Marketing Operators

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.

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Motion Creative Benchmarks 2026
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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/

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. 

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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/

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
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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/

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.

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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/

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.

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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/