Cone Communications first coined the term cause branding in the 1990s. It was defined to be a business strategy that helped a firm identify with a social issue to gain significant leverage in both economic and social impact while making an emotional and relevant connection to customers and other stakeholders. Originally, the organization had thought of referring to this practice as “passion branding” based on the type of work the agency was doing with Avon in creating “The World Wide Fund for Women’s Health” and Reebok’s “Human Rights Awards.” These programs were richer than the traditional cause-related marketing programs. They were long-term, integrated into the business, and created to drive reputation, recruitment, morale, retention and sales, and fund-raising and to build awareness and foster behavior ...