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Marketing Operators: Daily Summaries Delivered
by Cody Plofker, Connor MacDonald, and Connor Rolain
Behind three behemoth brands stand three juggernauts of the marketing world: Cody Plofker (CEO, Jones Road Beauty), Connor MacDonald (CMO, Ridge) & Connor Rolain (Head of Growth, HexClad). Finally, they’re pulling back the curtain to give you a never-before-seen look at what works and what doesn’t work to drive growth.
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- 3 days ago1h 6m
How Ridge + Portland Leather Goods Launch Hundreds of New Products Every Year
“Returning customer revenue is where all the profit is made.” Can every DTC brand sell new products to existing customers, or does the category decide? MacCoy Merkley (CMO, Portland Leather Goods), Connor MacDonald (CMO, Ridge), and Cody Plofker (Advisor & fmr. CEO, Jones Road Beauty) unpack why new products sold to existing customers drive ecommerce profit, and why some categories can’t lean on repeat buyers. Portland Leather Goods launches new SKUs every Tuesday and Thursday, and its list buys them up. Ridge works harder for a second sale, since its wallet is guaranteed for life. So each launch leans on ads. One bad order can leave 22K units on the shelf. Powered By Motion https://9ops.co/motion-runneth Proppel https://9ops.co/weareproppel Aftersell https://9ops.co/aftersell-mops Haus https://9ops.co/haus NeonPixel https://9ops.co/neonpixel Richpanel https://9ops.co/richpanel-mops Operators Portal https://portal.9operators.com/dashboard Operators Newsletter https://9operators.com/
- 1 weeks ago58 min
How to Track Black Friday Performance & Make Last-Min Budget Calls
“It looks bad in Meta and you’re freaking out, but blended is good.” How far ahead of pace should you be before adding budget on Black Friday? Austin Harrison (CEO, Northbeam) and Andrew Kaszuba (Head of Insights, Northbeam) join Connor MacDonald (CMO, Ridge) and Cody Plofker (Advisor & fmr. CEO, Jones Road Beauty) to break down how ecommerce brands track Black Friday hourly and decide when to push or pull budget. Northbeam’s median brand pulls 42% of Black Friday revenue from earlier touchpoints. When Meta fell short during BFCM 2024, Ridge’s numbers justified pushing AppLovin to about 40% of spend. A strong midday read tempts brands to pour in more, and the extra money can wreck efficiency.Powered By Motion https://9ops.co/motion-runneth Richpanel https://9ops.co/richpanel-mops Proppel https://9ops.co/weareproppel Aftersell https://9ops.co/aftersell-mops Haus https://9ops.co/haus NeonPixel https://9ops.co/neonpixel Operators Portal https://portal.9operators.com/dashboard Operators Newsletter https://9operators.com/
- 2 weeks ago57 min
Meta’s Product Director Explains How Its Ad Algorithm Works
“With Andromeda, we can look at the entire universe.” What should marketers focus on now that Meta’s ad algorithm handles targeting? Sukhesh Miryala (Director of Product Management, Meta) sits down with Connor MacDonald (CMO, Ridge), Cody Plofker (Advisor & fmr. CEO, Jones Road Beauty), and Connor Rolain (Head of Growth, HexClad) to open up how Meta picks a winner for every impression. Rising CPMs don’t always mean your last change backfired. Meta’s ad prices reflect supply and demand, while Andromeda lets its delivery system consider more ads for each impression. As automation improves, the marketer’s job shifts toward defining what a valuable outcome looks like, supplying reliable data, and building diverse creative that helps Meta find the right match. Powered By Motion https://9ops.co/motion-runneth NeonPixel https://9ops.co/neonpixel Haus https://www.haus.io/operators Richpanel https://9ops.co/richpanel-mops Aftersell https://9ops.co/aftersell-mops Proppel https://www.weareproppel.com/operators Operators Portal https://portal.9operators.com/dashboard Operators Newsletter https://9operators.com/
- 3 weeks ago57 min
Meta Reveals Its Plan For AI Media Buying
“All of these products eventually are going to come together.” Who calls the shots once Meta’s AI takes over? Nik Ketkar (Director of Product Management, Meta) sits down with Connor MacDonald (CMO, Ridge), Cody Plofker (Advisor & fmr. CEO, Jones Road Beauty), and Connor Rolain (Head of Growth, HexClad) to map Meta’s plan for AI-run media buying. Half of a buyer’s job is still setup, structure, and budget tweaks. Meta wants that half gone, folded into Advantage+ and Ads Creative Studio. Once the AI proposes every move, buyers have to decide how much control to keep. The richer the inputs they feed it, the easier that control is to hand over. Interested in trying Meta's Ads Creative Studio or the other automation products Nik discusses in this episode? Fill out this form: https://9ops.co/meta-adscreativestudio Powered By Motion https://9ops.co/motion-runneth Haus https://www.haus.io/operators NeonPixel https://9ops.co/neonpixel Richpanel https://9ops.co/richpanel-mops Proppel https://www.weareproppel.com/operators Aftersell https://9ops.co/aftersell-mops Operators Portal https://portal.9operators.com/dashboard Operators Newsletter https://9operators.com/
- 3 weeks ago1h 0m
We Compare a $100 DTC Funnel vs a $100M DTC Funnel
“We weren’t doing a good job showing the value.” Where does a new brand find trust when it can’t claim a bestseller like HexClad? Connor MacDonald (CMO, Ridge), Cody Plofker (Advisor & fmr. CEO, Jones Road Beauty), and Connor Rolain (Head of Growth, HexClad) compare a scaled HexClad funnel with one from the weeks-old Winks. Step by step, they trace how each one builds trust across ads, landers, offers, and upsells. Winks has a premium product, yet customers couldn’t see why it was worth the price. HexClad earns that trust before the click, with Japanese creators and a bestseller hook. The weeks-old brand has to build the same trust with a fraction of the proof. Powered By Motion https://9ops.co/motion-runneth Aftersell https://9ops.co/aftersell-mops Haus https://www.haus.io/operators NeonPixel https://9ops.co/neonpixel Richpanel https://9ops.co/richpanel-mops Proppel https://www.weareproppel.com/operators Operators Portal https://portal.9operators.com/dashboard Operators Newsletter https://9operators.com/ https://x.com/M__Operators https://www.instagram.com/marketingoperators/
- Oct 6, 202658 min
HexClad + Ridge Reveal Their 8-Figure Celebrity Sweepstakes Playbook
“Two of our winners have entered for free. They never purchased anything from us.”How did Ridge turn a 6-week Tony Hawk partnership into an 8-figure sweepstakes lift? Connor Rolain (Head of Growth, HexClad) and Connor MacDonald (CMO, Ridge) break down how sweepstakes campaigns became eight-figure growth engines for their brands. They cover celebrity deal structures, creative production, and revenue lift across every category. Tony Hawk’s deal doubled Ridge’s TV response rates and pushed partner-page ads to 40% of Meta spend. HexClad gets the same proof differently, running year-over-year holdouts and entry tiers that reward bigger purchases. Both track how sweepstakes shoppers scatter into unexpected categories, forcing a rethink of acquisition strategy. Powered By Motion https://9ops.co/motion-runneth Proppel https://www.weareproppel.com/operators Aftersell https://9ops.co/aftersell-mops Haus https://www.haus.io/operators NeonPixel https://9ops.co/neonpixel Richpanel https://9ops.co/richpanel-mops Operators Portal https://portal.9operators.com/dashboard Operators Newsletter https://9operators.com/
- Sep 29, 20261h 4m
Two $100M+ Operators Get Honest About Launching New Brands
“There’s so much that I took for granted. It’s such a different playbook.” What happens when two operators who’ve helped build nine-figure brands start again at zero? Connor MacDonald (CMO, Ridge) and Cody Plofker (advisor and former CEO, Jones Road) compare notes on two new launches: Ridge’s Gut Culture and Cody’s Winks. They get into six hard lessons from the early days. (1) Building with a lean team. (2) Earning credibility when nobody knows the brand. (3) Finding a message that gets clicks. (4) Testing offers before the data is conclusive. (5) Making subscription economics work. (6) Dealing with high ad costs. Cody shares what’s happening at Winks just weeks after launch; Connor explains what Ridge learned from six months of building Gut Culture. Powered By Motion https://9ops.co/motion-runneth Richpanel https://9ops.co/richpanel-mops Proppel https://www.weareproppel.com/operators Aftersell https://9ops.co/aftersell-mops Haus https://www.haus.io/operators NeonPixel https://9ops.co/neonpixel Operators Portal https://portal.9operators.com/dashboard Operators Newsletter https://9operators.com/
- Sep 22, 20261h 3m
How a 15% Price Cut Sent a Ridge Product’s Revenue Up 60%
Why do experienced operators still overcorrect on average order value? Varun Kundra (Co-founder, Aftersell by Rokt) joins Connor MacDonald (CMO, Ridge) and Cody Plofker (Advisor & fmr. CEO, Jones Road) to break down the pricing missteps that quietly cost real revenue and the metric worth watching instead. The hosts compare years of pricing tests at Ridge and Jones Road. They cover three ways to bundle for more revenue per order. Varun explains why image heavy upsells beat plain offers, plus a subscription upgrade converting at 20% to 30%. Connor and Varun wrap with a teardown of Winks, the brand behind Operators Build. Powered By Motion https://9ops.co/motion-runneth NeonPixel https://9ops.co/neonpixel Richpanel https://9ops.co/richpanel-mops Proppel https://www.weareproppel.com/operators Aftersell https://9ops.co/aftersell-mops Haus https://www.haus.io/operators Operators Portal https://portal.9operators.com/dashboard Operators Newsletter https://9operators.com/
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About Marketing Operators
Behind three behemoth brands stand three juggernauts of the marketing world: Cody Plofker (CEO, Jones Road Beauty), Connor MacDonald (CMO, Ridge) & Connor Rolain (Head of Growth, HexClad). Finally, they’re pulling back the curtain to give you a never-before-seen look at what works and what doesn’t work to drive growth.
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