Inside a New DTC Brand’s Ad Engine, Run in 6 Steps: Operators Build (E10)

Operators · Oct 26, 2026 · 1h 7m

“Creative supply chain is the essential ingredient of demand.”

Get all the resources from this episode: https://9ops.co/abchwj

★ 6-step framework

★ Brief template

★ Hook training guide

Matt Bertulli (Founder, Pela Case & Lomi) and Cody Plofker (Advisor & fmr. CEO, Jones Road) launched Winks with more ads than lessons. Now they walk through the six steps every ad faces, starting with the message.

1. Message

2. Source

3. Media Formats

4. Creative Approach

5. Funnel Role

6. Production Checks

More ads went live, but Cody still didn’t know what was working. The fix is research by hand, down to an…