Results are in for Round 1 of the 2021 Siren Awards, with creative agency whiteGREY being named overall winner and taking the top spot in the single category for the Missing Persons Advocacy Network (MPAN) advertisement ‘Missed Birthdays – Rigby Feilding.’
From creatives Benjamin Mann and Nic Molyneux, ‘Missed Birthdays – Rigby Feilding’ features a personal message from a sister to her missing brother on his birthday. The ad puts the spotlight on ambiguous loss, which is the type of grief felt by the loved ones of missing persons.
Mann and Molyneux said that their intent was to use radio’s influential reach and the ad’s emotional message to raise public awareness and possibly even connect with the missing person themselves.
“Radio has a real power to elicit one-on-one emotional responses within audiences. It’s why the best radio, whether it be funny or sad, makes us feel something. Emotion, and an emotional reaction, is the key to an effective radio piece and getting people to take action,” they said.
Ralph Van Dijk from Eardrum was named winner in the campaign category for the Commercial Radio Australia series of ads ‘CRA Marketing Campaign – COVID-19.’ The campaign highlights how radio remains a relevant medium for advertisers to utilise during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sound engineer Tristan Dewey from Bang Bang Studios won in the craft category, also for the MPAN ad ‘Missed Birthdays – Rigby Feilding.’
Joan Warner, CEO of Commercial Radio Australia said: “Congratulations to the winners of Round 1 of the 2021 Siren Awards for their hard work, creativity and innovative use of audio. The winning ads, as well as those that were highly commended, demonstrate the effectiveness of radio advertising and how impactful it can be in challenging times.”
Three highly commended were awarded in the single category: ‘Stop the Jingle’ from creatives Matt Wilson, Luke Williams and Oli Nicholson from Meerkats for Cat Haven; ‘It Doesn’t Matter’ from creative Joshua Robins from Southern Cross Austereo for Pete’s Chop Shop; and ‘Fade Away Tattoos’ from creative Malcolm MacLean from Likeable Creative for MIRA Clinic.
Creative Cameron Horn from Southern Cross Austereo received a highly commended in the campaign category for the campaign ‘Music, Elevator, Harold’ for Lullaby Sleep, while Southern Cross Austereo sound engineer Nat Marshall received highly commended in the craft category for the Hillseafood commercial ‘Rum Chum Chum.’
The Siren Awards are run by CRA and are judged across five rounds, plus a final call round.
Round 2 of the 2021 Siren Awards is now open, with entries closing on 4 July 2020. The 2021 Gold
Siren winner will be announced in May 2021.
Subscribe to the radioinfo daily flash briefing podcast on these platforms: Acast, Apple iTunes Podcasts, Podtail, Spotify, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, or wherever you get your podcasts.
