Company gets a new look from marketing students at Georgia Southern University

December 10, 2007

Three marketing students at Georgia Southern University have rebranded an established Georgia company, changing its name, its look, and its Web site to reflect the company’s growing list of clients and offerings. When the new year arrives, the former South Georgia Computer Solutions (SGCS) will be known as Georgia Technologies, Inc.

‘When SGCS contacted the Center for Retail Studies, they explained that they were no longer serving only south Georgia, but had developed a national client database, including NASA,” said Kathleen Gruben, associate professor of marketing and director of the Center for Retail Studies in Georgia Southern’s College of Business Administration. ‘They were looking for help in developing a new face for the company. I asked three hard-working and capable students to take this project and run with it, and the result has been phenomenal.”

The three students who took the lead are Ashley Ferguson of Savannah, Amy Kirkland of of Savannah, and Kandayce Lee of Augusta. All three are marketing majors, with Ferguson and Lee focusing on retain store management and fashion merchandising, and Kirkland focusing on retail store management and sales.

‘We completed this project as a special topics class, so we each earned college credit for our work,” said Lee, who will graduate in December. ‘We began by planning what we needed to do”market research, what research methods we’d use, and meetings with clients.”

The trio started by making phone calls to clients and asking a dozen pre-determined survey questions. From those questions, they found that the company’s name did not reflect its activities. However, the survey demonstrated that their clients were loyal and believed SGCS to be a good company..

‘Dr. Gruben allowed us to assign part of our project to her advertising class,” Lee explained. ‘They helped us out by brainstorming brands, slogans, and logos, to help us out with a new look. With their help we took the company to a more modern look in its Web and advertising presences.”

Ferguson, Kirkland, and Lee suggested a video for the Georgia Technologies Web site (www.georgiatechnologies.com) to explain the name change to long-time customers. They also made suggestions on keeping in touch with clients through reminder postcards

‘These marketing students surveyed our clients, gave us fresh ideas, and really opened our eyes on the need for a new look,” said Joseph Eason, vice president of customer relations relations. ‘They gave us lots of concepts to work on, and we think the changes they created will be beneficial. When we saw their final presentation, we knew they had had done a great job.” Eason also credited Gruben for her guidance of the students and for her helpful ideas.

For more information about the Center for Retail Studies, visit http://coba.georgiasouthern.edu/centers/crs/index.html