On Friday, the Vanderbilt Accelerator Program presented its thoughts and ideas on how to brand Nashville as an Entrepreneur City.  The presentations were as diverse as the student’s backgrounds. “The energy and enthusiasm of the students was amazing,” said J. Tod Fetherling, President of the Nashville Technology Council.  “The presentations showed the power of using creativity and research to build brand value.”

Every group took a different view on how to brand the city.  The Music City brand was included in most of the presentations, but not all.  Most of the groups presented a competition concept to help launch the brand and attract both entrepreneurs and capital to Nashville.  The winning team’s tagline was Nashville, Where Innovation Sings.  Second place went to I AM MUSIC CITY.  Both of these campaigns have a lot of potential to be used in the final marketing plan for the Entrepreneur Center.  Stay tuned Nashville.

Accelerator—Vanderbilt Summer Business Institute is an intensive immersion in business designed exclusively for undergraduates and recent grads in all majors. In four fast-paced weeks at the Owen Graduate School of Management (May 29 to June 26, 2009) some of the top young minds from around the globe are immersed in real-world consulting roles for companies, helping to solve issues in marketing, logistics, finance, operations and branding. Within a competitive team structure and with a “grab it and go” education from world-class Vanderbilt faculty, these students are challenged to deliver the best solutions possible for these businesses, and in doing do, shape their careers in ways that a traditional internship simply cannot come close to replicating.