What does a content flywheel look like when it’s firing on all cylinders? Connor MacDonald (CMO, Ridge) and Cody Plofker (CEO, Jones Road Beauty) break down how their teams structure content creation end-to-end: from micro-creators and TikTok Shop affiliates to high-production studio shoots and ambassador programs. Both hosts bring their own playbooks to the table to compare notes in real time. They cover the three core buckets of a paid ad account, why scripted UGC is losing ground to raw “yapp...
May 19, 2026•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 112
Are you measuring new reach on Meta the right way or just guessing? Connor MacDonald (CMO, Ridge), Cody Plofker (CEO, Jones Road Beauty), and Connor Rolain (Head of Growth, HexClad) dig into the tactics + measurement frameworks driving their paid media strategies right now. The conversation spans Meta’s incremental attribution rollout and what the data shows. They cover signal engineering with conditional pixels, the case for non-purchase optimized campaigns on YouTube, and why building a delibe...
May 12, 2026•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 111
Drawing on over a decade of experience on the brand, HoldCo, and agency sides of DTC, Andrew Faris (Founder, AJF Growth) joins Connor MacDonald (CMO, Ridge) and Cody Plofker (CEO, Jones Road Beauty) to discuss what it takes to build and scale an ecommerce brand across every stage of growth. The conversation covers what advice from larger operators can get wrong for smaller brands and why AOV may be the most underrated metric in subscription businesses. They explore how to think about the atomic ...
May 07, 2026•1 hr 19 min•Ep. 110
Can you build a sports brand by saying no to most customers? Matty Martin (Head of Marketing, Cadence) joins Connor MacDonald (CMO, Ridge), and Connor Rolain (Head of Growth, HexClad), to break down what it takes to scale one of the fastest-growing sports hydration brands from scratch. Matty shares how he went from setting up the Shopify site himself to leading a full marketing team; all while sending every single email the company puts out. They dig into why Cadence stays focused on the athlete...
May 05, 2026•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 110
What if the most powerful customer insight tool in ecommerce is hiding inside your SMS program? Mike Manheimer (Chief Customer Officer, Postscript) joins hosts Connor MacDonald (CMO, Ridge) and Cody Plofker (CEO, Jones Road Beauty) to dig into how brands are getting more out of their SMS programs. They cover what most brands are doing wrong about messaging frequency, how conversational commerce is reshaping the acquisition funnel, and why the data from texts may be the most valuable, untapped si...
Apr 28, 2026•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 109
“If you’re not staying unhinged, you’re not building a memorable brand.” What happens when a two-time Emmy-winning TV anchor walks away from the newsroom to help build one of the most talked-about baby formula brands in the country? Kim Chappell (Chief Brand Officer at Bobbie) sits down with Cody Plofker (CEO at Jones Road Beauty) and Connor MacDonald (CMO at Ridge) to explore what it means to build a purpose-driven brand in a highly regulated, deeply emotional category. Kim shares how a journal...
Apr 21, 2026•1 hr 18 min•Ep. 108
Are you exhausting your audience or just exhausting your strategy? Connor MacDonald (CMO, Ridge) and Connor Rolain (Head of Growth, HexClad) dig into the mechanics of reaching net-new audiences on Meta, breaking down which lever moves the needle most: creative diversity, signal engineering, or landing page strategy. They also revisit a Ridge case study showing how optimizing for the wrong purchase event quietly cannibalized an entire product category’s growth. The conversation shifts to building...
Apr 14, 2026•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 107
This episode is brought to you by AppLovin. Get access to the Operators channel expansion playbook, online masterclass, and up to $5k in ad credits here: https://www.9operators.com/paid-growth Or, skip the waitlist and launch your AppLovin ads today with our Operators-exclusive link: https://axon.ai/en/9operators “Growth can actually kill a business that’s not prepared for it.” Bryan Cano (fmr. Head of Marketing, True Classic) joins Connor MacDonald (CMO, Ridge) and Connor Rolain (Head of Growth...
Apr 10, 2026•1 hr 19 min•Ep. 107
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...
Apr 07, 2026•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 106
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 — chang...
Mar 31, 2026•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 105
“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 t...
Mar 24, 2026•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 104
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% b...
Mar 17, 2026•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 103
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 w...
Mar 10, 2026•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 102
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 experien...
Mar 06, 2026•1 hr 3 min
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 performa...
Mar 03, 2026•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 101
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 reten...
Feb 24, 2026•1 hr 17 min•Ep. 100
This week, the team breaks down how they’re testing creative and scaling systems. Volume still matters, but only when it’s paired with clearer concepts, stronger hypotheses, and better signal quality. Connor MacDonald (CMO, Ridge), Cody Plofker (CEO, Jones Road Beauty), and Connor Rolain (Global Head of Growth, HexClad) revisit the playbooks they built over the years and walk through what’s working right now. The conversation gets tactical fast. They dig into what actually defines a concept (mes...
Feb 17, 2026•1 hr 17 min•Ep. 99
Is your brand still creating content for a social media era that no longer exists? Hosts Connor Rolain (HexClad), Cody Plofker (Jones Road Beauty), and Connor MacDonald (Ridge) dig into how they’re rethinking organic and paid social content strategy for 2026 — and why the old influencer playbook is officially broken. Cody reveals the million-dollar organic social investment he pitched to his board and the creator-in-residence model he’s building from scratch. Connor MacDonald explains why Ridge ...
Feb 10, 2026•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 98
Performance creative consultant Dara Denney joins the show to break down how modern brands are approaching creative strategy in 2026. The conversation opens with the shifting role of content creators versus strategists, and why creative velocity, operations, and in-house production are increasingly shaping how brands scale. From there, they dig into how AI is actually being used inside creative workflows - where it speeds up research and briefing, and where human judgment still matters, especial...
Feb 03, 2026•1 hr 20 min•Season 1Ep. 97
This episode breaks down a key 2026 initiative: when and how to diversify your media mix, grounded in real operator decision-making rather than theory. The conversation uses HexClad’s approach as a case study, exploring the data signals that indicate it’s time to expand channels, how teams test incrementality, and how operators manage rising measurement complexity - especially when scaling internationally. Along the way, the team explains how the “Rocks” system supports this kind of decision-mak...
Jan 27, 2026•1 hr 7 min•Season 1Ep. 96
This week, the team sits down with Dylan Ander, founder of Heatmap and author of Billion Dollar Websites, to break down how modern ecommerce funnels are evolving and why many legacy playbooks are starting to crack. The conversation opens with Dylan’s perspective on AI, trust, and synthetic content, and why brands may be heading back toward more human-led, harder-to-fake creative as AI becomes table stakes. From there, they unpack why traditional DR funnels are losing effectiveness, how homepage-...
Jan 20, 2026•1 hr 27 min•Season 1Ep. 95
This week, the hosts return for their annual predictions episode, starting by revisiting their 2025 forecasts and holding themselves accountable for what hit, what missed, and what changed faster than expected. From there, they transition into their 2026 predictions for DTC and eCommerce marketing, grounding each call in real performance data, platform behavior, and operator-level experience. The conversation centers on paid media and channel mix, with deep discussion on Meta’s evolving ability ...
Jan 13, 2026•1 hr 29 min•Season 1Ep. 94
This week, we’re joined by Liz Anthony, Chief of Staff at Halfdays, the fast-growing women’s outdoor apparel brand redefining performance skiwear. Liz breaks down how Halfdays balances brand and performance marketing to scale a highly seasonal DTC business, including the role of founder-led content, creative diversity, and standout collaborations like HOKA in driving Q4 momentum. From there, the group digs into how the Chief of Staff role acts as a force multiplier across marketing, product, and...
Jan 06, 2026•1 hr 29 min
This week, we’re joined by Lily Comba, Founder & CEO of Superbloom, who opens up about how she got her start in influencer marketing and why she approaches influencer through a performance lens. Lily shares her journey from building in-house programs to launching Superbloom, and what she learned scaling influencer across some of the most recognizable consumer brands. From there, we go deep on measurement, attribution, and negotiations. Lily breaks down how to think about ROAS, CPA, multiplie...
Dec 30, 2025•1 hr 17 min
This week, the team breaks down what recent platform moves signal for operators heading into 2026 — starting with Shopify’s Winter Editions and the growing role of Sidekick inside the Shopify ecosystem. They discuss how tools like Sidekick are democratizing data access, reducing operational friction, and changing how lean growth teams analyze performance, build reports, and take action inside the admin. From there, the conversation shifts to BFCM performance and incrementality, with the hosts un...
Dec 23, 2025•1 hr 7 min
This episode is a grab-bag of highly tactical operator insights - starting with a breakdown of why Grüns’ transactional SMS and subscription flows work so well, and what smart lifecycle design looks like when you’re trying to prevent churn, drive upgrades, and increase LTV. From there, we dive into one of the most impressive brand marketing plays of the year: the Marty Supreme campaign, and why its blend of social-first world-building, memeable moments, and built-in distribution is a blueprint f...
Dec 16, 2025•1 hr•Season 1Ep. 90
This week, we’re joined by Richie Mashiko - Head of Beacon at Iris Finance for a full breakdown of how BFCM played out across their businesses. Together, the group recaps what actually drove performance this year, from media-mix diversification and top-of-funnel investment to traffic dynamics, conversion-rate behavior, and how different brand sizes approached Cyber Five strategy. From there, Richie walks through his forecasting philosophy - including how he builds bottoms-up financial models, ho...
Dec 09, 2025•1 hr 25 min•Season 1Ep. 89
In this episode of Marketing Operators, Cody and Connor break down how growth teams are rethinking measurement heading into 2026 - especially the rising importance of brand tracking. They discuss why click-based attribution alone no longer works, how incrementality and geo tests fill in the gaps, and why tracking awareness, consideration, and “future demand” is becoming essential. Then they’re joined by Austin Santino, Client Development Manager at Tatari, and Jonathan McKenzie, Co-Founder of Tu...
Dec 05, 2025•1 hr 11 min
This week, the team breaks down how operators should be thinking about Q4 performance, offer strategy, and what it really takes to evolve beyond the traditional “discount + ads” playbook. We get into why some brands are rolling out first-ever sitewide promotions, how seasonal bundles create new revenue moments, and how text-to-buy flows, post-purchase upsells, and Shopify Collective can create seamless cross-brand merchandising opportunities heading into 2026. From there, we dive into one of the...
Dec 02, 2025•1 hr 15 min•Season 1Ep. 88
As we head into the final days before Cyber Five, this episode is all about going from daily pacing to true intraday pacing - the level of granularity operators need when every hour can swing the entire BFCM weekend. We break down how we monitor hourly revenue and ad spend across Meta, Google, and more using tools like Northbeam and Supermetrics, and how we make real-time adjustments when projections drift off target. We also get into the messy but essential stuff: how inventory, merchandising, ...
Nov 25, 2025•1 hr 14 min•Season 1Ep. 87
