E100: 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.

Chapters

00:00:00 Celebrating 100 Episodes

00:04:04 Building a Marketing Ops System

00:10:49 Slack Hygiene & Team Workflows

00:13:51 Who Owns the Postmortem

00:16:57 The Role of a Marketing PM

00:21:43 Testing Velocity as a KPI

00:26:59 Cross-Functional vs Single Channel Tests

00:30:00 AI and Marketing Ops at Ridge

00:33:19 Creator Obsessed at Jones Road

00:34:35 TikTok Shop Launch Struggles

00:40:02 GMV Max & the Paid TikTok Play

00:43:13 Live Shopping & Affiliate Strategy

00:45:38 Retention as a Product at Ridge

00:47:52 Cross-Category Buying Behavior

00:54:10 Identity Resolution & First-Party Data

00:57:36 LTV by Customer Persona at JRB

01:02:33 Where Does First-Party Data Live

01:05:12 Don’t Over-Segment Too Early

01:08:12 Going After Organic YouTube

01:09:41 Paid Deals vs Product Seeding

01:13:16 Committing to YouTube Long Term

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