Ray Ali and Carlo Mazzarella from Clemenger BBDO
Melbourne have taken out Australian radio advertising's top award, the
Gold Siren, at the 2018 Siren Awards held tonight in Sydney.
The
'Sound Booth' spot, for client beyondblue, also won the Silver Siren for
best single radio ad. The campaign aimed to raise awareness about
anxiety and encouraging those with symptoms to seek help.
The Siren Awards are judged by the Siren Council,
comprised of creative directors and producers from leading advertising
and creative agencies and studios across Australia.
The spot completed a trifecta by also winning the Client Award, a $5,000
cash prize which is judged by a separate panel of clients, rather than
agency creative directors.
Ali and
Mazzarella (pictured above) said the most effective radio ads are those that are
not too complicated: "Working on the anxiety campaign, we learned how
crippling a condition it can be, often stopping people from finishing
things they want to achieve. We thought that this could be a pretty
powerful concept to explore."
The awards were hosted by comedian Cam Knight and attended by
creative writers, directors and producers from leading creative agencies
and executives from the radio industry.

The Silver Siren for
best radio campaign (three or more ads in a campaign) went to Tim Newton
and Wilora Keeley (pictured right) from J. Walter Thompson Perth for a powerful campaign
for the WA Police Union in support of a 1.5% pay increase for police
officers.
The "How much to...?" campaign uses real-life scenarios
to pose confronting questions about how much money it would take to
encourage the average person to do the job faced by police.
Matt
Perrott from Uncanny Valley won the Silver Siren in the craft category
for production of the 'NSW Water Safety' spot for the NSW Government.
The
14th annual Siren Awards, run by Commercial Radio Australia, are
designed to encourage excellence and creativity in radio advertising.
The
Gold Siren and the Silver Siren winners across the craft, single and
radio campaign categories, were selected from hundreds of entries
throughout 2017-18 over five rounds, plus a final call.
Says
Joan Warner, CEO, CRA: "The awards are a reminder of how effective audio
is in getting a message across. We congratulate all the finalists and
winners on the high level of quality that has been displayed through all
the rounds of award entries this year."
Ali and Mazzarella
receive automatic entry for their winning ad into the international
Cannes Advertising Lions Festival in June. The creatives and their
client also win accommodation, airfares and delegate passes to attend
the event.
Listen to the winning ads here.
2018 Siren Award winners:
Gold
Ray Ali & Carlo Mazzarella
Clemenger BBDO Melbourne
"Sound Booth" for Beyondblue
Silver
Radio Single
Ray Ali & Carlo Mazzarella
Clemenger BBDO Melbourne
"Sound Booth" for Beyondblue
Silver
Radio Campaign
Tim Newton & Wilora Keeley
J. Walter Thompson
"How much to...?" for WA Police Union
Silver
Radio Craft
Matt Perrott
Uncanny Valley
"NSW Water Safety" for NSW Government
Client Award
Ray Ali & Carlo Mazzarella
Clemenger BBDO Melbourne
"Sound Booth" for Beyondblue