Level Up Your Idea Submissions on Tongal

Note From Tongal: “Level Up Your Idea Submissions on Tongal” is part of a series of Tongal Community-written blog posts that were originally sourced in the Tongal Blog Open Call Project. Read more Tongal Community-written posts here and then Pitch us a topic you'd like to write about for the Tongal Blog!  

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Oftentimes, the difference between winning and losing on Tongal can be determined by just a few words. The way you convey your creative commercial ideas is incredibly important when the brands are reading through hundreds of submissions for each project. Odds are, several people are going to write ideas that are similar to yours, making it imperative that your writing style stands out from the rest of the crowd. Winning on Tongal requires more than just a great idea in your head; you need to be able to put pen to paper and properly push it out of your brain in a way that’s understandable to the brand. For every winner on Tongal, there are hundreds of people sitting at home wondering why their ideas weren’t selected.

Back in the day, you could get away with broken English and grammatically incorrect submissions. These days, the winners have boiled down their ideas into a fine-tuned ball of brilliance that brands have no choice but to pick. The next time there’s a writing project that involves public voting, take a look at all the submissions that come in. As you’re rating every idea from 1 star to 5 stars, you’ll likely see a pattern emerge with what you find compelling and what you’re not that keen on.

The brand will often let you know in the brief what they’re looking for, so the first ideas I dismiss when I’m voting are the ones that clearly didn’t bother to read the brief. Ideas that are identical to the examples of things the brand says they DEFINITELY don’t want are going to lose 99.9% of the time. Look for the parts of the brief where the brand is explaining what they’re actually looking for and roll with it!

If you’re given 500 characters and you only use 20, it’s going to be hard to compete. Even if your concept is incredibly short, use the remaining space you have to explain why this idea is perfect for their brand and product. Avoid adding quoted dialogue you intend to put in the script. Oftentimes, this might actually hurt your case more than it helps if the brand isn’t on board with your example or choice of words.

When you're pitching a story about a real person, it's important to evoke an emotional response from your readers. Simply saying, "My dad is a firefighter and he'd be great for this commercial" isn't enough. A winning idea would likely sound something more like this: ”My dad is a hero in our community. He's the one running into the blaze as everyone else is running out." While both stories are about the same exact person, the second version frames our firefighter in a much more compelling way. The large majority of people will be submitting stories about police officers and firefighters, so your description of their job duties is the most important thing you can focus on. Use a real story to convey their heroism, rather than simply stating that they’re a hero. This is a skill that will help you take you ideas to the next level. This won’t only give you an edge on Tongal, it will help with all your future commercial writing endeavors!

The best piece of advice I can give any aspiring Tongal writers is to never be done re-working your ideas. I try to submit my ideas as soon as possible, giving me plenty of time to think about each one and re-work them until the idea in my head is properly conveyed on the submission form. If you come back to your idea 48 hours later and it no longer makes sense to you, it’s time to rephrase it. The brand needs to see your vision. They aren’t going to green-light a concept they don’t understand, so it’s imperative to make sure your concepts make sense to people other than yourself.

Even if you submit your idea and lose, it doesn’t mean you need to stop working on that idea. There will always be another project looking for similar concepts. It might only need a small tweak to turn your losing idea into the next great advertising campaign! If you’re getting finalist emails all the time, take a look at those ideas and see where you can build on them for a similar brand or product. Complaining about not getting selected in the project forums and community forums has never helped anyone become a better writer. While losing can be frustrating, there are hundreds of other disappointed writers in the same position as you. Don’t take it out on the judges, look inward and see how you can better your writing to make sure your concept gets selected next time.

Finally, the best way to become a better writer on Tongal is to just keep on submitting. I was lucky enough to win with the very first concept I ever submitted on Tongal. At the same time, I also had a stretch on Tongal where I didn’t win a single project in over 7 months with nearly 1000 losing ideas in a row. It can feel like an uphill battle at times, but if you’re prepared to put in the extra time and effort, Tongal will greatly help you become a better writer. Competition and money aside, unleashing your creativity on a daily basis is just plain good for the soul. If you’re someone who enjoys writing, Tongal is the perfect playground to flex your brain muscles and creativity!