Sometimes the cause may become the product itself, as seen with Rockport&rsquo;s walking shoes. The firm took an early leadership role linking its shoes to the healthy lifestyle movement. In 1996 they launched &ldquo;The Rockport Experience,&rdquo; which emphasized the total mind, spirit and body experience of our brand. Their mission was to make the world more comfortable and focused on the healthy benefits of walking. They created &ldquo;<em>The Walking Institute</em>&rdquo; to educate customers about the relevance of exercise as a means of keeping fit and healthy. After introducing Rockport's Soul Sensation(TM) footbed, their marketing campaign which was geared towards women extended beyond the comfort of their shoes to a broad range of customer-centered innovations&mdash;from reflexology, hot tea, and bottled water at retail stores, to Rockport sponsored &ldquo;Sole to Soul&rdquo; wellness programs. Rockport has taken advantage of the growing &ldquo;adventure travel industry.&rdquo; Their Prowalker&reg; World Tour collection of walking and touring footwear has benefited from this trend. It more than doubled in sales during 1998 in the U.S. alone. Rockport has become the exclusive footwear sponsor of Earthwatch Institute USA and has also placed travel resource libraries in their retail stores.<br />