A Western Michigan University Business: Created by Students to Benefit Students
Learn About The Program That Made It Happen
Bronconess was born from vision and principle. While leading a study abroad program, Dr. Derrick McIver recognized a unique opportunity to create shared benefit for business and students.
Tremonte wanted to sell into the United States, but didn’t know how. Dr. McIver and his partner Dr. Lepisto believed students in the new Leadership and Business Strategy program should learn business by doing business and that good business is about profit and purpose. From the alignment of these interests sprang a question: How might Leadership and Business Strategy students create a purpose-driven wine brand that helps Silvio and allows students to learn?
The following semester student teams researched every aspect of whether, and how, to introduce a new wine brand into the Southwest Michigan market. A fundamental question the students faced was differentiation – how do you stand out and drive demand in a highly competitive market?
The winning team from the semester long wine project, determining if and how the brand was possible.
The answer to this question was to introduce a new purchase criteria to the wine category: purpose. While the notion of “one-for-one” exists in other product categories – think Tom’s Shoes – it is largely absent in wine. What might that look like in wine?
The answer to this question was found in expanding shared benefit. Broncos are proud, but that pride can be difficult to communicate. Students coined a new term, Bronconess, to articulate the unique spirit of what makes a Bronco, a Bronco. More than communicating pride, students in partnership with Silvio brought this purpose to life by ensuring that 100% of the profits of the wine went to aspiring leaders who demonstrated the essence of Bronconess – courage and enthusiasm in a challenging situation, especially when sustained. Broconess is the principle of shared benefit in business education brought to life. Cheers!
Learn Business by Doing Business
Leadership and Business Strategy students exemplify the Bronconess Wine brand presenting at WMU’s Night of Excellence. They presented to over 300 of the most distinguished alumni at WMU. Bronconess is much more than a wine brand, it gives students experience running a business in a Business College.
Collaboration of Business and WMU to Achieve Mutual Benefit
MBA students with Silvio (third from left) at Tremonte Vineyards in Chile on Study Abroad.
“The most significant benefit we saw was the experience that we could provide to the students in the Business school by having them involved in real life cases that would provide immediate results that they could use to measure how effective their strategies and other decisions would be.”
Silvio Di Gregorio | secretary-treasurer of Whitewater Investments S.A.
Brice Dowling touring students through imperial Beverage Warehouse
“The Bronconess wine project is all about experiential learning, and it has been a privilege for Imperial Beverage to have been part of this project from day one. I have been continuously amazed by what the students have accomplished with each step of the process. They have been imaginative, resourceful, and relentless. They have had to actually use the skills they learned from dedicated professors. This was particularly evident during the brand pitch competition, in which I was honored to participate as a judge. Everyone involved with Haworth College of Business and WMU should be proud of and excited about this program—it is truly a differentiator!”