5 Minutes With… Vairi MacLennan

Vairi MacLennan confesses that she got into the industry very much by accident. Without a set career path in mind, Vairi lent into her interest in and love for the internet – the place where she first found a sense of community and belonging. She recalls how there was once a time “no one really took the internet seriously, but I was instinctively drawn to it.”

Her instincts were definitely correct and she’s built an impressive CV as an internet-native. Vairi founded the content team at Mother and led social at Gordon Ramsay’s business where she learned that good content needs freedom to resonate and should be approached with a sense of play. She decided to join Lucky Generals as the head of content, based on the agency’s work and people; simple as that. “There’s a real appetite here for craft, for rigour, for ideas that don’t get lost in the scroll,” Vairi explains.

The first order of business will be building a team who are as online as she is. Vairi says she’s more interested in potential candidate’s FYP (for you pages, aka personalised feeds on social media) than their CV because that will really demonstrate their online fluency and audience-first expertise.

LBB’s Zhenya Tsenzharyk chats to Vairi about the new role, which brands are getting social right today, and being chronically online.

LBB> Vairi, congrats on the new role! Tell us a little bit about how you got your start in the industry and social/content in particular.

Vairi> Thank you! I got into the industry kind of by accident. I grew up in a small town in Scotland where I didn’t really feel like I fit in, and I found my community online – first on MySpace, then Tumblr. I didn’t have a clear career path in mind, but I knew I loved the internet, and I started kind of wildly applying for anything even vaguely connected to bloggers or social media.

At the time, no one really took the internet seriously, but I was instinctively drawn to it. Honestly, I think I was a bit lost in terms of what to do with my life and following what I was naturally curious in just felt right. I feel incredibly lucky that I trusted my gut.

LBB> You founded the content team at Mother and led social at Gordon Ramsay’s business. What are some of your biggest lessons from that time?

Vairi> One big one is that the magic of content doesn’t lie in the rules, it lies in the freedom. I’ve been that person who turned up to creative reviews with best practices – crop it like this, keep it under 15”, add subtitles, don’t add subtitles. But I’ve learned that content doesn’t behave well when you try to box it in. Strategy is essential, but the work that really cuts through always allows space for play.

The other big thing is how much I love building teams. I started as a social media manager, then moved into strategy, but it’s been such a joy to shift into leadership and find people from outside traditional adland – people who are just deeply, instinctively online. Giving them space to create and backing their point of view has probably been the most rewarding part of the whole journey.

LBB> Why is joining Lucky Generals the right career move for you? What appealed to you about the agency?

Vairi> Two reasons – the work and the people. I’ve admired Lucky Generals for a long time. It’s an agency that’s properly creatively ambitious, not afraid to have a strong point of view, and genuinely values original thinking. But more than that, it’s full of good people who care about the work and each other.

I’m especially excited about building something in the content space that doesn’t feel like it’s just throwing stuff at the wall. There’s a real appetite here for craft, for rigour, for ideas that don’t get lost in the scroll. That felt like such a natural fit – not just with how I like to work, but with where I think the industry’s headed.

LBB> The dominant approach to social content has been about speed, volume and lo-fi execution – why do you think this is the wrong way to look at it? What’s your view and strategy on social content?

Vairi> The internet doesn’t need more content, it needs better content. For a while, social became this machine of speed and scale, with output often valued over ideas. But what actually performs now isn’t rule following, it’s resonance.

For me, everything starts with insight. Great content knows who it’s for and how it wants to make them feel. Sometimes that’s a short film. Sometimes it’s an immersive experience. Sometimes it’s a Twitch stream. Sometimes it’s a creator led multiverse. But it always starts with the idea, and lets the format follow.

LBB> You refer to yourself as ‘chronically online’ (relatable!), what does that look like for you?

Vairi> It basically means I never really log off – but not in a doomscroll-y way. I’ve always found the internet a place of joy and creativity, and I get really lost in how creators stretch platform limits.

People often frame the internet as overwhelming or bleak, but for me, it’s always been the opposite. It’s where I go to get inspired, to feel connected, and to remember why I still genuinely love what I do.

LBB> You’ll be building a team of internet-natives – tell us a little bit about the skills/attributes you’ll be on the lookout for and why the traditional adland pool might not be where you find them.

Vairi> I care far more about someone’s FYP than their CV. I look for people who see the world differently – who’ve grown up in different corners of the internet, follow different subcultures, are fluent in things I might not even know exist. Because if we’re trying to make content that people care about, we need voices in the room who understand those audiences first-hand.

I also believe in hiring people who didn’t necessarily come up through agencies or ad school. You can teach someone how to structure an idea or sell a deck. You can’t teach that kind of native feel for what will land online.

LBB> What types of client briefs or industry sectors are best suited to benefit from high‑quality, platform‑native storytelling?

Vairi> Almost all of them! Any brand that wants to show up in culture, not just sponsor it, can benefit from high quality platform native work. But the ones that get it right tend to be the ones that are really clear on who they are and aren’t afraid to commit to it – whether that’s a heritage brand reimagining itself for a new generation, or a challenger brand creating its own world from scratch.

LBB> Give a few examples of social-native work that has impressed you recently and what made it so good.

Vairi> I’m a bit of a fashion and sportswear fangirl on social – those brands tend to be masters at owning their identity and finding really playful ways to build worlds around it. Whether it’s Loewe and Marc Jacobs’ creator strategies, Jacquemus’ real life meets online beach club, or Berghaus’s Manchester inspired short films, they’re all very different formats, but each one shows what happens when a brand really understands who it is and isn’t afraid to push that further.

From a format perspective, I’m also really intrigued by the rise of sitcom style storytelling for the small screen – like ‘Roomies’ from Bilt or Tower 28’s TikTok mini drama. It’s exciting to see brands treating social less like a feed and more like an entertainment channel.

LBB> As you look to shape the future of creative and strategic excellence in the digital space for Lucky’s clients, how will you define success?

Vairi> Success, for me, is creating work people actually want to watch. Not just stuff that fills a gap, but work that makes people feel something. If someone feels seen by something we’ve made, that’s the win.

Effectiveness is a huge part of that too. But I think when you start with the audience and build from there – when you create something that’s genuinely built to be watched, shared, talked about – the results follow.