The Resident
A hosting engagement that became a redesign, then a full-funnel marketing programme, then a membership scheme — and finally a board-approved platform investment.
The context
The Resident came to us to host and manage the websites for their portfolio. That is usually where an agency relationship stops. This one started there.
What was disconnected
The websites reflected the brand as it had been rather than as it was becoming, and the marketing had no way of feeding what it learned back into them. Guest research existed in people’s heads. Ad performance lived in ad platforms. The booking journey was measured, but not against anything the commercial team recognised as a target.
What we changed
A complete redesign came first, built on deep user research and strategic consultation rather than on a moodboard — the point being that the research outputs had to be reusable by the marketing team afterwards.
With the site live, we built a full-funnel programme across Google Ads, paid social and email that pushes awareness, engagement and booking through the same journey, measured the same way.
Then the piece that changed the commercial model: a membership programme offering real financial benefit for booking direct. It is now a cornerstone of the strategy, and it does two jobs at once — it moves revenue off third-party channels, and it turns anonymous demand into a first-party guest relationship the business actually owns.
Which disciplines were involved
All four. Experience built the site, Growth ran the funnel, Insights connected the reporting, and Advisory is now working alongside The Resident and independent industry experts on the next platform.
What improved
Strong returns on ad spend, higher engagement and a consistent digital experience across the properties. The launch of Resident Edinburgh was the proof point: a new property going live into a system that already knew how to sell it.
What the work taught
After four years of consistent performance, the board approved investment in a new digital platform. That is the outcome worth noting — the marketing did not just deliver bookings, it built the internal case for a technology decision. Performance is how a digital function earns the right to change the stack.
