By Kara Sherrer
After pitching solutions to tech care company Asurion and pet care company Mars, Accelerator students wrapped up their summer business immersion with their third and final project for Firestone Complete Auto Care, a Bridgestone company. Student teams brainstormed ideas to increase brand awareness and drive sales, especially among Gen Z and Millennial potential customers.
Promoting a Trusted Auto Care Brand to a New Generation
Congrats to Sophia Lin, Holden Phillps, Rucsy Girlicel, Asher Bremen, and Mira Martin (not pictured) on winning the Firestone challenge!
With Firestone’s 100-year anniversary coming up in 2026, the company — part of Bridgestone Americas — has a long history of keeping
Americans safe on the road through reliable vehicle maintenance. Instead of resting on its proverbial laurels, Firestone Complete Auto Care is seeking to leverage its century-long track record to appeal to new customers, especially younger consumers.
With that in mind, Firestone Complete Auto Care asked Accelerator Summer Business Immersion student teams to offer solutions that could address three related questions:
- How should the FCAC brand be positioned to target the next generation of customers?
- What are the most effective marketing channels for interacting with consumers?
- How is vehicle ownership changing and how does this impact the marketing strategy?
The Solutions: Remodeling, Subscriptions, and Reward Programs
Since this was the final week of Accelerator and the project brief was rather broad, the pitches were highly diverse and every team offered their own unique proposal. Some of the suggested solutions included:
- Remodeling stores: A couple teams advocated for remodeling existing stores and refreshing in-store branding to appeal to younger customers.
- Student subscriptions: Another group proposed partnering with universities and colleges to create student subscriptions programs.
- Reward and referral marketing: Other teams pitched points-based rewards programs and/or referral marketing programs that would encourage repeat customers and new leads.
Top Performers: Video Marketing and Media Partnerships
Once the presentations were finished, Team D (Rucsy Girlicel, Holden Phillips, Asher Bremen, Sophia Lin, and Mira Martin) were named the winners thanks to their comprehensive digital campaign. They pitched a video campaign themed around the 100-year anniversary that would feature 100 “everyday heroes” nominated for their positive impact on the community. Firestone applauded the team for benchmarking their proposal against existing successful real-life marketing campaigns.
Team H was also named runner-up for their creative proposal to partner with Pixar to create a co-branded advertising campaign featuring the beloved character Mater from the Cars franchise. Since many Millennials and Gen Z were kids when the movies came out, the campaign would leverage childhood nostalgia to introduce a new generation of now-adult customers to Firestone.
Final Lessons from Accelerator Summer Business Immersions
Even though Accelerator Summer Business Immersion is less than a month long, students say that the program offers an outsize learning opportunity, especially for underclassmen. Holden Phillips credited the faculty members and MBA student coaches for creating such a rich learning experience in such a short time and working one-on-one with the Accelerator students to sharpen their skills.
Sophia Lin, another member of Team D, says that Accelerator’s hands-on experience helped solidify her interest in a consulting career and build her teamworking skills. “Collaborating with a team of equally driven peers taught me a lot about communication, compromise, and how to bring together different perspectives and ideas to reach the best solution,” she said.