Topple’s CEO, Brian Aitken, recently joined Brian Lelli on the Zeroed In Tactical Business Growth podcast for a focused, 16-minute conversation aimed squarely at one audience: tactical brands that are tired of fighting the system just to advertise.
The premise is simple and blunt: Most firearm and tactical brands are trying to scale while being actively restricted by the platforms they rely on.
This episode lays out what that actually means in practice—and what to do about it.
Listen on Spotify: Topple Ads: Censorship-Free Growth for Firearm Brands
A Platform Built for Brands That Get Blocked Everywhere Else
Aitken draws on more than 15 years of Madison Avenue experience and over $6 billion in managed ad spend to explain why most digital advertising platforms fundamentally don’t work for firearms, hunting, and right-of-center brands.
It’s not just policy friction. It’s structural.
Mainstream platforms limit:
- What you can say
- What you can show
- Who you can reach
- How you can optimize
The result is predictable: campaigns that never reach their full potential—or never get off the ground at all.
Topple was built to remove those constraints.
Instead of forcing brands to dilute their messaging, the platform gives them access to:
- Premium, category-relevant publishers
- Full creative flexibility (including video)
- Real optimization tools tied to revenue, not vanity metrics
Video Is Winning (Even for Direct Response)
One of the strongest points in the episode:
Video is outperforming nearly everything else—even for direct sales.
That runs counter to how many tactical brands still approach advertising, where static display often dominates.
The shift is driven by:
- Better engagement
- Higher click-through rates
- Stronger downstream conversion signals
Topple’s system is designed to automatically optimize toward the best-performing creative, which increasingly means video takes the lead.
Attribution, Metrics, and What Actually Counts
Attribution is evolving. Longer windows are revealing delayed purchases and multi-touch journeys most platforms used to miss.
But instead of guessing, Topple sticks to what can be proven.
Topple uses strict click-based attribution. If a user doesn’t click and convert within the attribution window, the sale isn’t counted.
That means:
- No view-through inflation
- No modeled conversions
- No guesswork to boost ROAS
View-through conversions may exist, and Topple can help quantify that separately. But core reporting stays clean.
Most platforms lean on vanity metrics like impressions and clicks.
Topple focuses on what actually matters:
- Conversion rate
- Cost per acquisition
- Return on ad spend
If it can’t be proven, it isn’t counted.
Want More Conversations Like This?
We’ve curated a Spotify playlist featuring this episode plus discussions with leaders across firearms, hunting, and outdoor brands — including Magpul, LandTrust, Spartan Precision, Gallyon Guns, and more.
Listen to the Full Playlist: Topple’s Spotify Podcast Playlist
