Delta Makes Me Smile (again)

A few weeks ago I wrote about a great experience with Delta, in which the airline noticed that I was stuck in the middle seat on a Monday morning and rewarded me with an apology and a few bonus miles. This week, I was again pleasantly surprised with a nice charitable tie-in to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

I received an email from Delta inviting me to register for a promotion in which 250 miles would go to both me and the Breast Cancer Research Foundation if I simply booked a flight or checked in online at Delta.com. In terms of meaning, this provides value to me on two levels. First, I’m definitely a mile collector, and I like the chance to add a few to the bank for future free tickets. We call this Solution marketing.

But this goes further to add the benefit of helping me, in a small way, improve the lives of others by sending miles to this worthy cause. All I have to do is print a boarding pass online, so it’s little effort and a nice reward. It makes me feel a little better about myself.

And this is where the marketing benefits kick in for Delta. The brand benefits by linking the benefit to an action that builds Delta’s business. It might sell a couple more tickets, and also saves on costs by getting people to check in online. Shifting habits might lead to long-term benefits for Delta.

Another long-term benefit is the boost to the brand equity. Smart cause tie-ins like this make customers feel better about giving their business to Delta.

Finally, thanks to its loyalty program and ability to track customers through extensive data on each interaction, Delta can get ROI results for even modest promotions like this, and it can start personalizing the offers that it provides to individual members. Delta might find that it is more meaningful for me to receive cause-related offers, resulting in greater efficiency and results.