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.

I have spent a lot of time with Delta Airlines lately. Most people would consider that a bad thing. I’ve been on the road quite a bit this year, and already hit the Gold Medallion level of 50,000 miles with just barely half of the year gone by. Flying has become more expensive and more troublesome over the years. But the more I travel lately, the more I’ve been surprised and delighted by Delta and the meaningful services it is bringing to me along the way.

My most recent positive experiences came this week after a trip to NYC. First, I was supposed to fly up Sunday night for a Monday meeting. On the way to the airport, I got a cell phone call from Delta notifying me that my flight had been canceled. The automated voice went on to say I was automatically booked on a flight the following morning, and I received a follow-up email with the information. This is a great service, and a real difference from how the airline world worked just a few months ago. At Delta.com, you can specify how you want to be alerted to changes in flights. It’s great, meaningful marketing - but also something we have come to expect. After all, when a service like Facebook can alert me by SMS when a friend uploads a new photo, I expect Delta to alert me on something as important as a flight change.

My flight the next morning was fine, but somewhat uncomfortable since I was stuck in a middle seat because of the flight cancellation. The next day, however, I received the message above in my email inbox.  As you can see, it is a very personalized note titled “A Cure for a Case of the Mondays,” which goes on to apologize that a Gold Medallion member like me had to be wedged into the middle seat. The note goes on to credit me with 500 Skymiles for my discomfort.

I really can’t remember the last time a loyalty program was so aware of my situation and eager to keep me happy. I am so used to expecting so little - especially from airlines that have a monopoly-like lock on my travel - that this automated effort made my day.

Delta seems to be making some impressive strides toward meaningful marketing in recent months. Aside from my experiences, Joseph Jaffe has a great post about how Delta is connecting with people through a very active Twitter account. Delta has a fairly active blog up that takes readers “under the wing” to “share stories on ideas, changes and our people.” The blog even links to competitors like Southwest in its blogroll. Heck, even Delta’s flight safety videos are drawing attention.

I’m not sure why it took so long for Delta to better utilize its Skymiles loyalty program, or to put a personal face on its brand through social media. Maybe it’s the rising cost of oil and the fact that Delta increasingly has to fight for flyers. It could also be improved software, and even better management.

Whatever the reason, Delta is working some magic on this frequent flyer. I feel like Delta values my business and is on my side as I fly around the world trying to make a living. When I have a choice, it will be Delta all the way, as I feel like the more I fly with the brand, the more it will repay me with great service and other rewards. Meanwhile, I tend to give Delta more benefit of the doubt when it cancels my flight or moves to merge with Northwest. And in this specific flight above, Delta’s great service leads to this positive blog post on a site that is getting as many as 100 visitors per day (thanks, dear readers!). That drives further positive word-of-mouth and stronger search rankings.

And in this specific case of the “middle seat,” all it really took was for someone to write a new rule into the existing loyalty marketing database that Delta has had for decades. All it took was someone to notice and care - which is all we really want as human beings.