https://kferg.me Kevin Ferguson Tue, 25 Aug 2020 02:54:27 +0000 https://kferg.me en https://kferg.me/Home Fri, 26 Oct 2018 18:03:44 +0000 Kevin Ferguson https://kferg.me/Home KEVIN FERGUSON Hello. I’m an ACD / copywriter. I create “un”forgettable digital, print, motion, video, and experimental stories. Currently a senior writer at Doremus. Previously, head writer at Teak in San Francisco. Before even that, I wrote for the award-winning Nautilus Magazine. Before even that, and worked as a marketer and choice architect. And before even that, I was a small child, playing with a wooden spoon.ResumeAside from writing, I’m also a magician—surprise! I appeared on season 13 of America’s Got Talent and Season 6 of Penn &amp; Teller: Fool Us. My regular show in San Francisco has been highlighted in the San Francisco Chronicle. Get a few tickets if you want. Suffice it to say presenting puzzles and stories to audiences over the last decade have done well to teach me to bring an idea to life in a client meeting. Get in touch: kevbferg@gmail.comSelected published works:This Man Wants Magic to Be a Branch of PsychologyNautilus Magazine—2016How Facebook Fuels Relationship AnxietyNautilus Magazine—2016Epilepsy Patients Are Helping Us Read MindsNautilus Magazine—2016Are You More Likely to Be a Baker If You’re Named “Baker”?Nautilus Magazine—2016Misc.Shortform &amp; PoemsPictures from Kevin’s life https://kferg.me/Kevin-is-a-Magician Fri, 06 Sep 2019 21:39:57 +0000 Kevin Ferguson https://kferg.me/Kevin-is-a-Magician MAGIC (ACTUAL MAGIC). Kevin Blake Magic - self, 2012-2020America’s Got Talent, Penn &amp; Teller: Fool Us, Thrillist, and in my critically acclaimed sell-out show Magic Man. These are all places I have embarrassed myself and my loved ones. When I’m not writing, I’m an occasionally worldwide-performing magician, mentalist, and illusionist. I’ve made a ripple in the magic community for blending genres of magic and sleight of hand with spoken word, music, and comedy to create some unique illusions. Read more about my magic career here: https://kevinblakemagic.com/ <img width="578" height="1236" width_o="578" height_o="1236" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/de6fe21352c31ed8a5e2f99c4eaeac4793c8d46b5fada1797dbadfe864b92585/chronicle-magic-man-clipping.jpg" data-mid="50049144" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/578/i/de6fe21352c31ed8a5e2f99c4eaeac4793c8d46b5fada1797dbadfe864b92585/chronicle-magic-man-clipping.jpg" /> https://kferg.me/The-Stowaway Tue, 25 Aug 2020 02:54:27 +0000 Kevin Ferguson https://kferg.me/The-Stowaway The Stowaway The Stowaway is a full length fictional absurdist novel about a young boy, Theo, who finds himself aboard a Ship named Revenge, an enormous, rickety, lurching menace as big as a city, and one that holds the entire civilization of knowledge and art of the world, it having pirated and pillaged and grown so powerful that there is nothing left on land to plunder. It is a story of melancholy pirates and childlike dreams. It is a story about legacy, tradition, isolation, love, and destiny.&nbsp; Read a sample chapter here. If you are interested in helping me publish this traditionally, please get in touch. &nbsp; <img width="1674" height="1673" width_o="1674" height_o="1673" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/0ea3f030dcffd6d3bdec92a1df65b05d5e47ed34f7e0a3f368d730343b4e8f58/stowaway-cover.png" data-mid="80765803" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/0ea3f030dcffd6d3bdec92a1df65b05d5e47ed34f7e0a3f368d730343b4e8f58/stowaway-cover.png" /> https://kferg.me/Intel-Confessions-of-IT Wed, 03 Jun 2020 02:30:13 +0000 Kevin Ferguson https://kferg.me/Intel-Confessions-of-IT Intel Global Business - IT Confessions.Intel Global - Work done at Doremus in 2020 Senior Copywriter / ACD Assignment: A year-long disruptive global digital campaign that ran in the US, UK, Germany, France, Japan and Canada. Work&nbsp;included the following 4 videos, animated digital banners, social, website, digital out of home billboards, campaign playbooks and event kits. Objective:&nbsp;Drive Intel vPro platform awareness + preference with IT Ops in managed businesses with 100+ employees. My role: Concepted and pitched the idea of IT Confessionals retold through engaging animation. Sourced stories and wrote scripts. Worked with animation studio to ideate proper styles for each region, contributed to casting and editing.&nbsp; IT horror stories are everywhere.&nbsp;We sourced authentic stories of oh-shit IT Ops moments and retold them confessional-style using bold animations styles inspired by each unique target region. IT Confessions - Performance IT Confessions - Manageability IT Confessions - Security IT Confessions - Stability <img width="1920" height="1080" width_o="1920" height_o="1080" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/5b228710891bc3da35c210654e344a7b0b7a7200624645f44628032036f38192/Intel_styleframes_1920x1080.jpg" data-mid="76744031" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/5b228710891bc3da35c210654e344a7b0b7a7200624645f44628032036f38192/Intel_styleframes_1920x1080.jpg" /><img width="1920" height="1121" width_o="1920" height_o="1121" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/eeddc63f34e102f6f1eaf8962706e07183c1a78e5ddd5a2c8183b235a62f867b/Intel-Hacker02_1920x1080.jpg" data-mid="76339374" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/eeddc63f34e102f6f1eaf8962706e07183c1a78e5ddd5a2c8183b235a62f867b/Intel-Hacker02_1920x1080.jpg" /> Client: IntelArt Director: Travis HensonCDs: Mark Butorac, Brian Pike Done at Doremus https://kferg.me/Calm-TV-Spots Wed, 30 Oct 2019 15:46:25 +0000 Kevin Ferguson https://kferg.me/Calm-TV-Spots Calm TV Spots.Calm - Freelance, 2019 Copywriter - ACD Calm is an app that provides guided meditations and sleep stories to brng people calm. Calm came to me with a simple request—create a story or two that would jar people into the present moment. Kind of like how their app does.&nbsp; These aired nationally in major markets, and were, according to Calm, quite nice.“Commercial Break”&nbsp; “All it takes” https://kferg.me/Intel-Nervana Thu, 14 Nov 2019 20:05:04 +0000 Kevin Ferguson https://kferg.me/Intel-Nervana Intel Nervana Launch.Intel - Doremus, 2019 Senior CopywriterArtificial intelligence and machine learning have taken data centers by storm, redefining how compute is used and deployed at scale in an exceedingly short period of time. As such, the rise of GPUs, long the go-to solution for AI training workloads, in the supercomputing space has been explosive. Intel joins this game in full force with their breakthrough Nervana chips for AI inference and training. I concepted and wrote this launch video, used at Intel’s AI conference in Nov 2019 to debut these brand new processers to the industry. Launch Video Inference CutdownTraining Cutdown https://kferg.me/Equidate Sat, 15 Dec 2018 17:55:21 +0000 Kevin Ferguson https://kferg.me/Equidate Equidate Inc. Equidate Inc. - work done at Teak in 2018 Senior Copywriter / CD Equidate empowers the companies, investors, employees, and institutions that build our future by opening up the private market to everyone. They provide unparalleled access and opportunity to trade private equity and raise funding for private tech companies.&nbsp; Equidate came to us with an opportunity: a year-long advertising campaign in one of the busiest train stations in Silicon Valley, 4th &amp; King St Caltrain Station. They also came with a problem: their name and look were changing half-way through their already purchased ad space. Our challenge was to educate and inspire an audience about a new category, but without building equity in a changing brand. We solved this by creating a series of mysterious and provacative statements that led people down a rabbit hole. When they emerged on the other side, Forge, Equidate’s new brand, said hello. <img width="5267" height="3581" width_o="5267" height_o="3581" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/1578f3e95459fdb4a42f06fbf4d690caa57bb55080cc2e94266a3d15c93120e1/IMG_2935.JPG" data-mid="30692808" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/1578f3e95459fdb4a42f06fbf4d690caa57bb55080cc2e94266a3d15c93120e1/IMG_2935.JPG" /> <img width="5591" height="3727" width_o="5591" height_o="3727" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/658ad4e15d680171faa5c9b2e347f25a8100d20341f5fc3b86bd14eb0a5ace52/IMG_3137.JPG" data-mid="30692636" border="0" data-scale="100" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/658ad4e15d680171faa5c9b2e347f25a8100d20341f5fc3b86bd14eb0a5ace52/IMG_3137.JPG" /> Secret information was coded in different languages. <img width="5594" height="3729" width_o="5594" height_o="3729" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/59c8a67fd8acffd1f49aa41ab41d61affdb83253fc4a0351beb19bc62e7374cd/IMG_3177.JPG" data-mid="30692637" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/59c8a67fd8acffd1f49aa41ab41d61affdb83253fc4a0351beb19bc62e7374cd/IMG_3177.JPG" />"The number of publicly traded companies has halved since the first Pokemon was captured in 1996." <img width="5616" height="3744" width_o="5616" height_o="3744" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/58b6372705015418251a9eaf377cd45c32a1dc944b8dee095099cf20f16ecdd8/IMG_3030.JPG" data-mid="30692634" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/58b6372705015418251a9eaf377cd45c32a1dc944b8dee095099cf20f16ecdd8/IMG_3030.JPG" />“Our VP of Engineering can’t even code.” <img width="5616" height="3744" width_o="5616" height_o="3744" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/ef3a51e0bfdaf0435db65fda121881b99be64b2eae4c884580e44662abdba76d/IMG_3198.JPG" data-mid="30692638" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/ef3a51e0bfdaf0435db65fda121881b99be64b2eae4c884580e44662abdba76d/IMG_3198.JPG" />“In a remote workspace, no one can hear you scream.” Headlines were translated after 30 days, revealing the lines that were previously translatable on secretsofstartups.com. <img width="1920" height="1080" width_o="1920" height_o="1080" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/5548b13c2dd097184a2a0da150102db7642722b034534e1660b512fcb4be7ac6/Equidate_5.jpg" data-mid="34354149" border="0" data-scale="100" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/5548b13c2dd097184a2a0da150102db7642722b034534e1660b512fcb4be7ac6/Equidate_5.jpg" /> <img width="5616" height="3744" width_o="5616" height_o="3744" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/53a8baae6e2b349b763184dfbe64521f1bbde7dd1a88b38846612a97fe5bd391/IMG_3241.JPG" data-mid="30692806" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/53a8baae6e2b349b763184dfbe64521f1bbde7dd1a88b38846612a97fe5bd391/IMG_3241.JPG" /> Hidden information pushed people to SecretsOfStartups.com, a landing page experience that translated the lines from the ads and acted as a place where users could share their own startup secrets.&nbsp; <img width="1377" height="4794" width_o="1377" height_o="4794" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e87d5ca03ff7248050de7ca36ef2a73994d1b51f2ac418ffb6f5d5648f7966eb/2018-12-15-10-28-secretsofstartups.com.png" data-mid="30693676" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/e87d5ca03ff7248050de7ca36ef2a73994d1b51f2ac418ffb6f5d5648f7966eb/2018-12-15-10-28-secretsofstartups.com.png" /> I came up with the ‘hidden information’ language concept, the use of hieroglyphics as code and wrote lines. Creative Director: Kevin Gammon Design Director: Oliver Careon ACD: Kevin Oberbauer Motion: Lauren Koenig Agency: Teak https://kferg.me/JanSport-Find-Your-Freedom Wed, 06 Nov 2019 19:55:03 +0000 Kevin Ferguson https://kferg.me/JanSport-Find-Your-Freedom JanSport | Find Your Freedom JanSport — Work done at Teak in 2018 Senior Copywriter Engaged the Gen Z demographic with a new look and a refreshed JanSport campaign.&nbsp; -- <img width="1920" height="466" width_o="1920" height_o="466" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/2a0bef4969ef933a2b8cca969866ca83c743dab9550efb797296fdf41fdff526/Find-your-freedom.jpg" data-mid="54184474" border="0" data-scale="100" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/2a0bef4969ef933a2b8cca969866ca83c743dab9550efb797296fdf41fdff526/Find-your-freedom.jpg" />Find Your Freedom was my interpretation of the innate desire for escapism and adventure that is typical of youth. Apart from writing the campaign line, I worked with our creative team to concept scenarios for the Find Your Freedom campaign hero video and wrote the lines for the “SuperBreak the _____” construct.&nbsp; Creative Director: Greg RowanArt Director: Montana McleanEditor: Colin Russell Director/DP: Alec Rodriques Motion: Lauren KonigAgency: Teak https://kferg.me/Duraflame-Fireside-Chats Thu, 14 Mar 2019 20:38:06 +0000 Kevin Ferguson https://kferg.me/Duraflame-Fireside-Chats Duraflame Fireside ChatsDuraflame - Work done at Teak in 2017 Senior Copywriter Firelogs bring to mind nostalgic hues of winter, warmth, and, well, fire. Our challenge was to build awareness and create present-day-love in a brand that is often associated with parents.&nbsp; Inspired by yule log videos and certain genius marketing campaigns for whiskey, I figured (and Duraflame agreed) that the fire itself was certainly worth celebrating. I wrote the scripts for the shoot, but all credit goes to the actor for his incredible execution. Watch all the videos here&gt;&gt;Creative Director: Greg Rowan Producer: Jessica Volodarsky Editor: Colin RussellMotion: Lauren KoenigAgency: Teak https://kferg.me/Lagunitas Fri, 26 Oct 2018 19:13:46 +0000 Kevin Ferguson https://kferg.me/Lagunitas Lagunitas Lagunitas Video Content&nbsp;— work done at Teak in 2017 Senior Copywriter / ACD It was dawn. The sun’s rays crawled through windowpanes and across a table, fathom by fathom, in a agency conference room. Two bottles of Lagunitas IPA were popped,and their caps spun together through the air as if in slow motion, until they were transfixed in the path of a sunbeam and, for an instant, were things of radiant gold. Lagunitas, as if you haven’t heard of them, is a brewery with an aesthetic you can taste. They are counter counter counter culture. They sometimes get in trouble with the fuzz. They truly, seriously, and to-the-bones love music. They challenged us to create brand pieces for social as they ramped up for an internation IPA push. So we made some great social media content.&nbsp; After it was all done, the sun fell toward the earth. Periwinkle skies turned to pink, and then orange, and then red. And just as the sun set, just as the day’s door closed with a click, at that moment we clinked our beers together, and there was suddenly a great flash of green light, like the flashbulb of some brilliant photogram, which spread across the sky. A warm wash of pure bliss crept into our minds. The next sip of beer felt momentarily like a new lover’s kiss in the center of a spinning carousel. The creak of floorboards sounded like the tuning of an orchestra before the finest performance of Edvard Grieg’s Peer Gynt Suite №1, Op. 46 ever heard. And soon we drifted into somnolence into oblivion, into sleep. -- *Science of Lagunitas was an idea modeled after LOST Orientation videos, with purposefully juvenile editing and frame skips. LOST was my favorite TV show back in 2006-2009.