We’re happy to announce that GHO are 2019 AMY Awards finalists for our work with Urbanest.
The AMY Award for Utility focuses on the best in tools, apps, online services and other digital offerings devoted to simplifying, streamlining or just improving the daily life of customers.
Celebrating Digital Brilliance covering Digital, Online Services and Applications, the AMYs are the Australian digital industry’s most prestigious awards.
Re-designing the Urbanest Website
“Put simply, our task was to simplify and streamline Urbanest’s online presence, in order to better serve students and booking agents alike.” – Ryan Chao, Executive Creative Director, GHO
Urbanest offers a range of high-quality accommodation to students in Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney. The company provides world-class customer service once they get their customers through the door, and that same ease of use needed to be replicated on the Urbanest website.
GHO was tasked to redesign Urbanest’s public website to better communicate their value proposition and create an optimum online user experience for potential students, education agents and partners – with the aim of encouraging students to stay with Urbanest throughout their time at university.
We grounded the creative process in user-centric design principles, which involved extensive research into how customers interact with Urbanest’s website.
We collected data on everything from the process behind the customer’s search, to what they consider during the enquiry process, to how they respond to various branding elements.
Urbanest: Made for so much more
“The delivery of a great customer experience online is vital to our business and what GHO have done is create an intelligent site that delivers a tailored experience for each of our customer groups. It provides the platform for retention and growth as well as being a tangible demonstration of our brand promise ‘Made for so much more’.
GHO were quick to establish a vision for how to best incorporate the new brand positioning into a seamless digital experience. They brought it to life visually early in the process so all stakeholders were engaged and could contribute meaningfully to the process.
Without a doubt, by driving the process through insights and the collaborative approach with GHO, we’ve elevated the online experience of our brand, giving us a competitive advantage in an increasingly busy market.
We couldn’t be happier with the result of the website, and the flexibility it has given for us as a business to adapt as we grow.” – Monica Westwood, Marketing Manager, Urbanest
Urbanest: Brand Position
“GHO’s innovation in this area has set us apart from other providers, allowing students to determine the best choice for their needs and lifestyle.
Coming into our tenth year of operation in Australia, we had undertaken an extensive review of our brand position in market. The outcome was the creation of a brand vision that communicated the Urbanest experience, rather than just the product.
We also wanted to drill into the unique qualities across the portfolio, embracing the personality that has evolved over time in each of our communities. By allowing students to tailor their enquiry journey to their personality through the Urbanest Selector Tool, we’re elevating to providing so much more than just a room.” – Amy Parker, Head of Marketing and HR, Urbanest
The AMY Awards winners will be announced at the awards Gala Dinner on 24 October in Sydney.