Business Sense Arrow Straight: An Examination of Brand Community and Philanthropy Bordering on Social Entrepreneurship as Primary Reasons for the Success of Vans Warped Tour

Joe Bogdan

Columbia College Chicago

Abstract

Vans Warped Tour (“Warped”) is the largest and longest-running touring music festival in the United States. Held in non-traditional venues such as fairgrounds, parking lots, and fields—and sponsored by shoe manufacturer Vans since the tour’s inception in 1995—it has been known as “Vans Warped Tour” since 1996. This article discusses the interplay of brand communities and philanthropy bordering on social entrepreneurship as underpinnings of the philosophy of Warped’s founder, Kevin Lyman. It identifies both Lyman and those factors as the primary reasons for the longevity and other successes of Warped, both as a music festival and an entrepreneurial venture.

Keywords: entrepreneurship, leadership, brand communities, marketing, music festivals, entertainment, music business,Vans Warped Tour,Kevin Lyman

Bogdan, Joe. “Business Sense Arrow Straight: An Examination of Brand Community and Philanthropy Bordering on Social Entrepreneurship as Primary Reasons for the Success of Vans Warped Tour.” Journal of the Music and Entertainment Industry Educators Association 17, no. 1 (2017): 121-142.  https://doi.org/10.25101/17.5.

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