ICAS Appoints Realise Digital to Rebrand Website and Increase Online User Engagement

Edinburgh, 1st February 2011 – Realise Digital has been appointed to redesign the website of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS) after a competitive tender process. The website – http://www.icas.org.uk/ - which will be developed during 2011, will aim to enable wider access to information and increase engagement amongst the Institute’s members and other key stakeholders.

ICAS caters to a diverse range of accountants from students to directors, working in different industries, geographical regions and across a range of different specialisms. The new website will be a key resource for its 18,000 members across 100 countries, providing them with everything from networking opportunities and membership information to best practice advice and legal guidance.

Due to this diversity, it is important that the new ICAS site is able to offer personalised content suited to a specific individual. Realise Digital intend to integrate ICAS’s existing membership information, held in an iMIS database with the Ektron CMS to collect additional insights about visitors as they navigate the site. The website will also allow members to create their own online communities around specific subject areas to increase interaction and engagement.

Nathan Fulwood, Business Development Manager at Realise Digital said: “The challenge for a large, dispersed organisation like ICAS lies in creating a site that can act as a unifying force. Not only does it need to be an easily accessible fount of information, it should become a destination for accountants across the globe looking to share expertise and ideas. By integrating the existing membership database, and leveraging the capabilities of Ektron’s CMS, the new site will be able to provide this highly personalised experience for all visitors.”

Jonathan Milne, Director of Communications at ICAS said: “The new website will form the cornerstone of ICAS’s digital strategy, giving our members new opportunities to engage with us and their peers to share valuable industry insights. It was Realise Digital’s combined technical and creative understanding of the project, its experience with the underlying content management system and its aspiration to build a personalised, community-led site that really made it stand out ahead of the competition.”