To the average consumer, "Corporate Social Responsibility" (CSR) feels more like corporate jargon than charitable good. But to Delta Air Lines, it represents the important role Delta plays in real communities and the countless lives made better through the organizations they support. With over 30 charitable partners and a long-term focus on military support, it was time to increase customer awareness of Delta's charitable efforts, and Veteran's Day presented a prime opportunity to increase awareness of the specific work for veterans.
Delta's target audience (Millennials who frequently travel for business and leisure) prefer brands that support causes that they care about. Increasingly, they even expect brands to take a stand on social issues. Delta invests 1% of its net profits back into its communities and when it comes to military-focused initiatives, Delta proudly employs more than 12,000 U.S. veterans and members of the armed forces while supporting charities like the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation, USO, Toys for Tots, Luke's Wings, and Fisher House.
Instead of applauding Delta's philanthropic work with veterans, we sought to both acknowledge the sacrifices of our military service members and celebrate the role that each customer plays in making Delta's support of veterans and members of the armed forces possible. This subtle shift personally connected Delta's customers to the message that a Delta ticket buys much more than just a flight. This connection, in turn, created an emotional incentive to fly Delta again.
To tell the story, we selected Brian Turner, an American writer, poet, and Veteran as the voice of this work to share how customers' ticket purchases make the lives of service members, veterans, and their families better with jobs, support, and a space to heal. As a writer/poet and Veteran himself, he was the perfect person to bring to life these words that acknowledge the men and women that risk their lives to protect our country each and every day.
The message was broadcasted on in-flight entertainment seat backs to target customers who are currently sitting on their Delta flight as well as Delta's social media platforms. The spot resonated powerfully with Delta's customers on an emotional level, both educating and connecting them with Delta and the communities we serve.
The objective of the campaign was to drive awareness of Delta's commitment to Veterans as part of their ongoing CSR communications. By featuring a veteran, Brian Turner, and discussing both Delta's employees and their charity partners specific to this topic, the content received 11 million impressions and 2.8 million video views on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. The three channel approach ensured a range of targeting capabilities in different environments to meet the Delta customer where they were spending their time.
In addition to excellent social exposure, the video ran on in-flight entertainment seatbacks reaching over 500k Delta customers per day as they traveled across the world.
