Tools of the Trade is an AgencySpy feature to help highlight the many tools that help make advertising and marketing folks successful. The tools can be anything that helps people perform at their top form, from a favorite drafting table to the best software program to a lucky pen, a vintage typewriter or a pair of headphones.
Next up is Charles Moise, client leader at Digital Surgeons in New Haven, Connecticut.
Charles Moise poses with a deck of Coglode Nuggets.
What is one tool you use all the time at work, and how does it inspire your work?
Coglode Nuggets, a behavior insights library comprised of bite-sized behavioral research papers.
Why is it your favorite?
Even though I’m no longer a designer, I’ve continued to use Coglode Nuggets because the concepts are timeless. As someone who’s been in tech for a while, I’ve seen many tools come and go. These cards feel like a more permanent set of tools because they focus on the human behaviors that have been evidenced for decades.
Additionally, the product experience has been awesome. When I first received my order, I got a handwritten card from the co-founder, which I still keep inside the deck. Additionally, I’ve become part of their online community where they meet every week to talk about trends and case studies, and I also have access to their online membership portal. It’s very cool to see how others are using this tool in the wild. As it turns out, one of our clients, Catit, was featured as a case study for how the Coglode principles are being applied to packaging design.
How did you acquire your tool or hear about it for the first time?
I found Coglode Nuggets early on in my career as a UX/UI designer and front-end developer. As a young designer, I wanted to be able to back up my design decisions with solid strategic and well-researched evidence. I started searching for resources on consumer behavioral psychology and how you might be able to use that to optimize for onsite conversion, and I came across Coglode.
How does it help you be successful?
Everyone can look at these cards and understand or theorize how they may apply to your domain. Even though I’m not a designer, when I think about content, campaigns, or conversion rate optimization, I’m always thinking about humans and the things that motivate them to complete an action as well as the different types of triggers that marketers have at their disposal to make that happen.
I have found that the Coglode Nugget cards provide a degree of certainty and confidence to know that what I’m prescribing as a solution to a client’s challenge has weight to it.
Does it have sentimental value?
The deck of cards has a little bit of sentimental value. Because most tools I use these days are digital, the fact that it’s a physical object makes it all the more special.
Do you think your tool could go TikTok viral? Why or why not?
I think it could. The Nuggets have a marketing tarot card vibe to them. Consider a brainstorming session: you arrive with your deck and use the first five cards that fall out of the deck to kick off the discussion. They’re also educational, so mystical plus educational is a good formula for TikTok. I mean, why not? Sillier things go viral all the time.
We want to know what tools you use to make you successful. If you’d like to contribute or know someone who would want to be featured in Tools of the Trade, contact kyle.obrien@adweek.com and fill out our survey