Kevin Knutson x Endurance Energy
I specialize in amplifying ideas and narratives for thought-provoking brands through art direction, content development, creative strategy, production, and content creation.
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An Unlikely Path: Science to Creative Media
My path into content marketing began with a desire to understand the universe. Early on, as a physics student, my most prized possession was a signed copy of Brian Greene’s The Fabric of the Cosmos. I was inspired by his ability to translate complex concepts into accessible narratives. The drive to educate the curious remains my core motivation, even though my path took a sharp turn in 2005. That year, an unexpected encounter with a grizzly bear in the Montana wilderness ignited my interest in the visual arts, sparking a dedicated pursuit of video, photography, and design.
2005 also marked the birth of YouTube and the dawn of accessible digital media. As I spent the following years capturing stories across 14 countries and 5 continents (including Antarctica), the technological landscape evolved. I realized that these emerging platforms meant brands could do much more than just advertise a product; they could build living, breathing content ecosystems. I’ve since driven the development, writing, and execution of multi-channel, customer-facing media for brands like REI, Filson, Eddie Bauer, MOD Pizza, and National Geographic.
Today, based in Seattle, my path still draws from the same intersection of art, the outdoors, and technology. Whether navigating unpredictable moments or the ever-evolving landscape of digital media, I’ve learned that when you fuse human curiosity with the power of modern technology, you don’t just amplify a message, you create a gravitational pull that invites people to pause, engage, and learn.
A Look at Some Notable Projects
Contributions: Creative/art direction, brand development, production management, writing, photo editing, media strategy, and budgeting.
Filson | Unfailing Goods
In one calendar year, I pitched, produced, and executed 13 editorial photo and video shoots to support catalog production, ecommerce content, blog articles, social media, and in-store installations. We worked with authentic people in several industries, including commercial fishing, cargo shipping, underwater welding, ranching, and more.
Contributions: Creative/art direction, brand development, production management, design, editorial writing, photo editing, motion media, blog development, and media strategy.
Eddie Bauer
The retail industry is uniquely positioned to amplify a brand story through editorial content, especially when the brand is over 100 years old. As Senior Art Director of content development at Eddie Bauer, I helped create boundary-pushing photo and video shoots, data-driven programs, and award-winning films.
A Bespoke Brand Blog
A major milestone in Eddie Bauer’s content marketing strategy was the development of an editorial-focused brand blog, named Eddie Bauer Stories. Developed in WordPress, this blog was a solution to a long-standing obstacle of serving up world-class content from the brand’s guide and athlete team, partners, and other brand initiatives. The experience was custom-designed with internal team flexibility and site longevity in mind while keeping visual storytelling a hero element for enticing user sessions that can lead down rabbit holes of entertaining and educational content. Videos, articles, photo essays, gear reviews, recipes, and more; this blog experience is catered to the adventurer at heart. It also is an audience finder, using SEO to balance need/want content and position the brand as a steward for creating more access in the outdoor space.
We achieved over 300,000 unique visitors in the first year it was launched.
Award Winning Content
When I joined the team at Eddie Bauer, the YouTube channel had about 6500 subscribers and just shy of 18 million total brand impressions for the entire channel. Under my direction we re-imagined our content strategy and introduced policies for content on YouTube to enhance the experience, including professional captioning services on all videos, intentionally designed thumbnails for improved engagement, better descriptions with links back to the brand’s website, use of end-cards to avoid dead-ending users, additional playlists, and more. In less than 4 years, the subscriber count shot up to over 71,000 (an increase of about 1000%) and impressions of nearly 392 million (over 2000%).
Some of our tent-pole content became the most engaged with content in the brand’s history.
World-Class Photography
I had a reputation at Eddie Bauer; if there was no brief and no budget, it would land on my desk to find something interesting to do. This led to some great projects that explored unique production methods to amplify a visual story.
Contributions: Producer, motion media editor
Valve | Dota 2 International Tournament 2018
One of the largest and most exciting e-sports competitions in the world, The International (or TI) brings pro Dota 2 players from all over the globe to compete in a five-vs-five team battle for the largest cash prize in competitive sports. This year, the stage was set at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, BC with a crowd-funded prize pool of over $25 million, with over $11 million going to the first-place team.
RUN Studios partnered with Valve Software to create motion content in the lead-up to the event and during the week-long tournament.
I worked closely with RUN and Valve to create a variety of videos, including team profiles, location vignettes, event collateral, and fast turnaround tournament recaps.
My Values
1. EDUCATION CREATES ACTION
A confused audience doesn’t act. Whether it’s through hard data, radical transparency, or just a really compelling story, giving people the facts gives them the agency to actually do something about it.
2. AWE IS A STRATEGY
The internet is incredibly loud. Cut through the noise and remind people how amazing the world can actually be. Stop the endless scroll with something beautiful, inspiring, or genuinely good.
3. BE CURIOUS (AND A LITTLE WEIRD)
The best ideas start with a casual “what if.” Lean into unknowns, explore tangents, and don’t forget to be human.
4. “DO NO HARM” IS THE BARE MINIMUM
Neutrality doesn’t fix anything. We have to actively build a better future, not just passively avoid wrecking it. That means putting in the work to champion sustainability, dismantle systemic barriers, and leave the world a little better than we found it.
5. PRIVILEGE HAS A RESPONSIBILITY TO MAKE OPPORTUNITY
Once privilege is acknowledged, we can be allies (not saviors) for others by creating, yielding, or amplifying opportunities. We all benefit from an equitable and inclusive world.
