This week we are joined by Reza Khadjavi, Founder and CEO at Motion, our premier sponsor. We’re talking the evolution of performance creative and the importance of creative strategy in DTC marketing, and Reza shares his insights on the rise of the creative strategist role, the impact of AI on creative workflows, the future of creative strategy and his advice for brands who are just starting to venture into performance marketing, his contrarian views on marketing and much more.

00:00 Introduction

06:08 The Rise of the Creative Strategist Role

08:59 Navigating the Shift from Audience Targeting to Creative

12:13 The Importance of Data in Creative Workflows

15:03 Future Predictions for Creative Strategy and AI

17:57 Building a Command Center for Creative Strategists

20:49 The Role of Research in Creative Development

23:45 The Future of Performance Creative

40:12 The Importance of Research in Creative Strategy

43:40 AI's Role in Creative Workflows

46:32 Navigating Capital and Growth Strategies

50:16 Investing in Product Development and Team Growth

53:03 Measuring Marketing Effectiveness

55:43 Leveraging AI for Creative Processes

01:02:25 Building Core Competencies in Performance Creative

01:11:50 Contrarian Views on DTC Marketing

MOperators Hotline:

To be in with a chance to have your question answered on the show, click the link below to apply: https://forms.gle/1W7nKoNK5Zakm1Xv6

Operators Exclusive Slack: https://join.slack.com/t/9operators/shared_invite/zt-20pd2eq4n-UVM6oTQkdltEwLINwkCWIA

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⁠⁠⁠Prescient AI.⁠⁠⁠

https://www.prescientai.com/operators

Richpanel.⁠⁠⁠

https://www.richpanel.com/?utm_source=MO&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=ytdesc

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As we head into October and execute on Q4, we’re also setting our sights on 2025. In today’s episode, we’re talking about how we’re planning for the upcoming year - we discuss each of our approaches, the delineation of strategies versus tactics, delegating and communicating ownership to the team, knowing what to focus on and when to pivot and much more. We also touch on Q4 and review how Hexclad and Ridge’s sweepstakes have gone and how this plays into expectations for BFCM.

00:00 Introduction

18:47 Sweepstakes Performance and Learnings

26:48 Post-Sweepstakes Analysis and Future Strategies

28:43 The Impact of Sweepstakes on Conversion Rates

33:22 Upper Funnel Investment and Media Mix Modeling

35:31 Planning for 2025: Balancing Q4 Execution and Future Goals

40:41 The Importance of Strategy vs. Tactics in Business

52:06 Empowering Teams: Delegation and Accountability in Strategy

58:29 Understanding Competing Strategies in Business

01:01:14 Aligning Marketing and Finance for Success

01:04:30 Navigating Tactics and Strategies Effectively

01:07:51 Balancing Revenue Growth and Brand Equity

01:10:38 The Importance of Constraints in Strategy

01:12:56 Iterative Approaches to Strategy Execution

01:15:34 Communicating Strategies Clearly to Teams

01:18:54 Learning from Strategy Failures

01:21:47 Continuous Improvement and Efficiency in Operations

MOperators Hotline:

To be in with a chance to have your question answered on the show, click the link below to apply: https://forms.gle/1W7nKoNK5Zakm1Xv6

Operators Exclusive Slack: https://join.slack.com/t/9operators/shared_invite/zt-20pd2eq4n-UVM6oTQkdltEwLINwkCWIA

Powered by:

Motion.⁠⁠⁠

https://motionapp.com/pricing?utm_source=marketing-operators-podcast&utm_medium=paidsponsor&utm_campaign=march-2024-ad-reads

⁠⁠⁠Prescient AI.⁠⁠⁠

https://www.prescientai.com/operators

Richpanel.⁠⁠⁠

https://www.richpanel.com/?utm_source=MO&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=ytdesc

Haus. http://Haus.io/operators

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In today’s episode we are introducing the MOperators Hotline!! We’re answering some of your questions and sharing our advice on your growth and marketing questions, queries and challenges. We cover how to set targets in the lead up to BFCM to fill the funnel, what to be spending on marketing as a percentage of revenue, strategies to boost rolling reach, what to focus on when moving into DTC from Amazon, and lots more.

To be in with a chance to have yours used on the show, click the link below to apply:

MOPERATORS HOTLINE

00:00 Introduction

02:56 Ad Creative Strategies for Black Friday

05:47 Exploring New Analytics Tools

09:00 Innovative Advertising Channels

11:49 Setting Expectations for BFCM Spend

17:59 Understanding Marketing Spend as a Percentage of Revenue

20:54 Building a DTC Business from Amazon

34:47 Creative Diversity and Audience Engagement

Sean's sensitivity table:

https://x.com/SeanEcom/status/1707573084243513700

Operators Exclusive Slack: https://join.slack.com/t/9operators/shared_invite/zt-20pd2eq4n-UVM6oTQkdltEwLINwkCWIA Powered by: Motion. ⁠⁠⁠https://motionapp.com/pricing?utm_source=marketing-operators-podcast&utm_medium=paidsponsor&utm_campaign=march-2024-ad-reads⁠⁠⁠ Prescient AI.⁠⁠⁠ https://www.prescientai.com/operators Richpanel.⁠⁠⁠ https://www.richpanel.com/?utm_source=MO&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=ytdesc Subscribe to the 9 Operators Podcast here:https://www.youtube.com/@Operators9 Sign up to the 9 Operators newsletter here: https://9operators.com/

00:00 Introduction 01:36 E-commerce Trends and Personal Updates 06:10 Marketing Strategies and Media Mix 17:28 Forecasting and Setting KPIs 52:09 Testing and Measuring Incrementality Operators Exclusive Slack: https://join.slack.com/t/9operators/shared_invite/zt-20pd2eq4n-UVM6oTQkdltEwLINwkCWIA Powered by: Motion. ⁠⁠⁠https://motionapp.com/pricing?utm_source=marketing-operators-podcast&utm_medium=paidsponsor&utm_campaign=march-2024-ad-reads⁠⁠⁠ Prescient AI.⁠⁠⁠ https://www.prescientai.com/operators Richpanel.⁠⁠⁠ https://www.richpanel.com/?utm_source=MO&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=ytdesc Haus. http://Haus.io/operators Subscribe to the 9 Operators Podcast here:https://www.youtube.com/@Operators9 Sign up to the 9 Operators newsletter here: https://9operators.com/

This week we have the Shopify President Harley Finkelstein joining the squad. This is one not to miss - we’re talking founder mode, getting rid of chaos monkeys, how to stay focused on the most important thing, having a growth mindset in business, the future of Shopify and much more.

00:00 Introduction to Shopify and Harley's Journey

04:09 Founder Mode: Insights and Experiences

23:13 The Importance of Being in the Details

34:01 Chaos Monkey: Streamlining Operations

49:52 The Future of Shopify: A Retail Operating System

Operators Exclusive Slack: https://join.slack.com/t/9operators/shared_invite/zt-20pd2eq4n-UVM6oTQkdltEwLINwkCWIA Powered by: Motion. ⁠⁠⁠https://motionapp.com/pricing?utm_source=marketing-operators-podcast&utm_medium=paidsponsor&utm_campaign=march-2024-ad-reads⁠⁠⁠ Prescient AI.⁠⁠⁠ https://www.prescientai.com/operators Richpanel.⁠⁠⁠ https://www.richpanel.com/?utm_source=MO&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=ytdesc Haus. http://Haus.io/operators Subscribe to the 9 Operators Podcast here:https://www.youtube.com/@Operators9 Sign up to the 9 Operators newsletter here: https://9operators.com/

Today it’s the trio back together and we’re talking gifts with purchase, being in “foundermode” and when and when not to delegate, incremental attribution and third party analytics, performance creative and our takes on the latest Meta updates.

00:00 Introduction

07:20 The Power of Creative Diversity

21:47 The Magic of Founder Mode

28:18 Delegating and Hands-On Involvement

32:31 The Challenges of Direct-to-Consumer Brands

33:56 Connecting with Employees at All Levels

36:30 Facebook's Ad Updates

43:03 The Cost of Creative

01:04:06 Finding Affordable Creative Talent

Operators Exclusive Slack: https://join.slack.com/t/9operators/shared_invite/zt-20pd2eq4n-UVM6oTQkdltEwLINwkCWIA Powered by: Motion. ⁠⁠⁠https://motionapp.com/pricing?utm_source=marketing-operators-podcast&utm_medium=paidsponsor&utm_campaign=march-2024-ad-reads⁠⁠⁠ Prescient AI.⁠⁠⁠ https://www.prescientai.com/operators Richpanel.⁠⁠⁠ https://www.richpanel.com/?utm_source=MO&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=ytdesc

Haus. http://Haus.io/operators Subscribe to the 9 Operators Podcast here:https://www.youtube.com/@Operators9 Sign up to the 9 Operators newsletter here: https://9operators.com/

Today we have Jared Brody on the show, Executive VP of Marketing at Resident, owner of brands such as Siena, Nectar, Awara, DreamCloud and Cloverlane. We’re talking having a mutli-brand approach, attribution, custom-built attribution tools, how to use data to drive your decisions and much more.

00:00 Introduction

10:40 Nectar's Multi-Brand Approach in the Mattress Space

18:23 Building Custom Tools for Measurement

20:50 Differences Between Out-of-the-Box Tools and Custom Tools

24:04 Using Geo Tests to Validate Channel Performance

27:23 Measuring Efficiency and Performance Leading Up to a Holiday

35:01 The Importance of Process and Structure in Marketing

37:48 Benchmarking and Measuring Performance

44:20 Capturing Demand and Market Share

49:31 Building Custom Tools for Creative Analysis

55:37 Setting Up Tests and Analyzing Results

01:05:27 Optimizing YouTube Attribution and Engagement

01:10:07 Comparing Performance Across Platforms

01:13:02 Data-Driven Creative Optimization

Related episode: E001: A Deep Dive into Attribution and Measurement:https://youtu.be/2KGpQ7PAy9Y

Operators Exclusive Slack: https://join.slack.com/t/9operators/shared_invite/zt-20pd2eq4n-UVM6oTQkdltEwLINwkCWIA

Powered by:

Motion.

⁠⁠⁠https://motionapp.com/pricing?utm_source=marketing-operators-podcast&utm_medium=paidsponsor&utm_campaign=march-2024-ad-reads⁠⁠⁠

Prescient AI.⁠⁠⁠

https://www.prescientai.com/operators

Richpanel.⁠⁠⁠

https://www.richpanel.com/?utm_source=MO&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=ytdesc

Subscribe to the 9 Operators Podcast here:https://www.youtube.com/@Operators9

Sign up to the 9 Operators newsletter here: https://9operators.com/

00:00 Introduction

04:40 The Background of a CEO in E-commerce

07:16 The Importance of Marketing Knowledge for CEOs

09:08 The Role of Content and Understanding the Attention Economy

12:01 The Importance of Survival and Longevity in Business

19:49 The Significance of Incrementality in Marketing

21:05 The Day-to-Day Responsibilities of a CEO

27:36 CEO's Involvement in Marketing and Budgeting

32:24 Collaboration between CEO and Marketing Team

33:06 Using Data Analytics for Marketing Optimization

35:05 The Role of Finance in Driving Growth and Profitability

37:25 The Future of Advertising: The Creator Economy

49:12Partnering with Creators and Leveraging Earned Media

56:16 Taking Big Swings: Investing in High-Profile Partnerships

Operators Exclusive Slack: https://join.slack.com/t/9operators/shared_invite/zt-20pd2eq4n-UVM6oTQkdltEwLINwkCWIA

Mochary Method Curriculum: https://docs.google.com/document/d/18FiJbYn53fTtPmphfdCKT2TMWH-8Y2L-MLqDk-MFV4s/edit

Powered by:

Motion.

⁠⁠⁠https://motionapp.com/pricing?utm_source=marketing-operators-podcast&utm_medium=paidsponsor&utm_campaign=march-2024-ad-reads⁠⁠⁠

Prescient AI.⁠⁠⁠

https://www.prescientai.com/operators

Richpanel.⁠⁠⁠

https://www.richpanel.com/?utm_source=MO&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=ytdesc

Haus.

http://Haus.io/operators

Subscribe to the 9 Operators Podcast here:https://www.youtube.com/@Operators9

Sign up to the 9 Operators newsletter here: https://9operators.com/