There's also another side to the story. With more people editing video on their computers, many people are creating their own commercials from the comfort of their home.
Most are created for fun, some are even spoofs of other commercials. But a lot of these are getting big amounts of publicity as they're picked up by advertising blogs and spread across the net.
California school teacher George Masters experienced that firsthand. He created a 60-second animated iPod commercial featuring the song "Tiny Machine" by the Darling Buds. He posted his ad on his Web site without any buzz and before he knew it, the commercial had spread across the Internet and had been watched about 50,000 times.
Quality and creativity made his commercial stand out and marketers noticed. They even commented on how professional this school teacher's homemade ad is.
Masters didn't quit his day job and head off to pursue a career in advertising, though. That may not even be your plan as many people simply want to submit one idea they've come up with and not become a part of the advertising industry after that.
To pursue your own idea and getting it out there, do your research. It would even help to create a concept ad for the company you plan on pitching to.
Show them you're serious and can deliver. It doesn't have to be anything fancy at this point. Vogel's HP ad featured test shots submitted to the ad agency to demonstrate his concept. This is just a preliminary introduction of your idea and what you can do for them.
Every company has a marketing department even if they have an outside ad agency. So contacting the company president isn't going to help but contacting the marketing department instead can be the best approach.
These are the guys and gals that can help get the ball rolling for you. Keep in mind, though, you may get a chilly reception because many people simply aren't going to be receptive to what they consider an outsider pitching an idea.
Just be ready to have the door slammed in your face many times and prepare to be persistent. You may get lucky.
Good luck and remember, it's not easy to get your concept put on TV, it's even rare. But as Vogel proved, it can be done.
