Episode · 2026-05-23
David Protein's Cod 2
David Protein's Cod 2 | Media Buyer Index | Aaron Rivadeneyra x Nate Cooper x Chris Ruder
Rundown
A Friday episode of Ecom Cowboy mixing hiring/job-board banter (a Staccato firearms marketing role) with three guest-driven segments: Frost Buddy's Aaron Rivadeneyra on post-purchase, retention, and Whatnot live shopping; a media-buyer conversation with Nate Cooper on diversifying paid spend beyond Meta; and investor Chris Ruder discussing bets on Nowadays and Ultra as GLP-1/wearable-adjacent consumer trends. Sponsor reads for Rocket/AfterSale and a premium beverage packaging teardown round out the show.
Takes from this episode
Owning end-to-end lifecycle marketing strategy is one of the most career-defining, foundational roles a D2C marketer can land.
this is like core to like everything that we need to do in D2C
Staccato has built the definitive luxury positioning in firearms, comparable to Hermes in its category.
it's just the pinnacle of that that space... Staccato is the winner of the week
For high-end or premium-priced products, outer packaging and aesthetic craft matter more to conversion than the product itself.
what really lands the premium package or premium branding there is the premium packaging on the outside, the gorgeous artwork, the perfect aesthetic
Rising fatigue and cost on Meta means brands should actively test and diversify into other ad platforms like AppLovin.
Now I'm like, it's time to time to dabble. Time to diversify and let's see... Test test test with Apple 11
Live shopping platforms like Whatnot can be used by brands as an emotional, brand-building channel rather than just a direct-selling surface.
Great emotion is something that brands can convey to people through usage of whatnot that isn't direct selling of the whatnot platform
Post-purchase upsells to customers who already bought at full price are an obvious, low-risk way to drive incremental revenue.
They've already purchased it once at full price. What's the harm in trying to get them to buy another Dodgers cup