Vanderbilt Accelerator Summer Business Institute finds a creative way to promote Bridgestone’s sports partnerships
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[rquote]Tire giant Bridgestone Americas has worked for years to connect its brand with the best of American sports, including the Super Bowl, PGA Tour/Bridgestone Invitational and NHL/Bridgestone Winter Classic.[/rquote] Now Bridgestone is turning to students from the Vanderbilt Accelerator Summer Business Institute to find innovative ways to use these sports partnerships to build their relationship with current and future customers.
The Accelerator Summer Business Institute is an intense month-long business boot camp run by the Vanderbilt Owen Graduate School of Management. In the program, college students and recent graduates from across the country are immersed in a competitive business environment, working to create the winning solution to real challenges from top local and national companies. The students hone essential skills in marketing, sales, finance, real estate, research and corporate strategy, while participating companies receive the brain power, creativity and proposals from at least eight teams of highly motivated millennials.
The Bridgestone project will launch on Tuesday, June 15, at 1:30 p.m. at Bridgestone Arena. Final presentations will take place Thursday, June 24, from 8 a.m. until 11 a.m. at the Vanderbilt Owen Graduate School of Management’s Averbuch Auditorium.
Other Accelerator projects include:
- HIMSS/ Medical Banking: HIMSS Medical Banking Project is creating a new group of thought leaders called the “G7 Roundtable.” The group will consist of healthcare providers, healthcare insurance carriers, banks, government, consumers, technology firms and employers. The group’s mission is to “design the healthcare financial network of the future.” The Accelerator challenge is to create a marketing plan for the “G7 Roundtable” to encourage companies to sponsor or join the group and generate ways to get monetary value from the company’s cutting-edge research.
- Nashville Music Business Council & Nashville Entrepreneur Center: The future of the music business in Nashville is evolving beyond media conglomerates to smaller, more nimble companies that leverage technologies with the goal of delivering better value to fans. The Accelerator challenge is to develop an “Accelerator”-type program for entrepreneurs interested in the business of music.
- Lexus: Lexus has created a new hybrid vehicle that is fuel-efficient and luxurious. The Accelerator challenge is to evaluate the vehicle and its target audience and create a forward-thinking marketing plan for that audience. This is Lexus’ second time working with Accelerator students.
- MyWerx: MyWerx is a new Nashville-based intellectual property firm with a software product designed to simplify the intellectual property process. MyWerx’s mission is to not only help protect an artist’s work, but also to make it easy for people to know who owns or licenses a work. MyWerx is turning to students at the Vanderbilt Accelerator Summer Business Institute to create a viral marketing strategy to help artists learn about the MyWerx product.
- Oasis Center: The Oasis Center works to help young people overcome serious challenges that prevent them from transitioning into a healthy adulthood. Oasis Center desires to build life skills, entrepreneurial thinking and significance within its youth population. The current brand is more reflective of a “place” – and Oasis Center is becoming more about a “movement.” The Accelerator challenge is to create a brand concept that reflects this expanded movement; connects with young people and inspires others who would want to help Oasis Center.
For more information on Accelerator visit their website. To follow the progress of the Accelerator students and their projects, check out Accelerator on Facebook.