Podcast Summary: Marketing Operators

Episode: Is Media Buying Dead? And How We’re Hiring for Culture, Autonomy, and Execution
Date: October 14, 2025
Hosts: Connor Rolain, Connor MacDonald, Cody Plofker

Overview

This episode of Marketing Operators dives deep into the evolving role of media buying in 2025, the shifting skillsets and structures for modern growth teams, and how leading e-commerce brands approach hiring for culture, autonomy, and execution. Drawing on hands-on experience from Jones Road, Ridge Wallet, and Hexclad, the trio candidly debate whether media buying is “dead,” how strategy and execution are merging, and the critical traits they seek when building high-performing marketing teams.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The State and Evolution of Media Buying

The Decline of Traditional Tactics:

• The consensus is that media buying, as historically understood (manual bidding, button-pushing optimization), is largely obsolete.
• Cody: “Creative is definitely the biggest lever. Pushing buttons is not a lever.” (00:07)
• Automation has narrowed the differentiation available to marketers purely through tweaking ad platforms.

Rise of Strategic, Analytical Media Buyers:

• Media buyers today must blend strategic thinking (data analysis, campaign planning, creative feedback) with tactical execution.
• Connor MacD: “We’ve been thinking a lot about redefining the role of media buyer… we had a director of paid social who just became VP of Paid Media, and that title change is indicative.” (23:07)
• Multi-channel competence is expected for high-level roles; specialization in just one channel is less valuable.

Integrating Creative and Data:

• Leading brands are centralizing ownership of performance—overseeing creative, landing pages, data, and media spend.
• There’s a strong rejection of “just media buyer” titles in favor of growth or strategist titles, emphasizing a full-funnel, marketer-first mentality.
• Connor R: “You have to be a marketer. Sometimes it feels like you’re thinking like a media buyer or someone who just builds segments in Klaviyo… take a step back, you gotta be a marketer first.” (05:44, 37:48)

Notable Quote:

• Connor R: “Uploading [ads] is easy… It’s the strategy and analysis piece that is probably more important… Maybe we can do more strategic analysis now because the buying is automated.” (24:57)

2. Real-World Campaign Tactics and Recent Wins

Data-Driven Creative Iterations:

• Case studies are discussed, including how hosts’ brands use last year’s creative performance to plan for Black Friday/Cyber Monday, leveraging tools like Motion for quick insights and overlays.

Product Launch Learnings:

• Cody shares the success of their five-year anniversary kit—how product exclusivity and anticipation drove results (“five exclusives for five years,” daily product teases built signups).
• Balancing acquisition vs. retention in launches: historically, newness fuels repeat purchase, but careful construction of kits and offers is essential to avoid consumer fatigue.
• Cody: “If people have [existing products]… no one’s going to spend $90 for one exclusive… So this kit is five exclusives for five years.” (07:43–08:45)

Acquisition & Funnel Filling:

• Campaigns are increasingly judged by their impact on “top of funnel” and broadening reach—metrics are measured granularly.
• Connor R on Ridge’s approach: Discusses new wallet “collections” and the importance of increasing “surface area” (variety/appeal) to sustain launches and acquisition.

3. Redefining Team Structure and Roles

Strategic Centralization:

• Teams are flattening—roles like VP or Director of Paid Media now cover everything from creative briefing to reporting to budget re-allocation.
• Funnel “owners” are expected to flag weak spots—even if they can’t directly fix them—briefing teams, suggesting tests, and owning results.
• Connor MacD: “If this person’s owning a funnel… the buck stops with the person. I love that. That’s brilliant.” (41:09)

Cross-Functional Expectations:

• Growth managers/directors now need to optimize funnels beyond media buying; analyzing downstream landing page or creative performance, driving cross-team execution.
• Absence of media buyer titles: “I don’t want to attract someone that only wants to be… just pushing the buttons in campaign, which we just need to do more than that.” (34:18)
• High compensation requires multi-channel abilities or added strategic value.

Notable Quote:

• Connor R: “You can’t really strip out the creative component from the performance of it. For some reason, on paid social, we’ve kind of done that in the past.” (35:19)

4. Building Teams: Culture, Autonomy, & Execution

High Performance Culture vs. Social Culture:

• The hosts push back on the “cool”/social fit as sufficient. Value is on “marketing dorks” who live in data, trends, and tackle problems obsessively.
• Connor MacD: “Being someone that you like does not equal good culture fit… our culture is we’re a bunch of dorks… that is culturally probably closer to what we are than some people would think.” (58:42)

Hiring for Autonomy, Self-Starter Behavior:

• Use quarterly, objective goal-setting (“own your function as CEO of X”); expect people to drive outcomes and solve problems proactively, not defer due to functional silos.
• Connor C: “If I sit here at the beginning of the quarter and agree your priorities… in theory, I should not have to talk to you for two and a half months. I should know exactly what you did or didn’t do because we aligned on it.” (53:14)

Red Flags:

• Candidates who don't operationalize solutions ("we need more creative") or defer blame (“the ball’s in so-and-so’s court”) are rejected.
• Connor MacD: “Go make it happen… It boils down to that person being like, all right, I have my list. I’m going to go get it done because that’s my job.” (54:27)

Practical Hiring Tips:

• Dive deep in interviews and case studies to ensure tactical and strategic prowess.
• Look for people with both big and small brand experience, ideally with evidence of thriving in lean, hands-on environments.
• Be transparent about expectations: “My job is to tell you why you shouldn’t work here.” (71:54)

Notable Moment:

• Connor MacD: “I want people who get super excited about producing amazing outcomes… texting me Saturday with our year over year screenshot, like up 30%.” (66:36)

Memorable Quotes & Moments with Timestamps

• “Creative is definitely the biggest lever… pushing buttons is not a lever.” — Cody (00:07)
• “You have to be a marketer first.” — Connor R (05:44, 37:48)
• “Uploading is easy… It’s the strategy and analysis piece that is more important.” — Cody (24:57)
• “Growth equals media buying? That couldn’t ever be less true than it is today in Q4, 2025.” — Connor MacD (32:32)
• “Don’t let others let you fail.” — Connor MacD quoting an exec (56:05)
• “Being someone you like does not equal good culture fit.” — Connor MacD (58:42)
• “My job is to tell you why you shouldn’t work here.” — Cody (71:54)
• “I want people who get super excited about producing outcomes… like, texting me Saturday with our YOY screenshot: up 30%.” — Connor MacD (66:36)

Timestamps for Major Segments

• 00:00–03:25: Opening/banter, setting episode theme
• 03:25–05:44: Black Friday/Cyber Monday campaign tactics, using Motion
• 06:06–14:33: Deep dive on new product/kits, acquisition vs. retention, launch strategies
• 17:14–20:52: Iterative product launches and “increasing surface area”
• 23:07–29:16: Is media buying dead? Discussion of roles & Taylor Holiday’s “growth engineer” tweet
• 32:32–35:36: Titles, role evolution, skillset for growth and media roles
• 37:48–46:28: Full-funnel ownership, measurement, process centralization
• 51:49–54:27: Segue to hiring, what high-performance culture looks like
• 56:05–59:04: How to screen for doers vs. bureaucracy, “dorky” culture, rejecting “cool but lazy” hires
• 63:02–73:50: Practical hiring frameworks and examples, interview tactics, importance of hands-on expertise and strategic balance

Final Thoughts

The modern marketing operator must be a hybrid: fluent in data, fluent in creative, unafraid to get their hands dirty, and motivated by outcomes more than optics. Titles and team structures have blurred—strategy and execution are no longer meaningfully separate. High-performing teams hire for curiosity, drive, and analytical rigor, not just prior brand pedigree or “culture fit.”

For anyone considering a growth or media role—or hiring for one—this frank discussion is essential listening.