Literally overnight Gold Rush became a genre defining show. Rather than quietly debuting in the safe testing grounds of Friday night TV, the show changed Friday night TV for the entire industry - after one show. The reasons were clear. The show reminded America of it's pioneering and tenacious heritage in down times. The characters in the show were suffering layoffs and foreclosures like so many and now they were going to do something about it by taking a giant leap of faith. I was hooked, and the opportunity to work on the advertising for Season 2 was an honor.

The digital ads focused on 2 key metrics: interaction rate and time spent. I knew these 2 metrics could combine to equal a much higher intent to tune in. The interaction rate would be driven by huge, attention grabbing action glimpses interrupted by bold type. We knew users were not here to see our ad and we needed to earn their attention by being the most important thing on the page for just a milli-second. After getting attention we would drive time spent with a show promo that resolves to an interactive miner camp with the several options to engage with lead character bios, trailers and hints about season 2.

The approach worked and both interaction rate and time spent metrics blew away industry and internal benchmarks adding to the amazing success of Gold Rush Season 2 ratings.