Former Clemenger, M+C and McCann leaders Rhian Mason and Elly Brand have launched REALMS, an independent culture consultancy helping brands connect their specialist capabilities around the cultural opportunities.
REALMS connects brand and agency teams around one cultural strategy, helping turn cultural intelligence into coordinated action across disciplines.
REALMS says it will remain independent and senior-led. It also said it represents a different model for senior women in the industry, where ownership, ambition and flexibility can coexist.
“Most organisations don’t have a capability problem. They have a connection problem,” said Mason. “The opportunity isn’t to undo specialisation. It’s to connect it around the same cultural opportunity, rather than producing separate discipline and channel plans.”
REALMS said it will plug into brand teams, agency teams and integrated agency villages to connect existing capability around a shared cultural strategy, rather than replacing them. It will focus on social, earned, creators, content and partnerships. It said it will also ensure cultural intelligence also shapes creative, media, experiences and broader brand activity.
It will take on creative briefs and social ecosystem to creator partnerships, earned ideas, media opportunities and brand experiences. REALMS said its tools are designed to turn cultural signals into strategy, briefs and ideas, not trend reports.
Together, Mason and Brand bring more than 25 years’ experience. Mason’s senior leadership roles span M+C Saatchi Sport & Entertainment, Clemenger BBDO and Emotive. Brand’s include roles at McCann and TEDxSydney. Their client experience includes Google, Amazon, CommBank, LEGO, eBay, Mastercard, Microsoft, Hyundai and L’Oréal.
“We keep hiring ‘culture-obsessed’ social leads, then bringing them into the process after the big decisions have already been made,” Brand said. “One person is expected to span cultural strategy, community, creators, platforms, paid amplification and content, while somehow championing culture across the organisation.”
“You can’t retrofit cultural relevance at the end. If culture matters to the brand, it has to shape creative, media, earned, creators, partnerships and social from the beginning. Culture should be a shared responsibility, not a final layer applied by social.”
