
Michael MacLennan
Verified Expert in Marketing
Marketing Expert
Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Toptal member since March 26, 2026
In 2026, Michael's communications platform Comms With AI won Gold at the inaugural AI Comms Awards, where Michael was also named AI Communications Leader of the Year. He has advised a G20 minister, led digital strategy for a £3 billion regeneration, driven social strategy for global financial executives, and founded a charity supporting 385,000 people. Imperial-trained in ML and AI, he advises multinationals, NGOs, membership bodies, and startups, including Allwyn and ParalympicsGB.
Project Highlights
Certification Highlights
Expertise
- AI Marketing
- Artificial Intelligence (AI)
- ChatGPT
- Claude
- Communication Strategy
- Digital Strategy
- Project Management
- Social Media
Work Experience
Founder
Comms With AI
- Founded Comms With AI in early 2026: a productized platform of AI tools, templates, and tool reviews for communications professionals, launched as a product line within my consultancy, Faur.
- Won Gold at the inaugural AI Comms Awards 2026 for Best Innovation in AI Tools for Communications, and was named AI Communications Leader of the Year (Agency) at the same awards, within months of launch.
- Built a library of 62 practitioner-tested templates organized around a five-phase operating system (Strategize, Create, Govern, Monitor, Transform), alongside 36 AI tool reviews and seven bundled workflow toolkits.
- Architected the brand as a family: Applied/Comms With AI (publication and learning lab), Leader Comms With AI (senior comms leaders), and Founder Comms With AI (early-stage founders, with Foras Ventures), with a third vertical launching late 2026.
- Designed a commercial ladder running from free library through Consult Comms With AI and Deploy Comms With AI into full consultancy engagements, with a paid product tier in development for Q4 2026.
Digital and Social Media Director
Grayling
- Spearheaded social and digital strategy for a multibillion-pound regeneration program, one of the UK's most complex multi-stakeholder communications environments, spanning a sports team, major investors, local government, and community groups.
- Worked with a world-leading financial organization on CEO and executive LinkedIn strategy, content positioning, and digital presence in regulatory and policy-facing contexts, including strategy production, auditing, and ongoing advisory consultation.
- Developed digital and social communications plans for a senior minister in a G20 country around major international forums, including narrative design, platform strategy, and approval-ready content.
Founder and Director
Faur Communications Consultancy
- Founded and led an AI-powered communications consultancy serving organizations including ParalympicsGB, Allwyn (a multinational lottery operator), Charity Leadership Scotland, and Prosper.
- Built a consulting model capable of scaling across associate networks for multi-specialist projects, with clients spanning multinationals, international NGOs, national membership bodies, and startups.
- Delivered a 37-page digital platform evaluation for a major organization, covering accessibility standards such as WCAG 2.1 and 2.2, platform provider analysis, and an implementation roadmap for a community of thousands.
Board Director
ScotlandIS
- Elected to the board of Scotland's digital technology industry membership body, holding governance responsibility for marketing and communications.
- Served on the board group that undertook the chief executive recruitment process in 2026.
- Chaired a room at ScotSoft, the organization's flagship annual conference, hosting sessions from supercomputing access to founder-led selling.
Interim Chief Executive
Various Charities
- Served as interim chief executive of a national cancer support organization, navigating acute financial instability and delivering a recovery plan that generated over 50% of annual income within one quarter.
- Led change management for a national support organization, improving service delivery and reshaping its operating model.
- Acted as strategic consultant to a national membership body, developing and launching its five-year strategic plan and the communications program behind it.
- Led communications for a national third sector interface, producing new guidelines, hosting workshops, and managing a new website launch.
Founder, Chief Executive and Chair
Covid Aid
- Founded a national charity from a standing start during the pandemic, supporting over 385,000 people affected by COVID-19 and raising more than £250,000.
- Built an award-winning online community of over 2,000 members, alongside the full digital and communications operation covering brand, website, content, social channels, and national media relations.
- Won a CMX Award and was a finalist for Rising CEO at the Third Sector Awards and Charity of the Year at the Scottish Charity Awards.
- Established partnerships with the NHS, the Scottish Government, Asthma & Lung UK, and Marie Curie.
Director, Digital Communications and Social Media Strategy
Brunswick Group
- Advised multinational clients, including HSBC, Philips, and Aviva, on social media strategy, campaign governance, and digital communications.
- Built the firm's social media advisory proposition in a newly created director-level role, establishing core standards, strategic frameworks, and client offer.
- Collaborated directly with the firm's founder and chairman on digital community and platform development, gaining direct exposure to board-level advisory dynamics across the firm's full client portfolio.
- Developed, launched, and led a global internal communications and knowledge platform surfacing Brunswick's best advisory work to support client development, new hire onboarding, and firm-wide consistency across global offices.
Senior Digital Producer and Head of Digital
STV, The Herald, BBC, ITN, The Air Ambulance Service
- Doubled digital donations and quadrupled social engagement within six months as Head of Digital and Innovation at The Air Ambulance Service (2017 to 2018).
- Pioneered interactive content guides for the BBC and launched a new ITN website as Senior Digital Producer (2013 to 2015).
- Built and produced Scotland's first digital platforms for major broadcast and print media at STV and The Herald, launching The Herald's first podcast (2005 to 2013).
Global Digital Editorial Manager
Red Bull
- Executed a global content strategy reaching over 100 million fans and more than 1 billion video views annually, making Red Bull the most-shared video brand of 2016.
- Aligned editorial teams across more than 60 countries and grew site traffic 84% year on year.
- Led the RedBull.com/VR launch with a project team of more than 70 people, defining editorial standards for VR, 360-degree video, and immersive experiences.
AVP, Editor for Digital Content and Channels
Barclaycard
- Transformed the digital content department into a responsive newsroom model for a global payments brand, overhauling the website and the app.
- Reduced legal approval time from weeks to minutes, enabling real-time social engagement inside a heavily regulated environment.
- Managed digital and social channels serving hundreds of thousands of followers, setting editorial standards and governance across the estate.
Project History
Digital and Social Strategy | Major Urban Regeneration Program
- **2+ Million ** — Views in Two Weeks
- **100,000+ ** — Cross-platform Launch Engagement
- Over 40% — LinkedIn Engage
A £3 billion multi-year regeneration program required a communications strategy capable of serving fundamentally competing audiences simultaneously: an emotionally invested football fanbase, local residents with legitimate concerns, institutional investors, and national political stakeholders—all in a high-scrutiny public environment.
I reframed communications away from a sports-first narrative toward a broader place-based story centred on jobs, skills, housing, and community benefit. I designed the overarching social and digital strategy from the ground up, establishing audience segmentation, tone-of-voice guidance, partner amplification models, and governance frameworks. I also built crisis protocols, moderation standards, and escalation procedures to ensure the program could operate credibly under sustained public and media attention across multiple delivery partners.
Flagship launch delivered over two million views and more than 100,000 engagements in two weeks, with LinkedIn engagement rates sustained above 40%. I established the program as credible and community-facing from launch.
Five-year Strategy Launch | National Membership Organization
- 3 Audience Streams — Fully Segmented Communications Architecture Delivered
- 750+ Members — Scale of Membership Reached Through Launch Campaign
Scotland’s national membership body for voluntary sector leadership needed to launch a five-year organizational strategy that felt genuinely inclusive rather than top-down. The audience was fragmented: existing members, prospective members, and sector stakeholders each required distinct messaging, tone, and calls to action—with no single approach serving all three.
I developed a fully segmented communications architecture with separate streams for each audience group. I also delivered social media assets, email campaigns, press materials, webinar scripts, and event frameworks tailored to each segment. Working closely with the executive team and board, I ensured the tone and language reflected the organization’s values rather than generic strategy-announcement copy. Finally, I produced a post-launch media and content pipeline to sustain momentum beyond the conference.
The launch was described as extremely well-received across all audience groups. Member feedback indicated genuine involvement in the direction of travel. Prospective members were given clear, credible pathways to join.
National Athlete Community Platform Evaluation
- 37-page Report — Delivered to the Board
- **10+ ** — Options Assessed
- **2,000 ** — Athletes Served
A national Paralympic organization needed to select a digital platform to host a newly launched athlete community spanning over 1,800 current and former Paralympians. The platform had to meet strict accessibility standards, fit within tight budget constraints, and serve an athlete cohort with highly varied digital familiarity and physical accessibility needs across a 65-year age range.
I conducted an independent evaluation covering over 10 platform providers through structured consultations, live demos, and accessibility audits against WCAG 2.1/2.2 AA standards and VPAT documentation. I incorporated findings from community research involving 125+ athletes. I then produced a comprehensive platform matrix, cost-benefit analysis, and comparative accessibility summary. Finally, I delivered a 37-page recommendation report to the board, including platform shortlisting, a compliance risk assessment, and a phased implementation roadmap.
I provided an actionable, evidence-based roadmap enabling confident board-level decision-making. I also informed wider conversations on digital transformation, CRM integration, and long-term athlete community strategy.
Education
Master of Letters (MLitt) Degree in Journalism
University of Strathclyde - Glasgow, UK
Master of Arts (Honours) Degree in Philosophy
University of Aberdeen - Aberdeen, UK
Certifications
Claude Code in Action
Anthropic
Professional Certificate in Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence
Imperial College London
Executive Leadership Programme
University of Oxford
Digital Strategy Diploma (Distinction)
Chartered Institute of Marketing
Skills
Core
Marketing, AI Marketing, Social Media, Branding, Content Marketing, LinkedIn Marketing, Social Media Content, Copywriting, Marketing Operations, Digital Marketing, Lead Generation, Marketing Strategy, Digital Marketing Strategy, Marketing Analytics, Paid Advertising, A/B Testing, Content Creation, Social Media Analytics, Google Ads, LinkedIn Ads, Email Marketing, Blogging, Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI), Content, Writing & Editing, Social Media Management, Google SEO, Social Media Marketing (SMM), Marketing Communications (MarCom), Product Marketing, Brand Marketing, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO), Go-to-market (GTM) Strategy, Growth Hacking, Performance Marketing, Pay-per-Click (PPC), SEO Content, Local SEO, On-page SEO, Brand Strategy, Social Media Strategy, Content Strategy, Web Accessibility
Platforms & Tools
Claude, Google Analytics, Content Management Systems (CMS), Canva, Microsoft 365, Monday.com, HubSpot
Business Models
B2C, B2B, SaaS Product Marketing
Other
Google, ChatGPT, Project Management, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning, Digital, Digital Strategy, Communication Strategy, Digital Communication, Communication Management, Blogs, Case Studies, AI Automation, AI Algorithms, AI Consulting, AI Content Creation, AI Social Media Content Creation, B2B Marketing, LinkedIn, Advertising Copy, Brand Awareness, Answer Engine Optimization (AEO), Generative Engine Optimization (GEO), Landing Page Optimization, Integrated Marketing Strategy, Campaign Planning, Agency Relationship Management (ARM), Creative Strategy, Meta Ads, Product-led Growth (PLG), Growth, Channel Management, Performance Metrics, Video Production, Growth Marketing, Startups, Content Management, CMS, Startup Marketing, Professional Services, Corporate Communications, Developer Relations, AI Agents, Pitch Decks, SharePoint, Web Content, Brand Positioning, Slack, Notion, Coding, Statistics, Data, Technical Writing, Fractional CMO, Growth Strategy, Marketing Agencies, User Retention, Consumer Behavior, AI Product Strategy, SEO with AI, Go-to-market Execution, Early-stage Startups, Go-to-market Plans, Customer Acquisition, Later, Keyword Analysis, APIs, SDKs, Web Design, Viral Marketing, Trello, Microsoft Copilot, Strategy, Stakeholder Communications, Crisis Communications, Brand Voice, Campaigns, Planning, Platform Evaluation, Community, Accessibility, Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), Technology, Strategic Planning
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