Cause Marketing

In the States there’s one place where you’re all but guaranteed to run into some kind of cause-related marketing, namely a retail franchise outlet. The ten largest U.S. based franchise systems, ranked according to total system sales volume as ranked by the Franchise Times follow. Where known I’ve added the cause with which each franchise system is most publicly-affiliated. 1). McDonald’s… Ronald McDonald House Charities 2). 7-Eleven… Muscular Dystrophy Association 3). Carlson-Wagonlit Travel…? 4). KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken)…? 5). Ace Hardware… Children’s Miracle Network 6). Burger King… ? 7). Pizza Hut… Book It reading incentive program 8). Coldwell Banker Real Estate… Habitat for Humanity 9). Subway Restaurants… American Heart Association 10). Wendy’s… Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption It’s not surprising that consumer-oriented franchises would tend to have a cause marketing focus. Academic researchers consistently find that corporate social responsibility makes good business se...