• by Aaron Baar , August 17, 2009

Six years into its sponsorship of the Vans Warped Tour music and concert festival, AT&T is still learning about how to best use the mobile space for the event.

This year, for instance, AT&T is able to provide tour lineup information, which apparently is not set until the day of the event in each city, to both the participating music acts and fans alike through a simple text-message update, Jennifer Erdman, senior manager of AT&T's youth marketing, tells Marketing Daily.

"Instead of coming from [tour organizer] Kevin Lyman's notebook, they can get the updates through their cell phones," Erdman says. "It's a much more automated process."

What's more, AT&T and its technology partner, 2ergo, have developed a program through which everyone can receive the text alerts using the same short code number, regardless of their wireless carrier. The system will automatically filter the alerts; however, to ensure that only AT&T customers get alerts to the exclusive content -- contest, downloads and ringtones -- that comes from being a tour sponsor.

"Using one code has enabled us to be cross-carrier-friendly," Erdman says. "It's streamlined our process, and we've seen some of the best results we've ever had. Using interactive messaging is a key element in our overall marketing mix and is helping to build positive momentum."

The text-messaging program is only one of several marketing elements that AT&T has unveiled in its sixth year of sponsorship, however. The company has also set up its own microsite, www.warpedtouratt.com, which includes information and fan pages for many of the participating acts as well as downloadable games, and social networking applications that make it easier for people to find each other at the festival.