Marketing Operators

Marketing Operators I Connor Rolain I Connor MacDonald I Cody Plofker
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  1. 2 HR AGO

    New Ad Accounts, Organic & Creators: Marketing Operators Hotline

    It’s a MOps Hotline special episode! Connor MacDonald (CMO, Ridge), Cody Plofker (CEO, Jones Road Beauty), and Connor Rolain (Head of Growth, HexClad) answer your most pressing questions. Especially how to get started. Connor MacDonald shares what he’s learning in real time from launching a new supplement company from scratch — no Ridge halo, no shortcuts. The trio breaks down why organic distribution has become the non-negotiable foundation before touching paid, and how to think about scaling a Meta account from $500 a day to $1,000 and beyond. They also dig into the evolution from demand capture to demand creation, how to read the signals in your ad account, and why onsite CRO (conversion rate optimization) might be the most underrated lever in your whole growth stack. Powered By  Motion Creative Benchmarks 2026 https://motionapp.com/thumbstop-pulse/creative-benchmarks-2026?utm_campaign=marketing-operators&utm_medium=sponsor&utm_content=creative-benchmarks-2026&utm_source=marketing-operators-podcast Prescient AI  https://www.prescientai.com/operators Richpanel https://9ops.co/richpanel Aftersell https://9ops.co/4i3bb5 Rivo https://www.rivo.io/operators Operators Newsletter https://9operators.com/

    1hr 6min

  2. 31 MAR

    Channel Diversification in Ecommerce: Biggest Mistakes & Wins

    What if the reason your channel expansion isn’t working has nothing to do with the channel? Connor MacDonald (CMO, Ridge), Cody Plofker (CEO, Jones Road Beauty), and Connor Rolain (Head of Growth, HexClad) break down what drives channel expansion decisions. They use the David Protein bar lawsuit as a jumping-off point to discuss bold brand marketing and the frameworks behind how DTC brands scale beyond Meta. The hosts dig into why thinking about customers acquired — not revenue generated — changes how you sequence channel investment. They debate the biggest mistakes they’ve each made with channel timing and what they’d do differently if they were launching a brand today. The conversation gets specific about TikTok Shop affiliate structures, how organic content creation seeds better paid performance, and why baseball on linear TV is offering CPMs that rival platforms can’t touch right now. Powered By  Motion Creative Benchmarks 2026  https://motionapp.com/thumbstop-pulse/creative-benchmarks-2026?utm_campaign=marketing-operators&utm_medium=sponsor&utm_content=creative-benchmarks-2026&utm_source=marketing-operators-podcast Richpanel  https://9ops.co/richpanel Aftersell  https://9ops.co/4i3bb5 Haus  https://www.haus.io/operators Prescient AI  https://www.prescientai.com/operators Operators Newsletter  https://9operators.com/

    1hr 7min

  3. 24 MAR

    Salt and Stone’s Ari Murray on Sessions, Scent & Scaling DTC

    “The market will tell you your hero — you can’t decide it.” How do you build a brand after you've seen the inside of 30 others? Connor Rolain and Cody Plofker sit down with Ari Murray, Chief Digital Officer at Salt & Stone, who spent four and a half years as Chief Growth Officer at Sharma Brands before going in-house. They dig into what it takes to lead growth for a single brand after years of running it for dozens at once. You’ll learn when to hire an agency versus build in-house, and why the answer changes as a brand matures. Ari shares how Salt & Stone approaches acquisition without discounting, why discovery sets are central to their DTC funnel, and how she thinks about first-order AOV in a scent-driven category where customers can't smell the product before they buy.  They also discuss session growth as a daily obsession, the real cost of dabbling in new channels without enough commitment, and why the line between brand and performance is too often drawn in the wrong place.  Powered By Motion Creative Benchmarks 2026https://motionapp.com/thumbstop-pulse/creative-benchmarks-2026?utm_campaign=marketing-operators&utm_medium=sponsor&utm_content=creative-benchmarks-2026&utm_source=marketing-operators-podcast Aftersell https://9ops.co/4i3bb5 Rivo https://www.rivo.io/operators Prescient AI https://www.prescientai.com/operators Richpanel https://9ops.co/richpanel Operators Newsletter https://9operators.com/

    1hr 14min

  4. 17 MAR

    Incrementality Playbook Every Ecommerce Marketer Needs

    Are you making decisions based on data that proves causality or just correlation? Connor Rolain (Head of Growth, HexClad), Connor MacDonald (CMO, Ridge), and Cody Plofker (CEO, Jones Road Beauty) dig into what it means to build a truly incrementality-first marketing organization. They break down how to string together consecutive channel tests — using each result to build the next hypothesis rather than testing in isolation. They share real examples from their own accounts, including how a 20% budget shift to brand video drove a 40% lift in incremental results, why TikTok Shop is proving to reach a new audience for HexClad, and how Jones Road diagnosed and rebuilt a struggling Meta account from first principles. The conversation also tackles the nuance of measuring upper-funnel channels like CTV and YouTube, when directional reads are enough, and how to build a culture where your team learns to think incrementally without being told to. Powered By Motion Creative Benchmarks 2026 https://motionapp.com/thumbstop-pulse/creative-benchmarks-2026?utm_campaign=marketing-operators&utm_medium=sponsor Haus https://www.haus.io/operators Prescient AI  https://www.prescientai.com/operators Richpanel  https://9ops.co/richpanel Aftersell  https://9ops.co/4i3bb5 Operators Newsletter  https://9operators.com/

    1hr 3min

  5. 10 MAR

    Meta’s Manus AI Enters the Chat: Is Media Buying “Dead”?

    Is media buying dead or just evolving? Cody Plofker, Connor MacDonald, and Connor Rolain unpack Meta’s integration of Manus AI into Ads Manager and explore what it signals for the future of paid growth. The hosts discuss whether AI-driven automation is making traditional media buying obsolete and what this shift could mean for ecommerce teams navigating an increasingly agent-led landscape. The squad also covers how they’re already applying AI inside their brands, from campaign execution to CRO workflows + internal tooling — evolving growth roles, cross-channel decision-making, and how teams are rethinking structure in response to more capable AI systems.  Powered By Motion Creative Strategy Bootcamp  https://motionapp.com/2026-creative-strategy-bootcamp-paid?utm_source=marketing-operators-podcast&utm_medium=sponsor&utm_campaign=marketing-operators&utm_content=creative-strategy-bootcamp-2026 Richpanel  https://9ops.co/richpanel Aftersell  https://9ops.co/4i3bb5 Rivo  https://www.rivo.io/operators Prescient AI  https://www.prescientai.com/operators Operators Newsletter  https://9operators.com/

    1hr 11min

  6. 6 MAR

    Mattel & PDQ: Scaling Through Data, Checkout, and Customer Trust

    Mina Zandbar (VP of Global eCommerce & Digital Growth at Mattel) and Avi Moskowitz (Co-Founder & CEO) of PrettyDamnQuick, join hosts Connor MacDonald + Cody Plofker to explore ecommerce growth from two very different vantage points — one inside an 80-year-old, multi-billion dollar toy company; the other, building the infrastructure that helps brands stop leaking revenue at checkout.  Together, they reveal how your business can better use first-party data, AI, and smarter checkout experiences to improve customer trust and sell more.  Avi explains how optimizing logistics and personalization inside checkout unlocks profit revenue, while Mina shares how Mattel builds agile, data-driven teams and connects directly with its global community of customers and collectors.  The end result? A top-to-bottom analysis of your entire customer journey … to scale faster.  PrettyDamnQuick https://prettydamnquick.com/?utm_source=partnerships&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=theoperators&utm_term=podnotes Try Checkout Index https://checkoutindex.prettydamnquick.com/?utm_source=partnerships&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=theoperators&utm_term=podnotes Powered By  Motion Creative Strategy Bootcamp  https://motionapp.com/2026-creative-strategy-bootcamp-paid?utm_campaign=marketing-operators&utm_medium=sponsor&utm_content=creative-strategy-bootcamp-2026&utm_source=marketing-operators-podcast  Haus  https://www.haus.io/operators  Prescient AI  https://www.prescientai.com/operators  Richpanel  https://9ops.co/richpanel  Aftersell  https://9ops.co/4i3bb5  Operators Newsletter  https://9operators.com/

    1hr 3min

  7. 3 MAR

    Category Expansion: When to Launch, What to Test & How to Scale

    Are your new product launches driving incremental revenue or just shifting money around?  Connor Rolain, Head of Growth at HexClad, and Connor MacDonald, CMO at Ridge, dig into one of the most under-discussed challenges in DTC: how and when to introduce new products into your paid acquisition channels. From HexClad’s cocktail shaker launch to Ridge’s tattoo-inspired wallet designs, they break down real decisions they’re making right now. Geo lift tests, channel holdouts, MER vs. ad-level performance, blended business unit analysis, and cross-category buying. The conversation centers on operationalizing category expansion in paid — building frameworks for when to scale, when to hold, and how to make smarter allocation decisions across categories. Powered By: Motion Creative Strategy Bootcamp https://motionapp.com/2026-creative-strategy-bootcamp-paid?utm_campaign=marketing-operators&utm_medium=sponsor&utm_content=creative-strategy-bootcamp-2026&utm_source=marketing-operators-podcast Prescient AI https://www.prescientai.com/operators Richpanel https://9ops.co/richpanel Aftersell https://9ops.co/4i3bb5 Haus https://www.haus.io/operators Operators Newsletter https://9operators.com/

    1hr 1min

  8. 24 FEB

    Episode 100! The Big Rocks We’re Focusing on for 2026 Growth

    How do you build a marketing machine that scales without breaking? In celebration of episode 100, Connor MacDonald (CMO, Ridge), Cody Plofker (CMO, Jones Road Beauty), and Connor Rolain (VP of Growth, HexClad) reveal the strategic priorities driving their brands’ growth in 2026 — straight out of their internal planning docs. From creating a bulletproof marketing operating system to cracking TikTok Shop, the trio goes deep on what’s moving the needle. They unpack why Ridge is betting big on retention as a product, why Jones Road is obsessed with creator-led social, and why all three brands believe that testing volume — not just testing smarter — is one of the highest-leverage inputs you can control. The conversation wraps with a candid breakdown of organic YouTube strategy and whether product seeding can replicate the success they’ve had on Instagram and TikTok. Powered By: Motion Creative Strategy Bootcamp https://motionapp.com/2026-creative-strategy-bootcamp-paid?utm_campaign=marketing-operators&utm_medium=sponsor&utm_content=creative-strategy-bootcamp-2026&utm_source=marketing-operators-podcast Rivo https://www.rivo.io/operators Prescient AI https://www.prescientai.com/operators Richpanel https://9ops.co/richpanel Aftersell https://9ops.co/4i3bb5 Operators Newsletter https://9operators.com/

    1hr 17min
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Information

  • Creator
    Marketing Operators I Connor Rolain I Connor MacDonald I Cody Plofker
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    115
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Marketing Operators I Connor Rolain I Connor MacDonald I Cody Plofker
  • Show Website
    Marketing Operators

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