a banya blog

nude (@nudeblogru) is a media project about russian banya culture, run by anna polyakova since 2016. her position in this field is unusual: other participants sell their own products or promote themselves as steam masters. anna does neither

her project explores the bathhouse as a cultural practice. an audience had grown around this idea for almost ten years. when i joined, the main instagram account had around 20,000 followers

help anna understand the project's strategic position: who its audience is, why its content works or does not work, and how to grow without losing its distinctive qualities. the request was for a full audit with practical recommendations

i segmented the audience and analysed six competing accounts. this confirmed the project's strength: a combination of expertise and aesthetic sensitivity that is rare in this niche and worth preserving

i then developed six content pillars, ranging from ethnography and expeditions to the body and rituals. more playful, meme-like content received its own category. each pillar had a clear definition of what belonged in it and why

i also defined the role of each platform and how the channels connect with one another

the main instagram account grew from 20,200 to 43,300 followers. during this period, monthly views consistently stayed at around 1.7 million