How Glenn Kitson and Rob Mayhew became adland’s favorite social media stars
The creatives-turned-influencers tell us how their social media stardom has affected careers, work relationships and their futures in the advertising industry.
Glenn Kitson and Rob Mayhew both have over 20 years of experience in creative roles, but recently they have found fame on their social media accounts by tapping into niche corners of the internet – Kitson with his satirical Instagram account where he posts ‘lookalike’ photos of people in popular culture and Mayhew with an all-too-relatable TikTok series detailing agency life.
“It’s not even a meme account, it’s my normal account, but I post lots of memes on it,” says Kitson, who jokes that he feels “cheap” every time he posts one, like he has ruined his artistic integrity. “I do feel quite embarrassed by it, to be honest.”
Kitson’s career began in fashion, working first as a stylist and creating editorials for a magazine he ran with some friends. They started making films for each edition and subsequently worked at Ridley Scott’s RSA Films before going freelance. Since then, he has set up his own creative studio, The Rig Out, which has worked with brands including Fred Perry, Man City, Nike and Adidas, and he has recently been signed to production company Iconoclast.
In addition to his day job, Kitson has accumulated 149,000 followers on Instagram thanks to his spoof content. It all began during lockdown in the UK when, Kitson admits, he wasn’t working much and began posting even more memes, which is when it really began to take off. He understands that some people had followed him for his work in fashion and film and that now it has gone down a “mad route” with the lookalike memes.
“I was in New York, doing some work with Tommy Hilfiger and someone introduced me as ‘Glenn Kitson the Meme Guy’. I was like, ‘oh for fuck sake, this is not how I want to get introduced to people’.”
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He laughs that he was “pissed off” just the other day because someone called him an influencer, but adds that secretly he is “addicted to the attention” and knows he can have fun with it and showcase his personality.
Over the past eight months, the creative has also noticed more advertising execs are following him from corporations such as the BBC and Film4. He hints that advertisers also come to him for projects that require a bit of humor now, which he enjoys.
“I’m really privileged to be part of this industry too,” Kitson adds. “I get to come up with ideas and execute them and that’s a wonderful thing, but the payoff is that I am part of that capitalism problem.”
Having an artistic background is something that has inspired Mayhew too. He’s a stand-up comedian and has previously worked at Grey London, Arc Worldwide and Ogilvy Social Lab. Now, he’s Fleishman Hillard UK’s head of influence, working on clients including Samsung and Unilever.
Contrary to Kitson, having a social media presence was very much a strategic move. “I was writing a lot of social media strategies and I’d fallen out of love with it,” he says.
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“If you want to come up with a creative idea, you have to sit down do a content calendar, brief in the studio, then the studio has to come up with something and it takes weeks. I thought ‘I’m going to try TikTok’. I wanted to understand it for my job.”
To begin with, he didn’t tell anyone but ended up getting a bit obsessed with the platform due to its ease and the possibilities. “You can come up with an idea in the morning and then film it seconds later. You don’t even need to leave the house.
“After about six months, I stumbled across my first agency sketch, which was about booking a meeting room and someone is already in it.” The characters were relatable and people took notice.
Today, Mayhew has 138,000 followers on TikTok.
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“I went to Cannes Lions last year and everyone was so nice and supportive. You realize that people are actually seeing the sketches that I do in the spare room. It’s a love letter to the industry. Sometimes people might feel like I’m poking fun at it, but actually I love a lot of the things that are ridiculous about it.”
Now, due to his viral success, he has become the go-to person at his agency to help bring brands on to the platform. “Because I work in social and I’m a sort of influencer on TikTok, it’s quite easy to flip between different types of agencies because they all need that.
“I work four days a week at Fleishman Hillard and then Friday for me is content creation day. I can make about 10 or 15 sketches in a day. I come up with ideas during the week and put them into my phone.”
Two years have passed since the comedian posted his first sketch on TikTok and recently started posting on LinkedIn too, which he notes has opened him up to “a whole new audience“. “I love it. LinkedIn is great for stalking at the best of times – you see everyone who has looked at your page, so you get a real sense of who your audience is.”
With such big platforms, both must be making money from it, right? Sort of. Kitson knows he “should be able to” and that he gets loads of clothes and trainers sent his way, while Mayhew now has an agent and does make money from being a content creator, but only after a year of grinding away.
Being part of the advertising industry is something you can tell means a lot to both creators and each has experienced support from colleagues and collaborators. Mayhew explains: “Occasionally, my colleagues will do something and I’ll say that I’m probably going to make it into a sketch and they don’t mind. They love it.”
“I love comedy and making people laugh, I’ve always wanted to do that. I’ve gone from being an account handler to being more creative now, which is what TikTok has allowed. I’d like to have my cake and eat it.”
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