Ward’s path to becoming an advertising and marketing raconteur wasn’t without twists and turns. While taking graduate classes at Duke University, he got a call from two friends asking if he wanted to spend the summer on an Alaskan fishing boat. The idea of making good money on the open Pacific was hard to pass up, so westward he went. Unfortunately, neither he nor his two buddies bothered to confirm what date the boats left Seattle’s harbor. When they arrived, the harbor was empty.
A change of plans. Ward sent for his nascent advertising portfolio and landed a copywriting job at Eddie Bauer. Since those early days in Seattle, Ward has worked at advertising agencies in Toronto, Atlanta and San Francisco honing his skills in copywriting, creative direction and brand strategy for a wide-ranging list of companies that includes Disney Resorts, Westin Hotels, Eidos, Blue Cross, Amtrak, Boost Mobile, eBay, Hewlett Packard, Intel, Netflix, Nordstrom, Verizon Wireless, WaTrust and many more. Ward has also been recognized by numerous trade publications: AdWeek, Communication Arts, Catalog Age, Shoot Magazine, and AdAge. He has a shelf full of industry awards including Best of Show ADDY Awards, Designer Chairs and numerous Golds and Silvers, as well as ShowSouth and others. He has also taught advertising and concepting classes at The Portfolio Center, The Creative Circus, and Eastern Washington University.
Today, he’s thrilled to be a co-founder of Duft Watterson.