Crunk Energy Drink ran an SMS campaign at the Honey Farms and Turtle Boy Music Awards with the goal of building up its mobile database.

Consumers were asked to text ENERGY to the short code CRUNK (27865). Crunk claims thousands of consumers opted-in at a rate of 60 percent.

?LSN Mobile helped Crunk Energy Drink implement a staged progression, moving from simple to more complex layering of mobile initiatives and tools to integrate into their overall marketing mix,? said David Spear, executive vice president of sales and marketing for LSN Mobile, Atlanta.

?Crunk Energy Drink's marketing strategies align with the general mobile consumer perfectly,? he said. ?Their target audience skews younger, which aligns with mobile-savvy 18-34 year olds. The Crunk Energy Drink audience has an affinity for music, whether it?s hip-hop, rap or underground bands. 

?This audience is highly engaged with mobile and interacts with all aspects of functionality that devices offer today. Finally, Crunk Energy Drink has grown its base of consumers and followers using a grass roots approach, and the viral element that mobile provides aligns perfectly with these strategies.?

The energy drink brand invited consumers at the event to try and win and to receive exclusive offers and Crunk gear when they texted ENERGY to the short code CRUNK (27865). Crunk leveraged packaging, its Web site, licensed merchandise, vehicles and signage to promote the mobile sweepstakes campaign.

Consumers at the music awards that texted-in received a message that said, ?Thanks for keeping it Crunk at Honey Farms & the Turtle Boy Music Awards. You are entered for the Lil Jon Guitar Giveaway. You?ll get a text if you win.?

Next, participants received a message that asked them to double-opt-in to receive Crunk text alerts each month.

Recipients who texted back YES received another message that confirmed that they were signed up to receive news and offers once a month.

?SMS marketing is hot right now,? Mr. Spear said. ?Marketers at companies like Crunk Energy Drink see text as a strategic asset in their arsenal. They are leveraging multiple components of text to drive consumer engagement, retailer traffic, social experience with the brand and overall sales. 

?Because of these early adopters, more and more traditional companies and their brand marketers are starting to see the powerful one-to-one relationships they can create with consumers,? he said. ?Once these relationships are developed, then the trick is to generate sustained value over time.  Bringing utility to a consumer?s daily life ? and this can be in many different forms ? is the key to creating loyal customers over time. 

?In 2010, we'll see many more companies and brands leverage text in unique ways.  The campaigns that will stick are the ones that offer simplicity, utility and speed.?