FG SQUARED, a full-service, interactive agency with a fifteen-year history of delivering bottom-line results for Fortune 500 clients, announced today that they have recently completed restructuring American Campus Communities’ network of Web sites. The overall goals were to provide the student housing company with greater control of the property Web sites and improved abilities to interact directly with their student customers.

American Campus Communities engaged FG SQUARED to take on the challenge of rebranding 118 student housing property Web sites under the same corporate umbrella – with new content management tools and consistent design. In order to assure that the needs of all the stakeholders were met, FG SQUARED underwent the following steps

Brand Research, Discovery, and Analysis
Interviews were conducted with parents, students, and management in all departments at American Campus Communities in order to determine what the brand meant to each stakeholder and gain consensus on the corporate brand.

SEO Research
Research of the student demographics along with student surveys unveiled keyword terms that would reach the more targeted consumer audience online and were incorporated into the technology of the sites.

Web site Assessment, Design, and Training
Based upon detailed needs assessment developed from working in tandem with American Campus Communities, FG SQUARED developed and tested design templates, content formalization, a unified database, and management systems.

“As our number of students grew exponentially, we simply outgrew the Web site structure that we had in place,” comments Bill Bayless, CEO and President of American Campus Communities. “We needed a seasoned interactive agency that had the ability to manage more complex web and database solutions. We were lucky to have talented strategic partners like FG SQUARED located right here in Austin to expedite this work.”

FG SQUARED took on managing the unmanageable through a process of carefully assessing needs, then designing solutions and implementing them while constantly staying in close communication with the American Campus Communities team. As a result, the restructuring of the Web sites has provided a number of advantages to American Campus Communities and its consumers.

Consistent Branding
Both parents and students can readily recognize the management team standing behind each of the campus properties.

Visibility Online
Students and parents will find it much easier to find the student housing company when searching for it online.

Improved Operations
Utilizing the increased functionality of the new Web sites, the American Campus Communities staff has more control over their operations. They can respond faster to student needs with revisions/updates and quickly improve internal processes.

Convenience
Students and parents will ultimately have access to an online resident portal where they can pay rent, submit maintenance requests, and get updates on community activities.
   
“A single, short-term investment of restructuring the American Campus Communities Web sites in order to gain ‘control central’ capabilities has definitely paid off for our client,” states Steve Golab, FG SQUARED CEO and President. “The unification of the sites impacted branding, SEO, operational efficiency and customer service. It created a win on many fronts.”
   
The full integration of all 118 sites occurred in phase one of the project. The second phase will create a leasing portal for the students. Both FG SQUARED and American Campus Communities look forward to experiencing the long-term benefits that will be derived from this unique, customer service-oriented site reorganization.