative
people send out to pressure. Being able to forecast shifts in pressure,
show they are who they or respond to knowledge of a shift in pressure
claim to be and as good empowers you the ability to set your wavelength
as they say), reliability to maintain rapport. chriswrenla@aol.com
(delivery of what is @chriswrenla
linkedin.com/in/
promised on time) and Frequency of contact and proximity of that chriswrenla
intimacy (do you feel contact make this activity much easier to achieve.
comfortable around In the digital age, we've leaned to rely so heavily
them?) are scaled up, on data, that at times we've forgotten the
while self-importance is emotional aspect of communication -- we've
scaled down. forgotten rapport.
Mood Regardless of how technology seems to have
shrunk the world, the reality is that the world has
It is important to note not shrunk in billions of years. Clients and
that rapport is classified constituents need to be visited, often, e-mailed
as subconscious often, listened to and heard often, pinged often.
communication. It;s a It’s not about the technology, it's about rapport
connection on a very with people -- living, breathing human beings.
deep, real, albeit
intangible level. A Relationships are kindled by contact. While that's
gauge of "mood" must easiest to do in a person-to-person relationship,
be included in order to it's more difficult, but still possible in a brand to
function "on the same consumer relationship. In this "new normal",
wavelength." Both there is no global. It's all local. People have
individuals and opinions and feelings. How you tune into those
constituencies are frequencies will determine the level of rapport