Million Dollar Challenge: Let the Community Demonstrate the Product

Read the campaign story

GoPro announced the original Million Dollar Challenge in September 2018 around HERO7 Black. The invitation asked owners to submit raw footage for possible inclusion in the camera’s highlight film. A USD1 million pool was to be divided equally among the individuals whose work was selected. The company’s December account documents the completed film and the editorial team that assembled it. This was a selective reward programme, not a payment promised to everyone who uploaded a clip.

The company positioned the film as a shift from an internally captured launch reel to one made from community submissions. That does not mean the final result was uncurated or that every user could reproduce each featured scene. Selection, editing and contributor skill shaped the presentation. This case does not adopt submission volume as proof of incremental camera sales or assume the selected creators represent an average customer’s experience.

Editorial interpretation: the product demonstration gains variety because users take the camera into different activities and environments. The invitation can make existing owners feel that their creative work matters to the brand’s public identity. The reward also makes the commercial value of selected contributions explicit. However, a large headline pool can distract from the uncertainty of selection and the effort participants may spend creating an entry.

The design must also account for what people think will get noticed. If only extreme or unusually risky footage appears to receive recognition, contributors may infer that they need to escalate. A responsible adaptation should make safety and lawful access visible in the brief and selection process. Interesting observation, craft or an everyday perspective can demonstrate a tool without asking users to put themselves or others in danger.

Explain selection and payment before asking for work

State who can enter, what material is required and how any reward is allocated. Make clear which submissions receive payment and what permission is requested for selected and unselected work. Do not let the size of a total pool imply a typical earning. Give contributors understandable technical guidance and a reliable way to ask questions so avoidable format errors do not waste the effort they have already invested.

Curate the product claim as carefully as the film

Identify what each clip demonstrates and which conditions made it possible. Avoid implying that a specialist result is automatic for every owner. Credit contributors and explain substantial editing where it affects the claim. A behind-the-scenes account can show the care involved without diminishing the community’s role. The finished reel should make a truthful statement about the product, not only a compelling statement about the editor’s ability to select extraordinary moments.

Reward observation and craft without encouraging escalation

Use examples that demonstrate a range of safe, permitted creative approaches. Explicitly reject trespass, harm and dangerous imitation, and give reviewers authority to exclude spectacular footage that conflicts with the standard. Do not assume a disclaimer can cancel the incentives created by the work being celebrated. Test the brief with ordinary participants and ask what they believe they would need to do to have a chance of selection.

A small test for another brief

A small creative-tool company commissions a limited set of paid adult contributors to film ordinary tabletop tasks, then compares the resulting demonstration with an in-house version.

Measure accurate feature understanding, contributor experience, usable footage and total production cost. Keep views and submissions separate from incremental sales.

Pause if the brief encourages risk, permissions are missing or the finished edit exaggerates product capability.

• Publish a safe brief, fixed contributor terms and accurate product constraints.
• Review rights, permissions and technical quality before editing.
• Credit contributors and explain what selection and post-production contributed.