Brut original — format-native social video, made for the feed.
07Case Study — Brut Media (US), 2017–2019
Launching Brut
Brut was a fast-growing European social news brand with no U.S. presence. I established the U.S. office and architected the strategy to grow and monetize the brand — building the team, the platforms, and the partnerships that made Brut America's 3rd most-viewed digital news publisher.
- Role
- Head of Brut US
- Discipline
- Publisher Build
- Location
- New York · Global
- Duration
- 18 months to U.S. top three
I. The Challenge
Launch and monetize a new market inside a multinational organization — against U.S. publishers with a decade of runway — without a broadcast frequency, a homepage, or a legacy brand. Just distributed video, on other people's platforms, in other people's feeds.
II. Approach
How we got there.
- 01
Established the U.S. office and built the team from scratch — social strategists, content creators, and paid media experts — publishing across multiple social networks and countries as part of the larger Brut organization.
- 02
Architected the brand's growth and monetization strategy: data informed the creative, and creative content drove the numbers — +1600% followers and ~+1200% impressions on Facebook in a single year.
- 03
Launched the brand on every platform that mattered — Instagram, TikTok, Snap, YouTube, Twitter, plus the app and website — and opened Brut Mexico, because sitting out any market or platform was ceding audience.
- 04
Built the content partnership team, turning audience scale into licensing and revenue-driving distribution deals.
Seven films · Facebook
The format-native Brut editions.
Brut original — format-native social video, made for the feed.
Brut original — format-native social video, made for the feed.
Brut original — format-native social video, made for the feed.
Brut original — format-native social video, made for the feed.
Brut original — format-native social video, made for the feed.
III. Execution
Full operating leadership of the U.S. market: office build-out, hiring, editorial and platform strategy, paid media, monetization, and day-to-day creative direction across Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snap, YouTube, and Twitter.
IV. Results
- +1600%
- Facebook followers in one year
- ~+1200%
- Facebook impressions in one year
- 3rd
- Most-viewed digital news publisher in the U.S.
- 7+ platforms
- Launched — IG, TikTok, Snap, YT, Twitter, app, web
- + Brut Mexico
- New market launched alongside the content partnership team
V. Credits
- Head of Brut USKatie Walmsley
- OrganizationBrut Media
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