John Clarke is to be the guest speaker at the Siren Awards for the year’s best Australian radio ad.
Clarke is best known for the mockumentary The Games and for his weekly mock interviews with Bryan Dawe on ABC TV’s The 7.30 Report.
The Siren Awards will be presented at a breakfast, after which Clarke will speak about the inspiration behind his comedy and some of the barriers in writing from script to production at a creative seminar.
He will also talk about the similarities between advertising and entertainment and what advertising can learn from the entertainment industry.
The Sirens breakfast and Masterclass will also feature Today’s Hamish and Andy, who will discuss how they write observational comedy and connect with their under 40 audience.
The Masterclass will also feature Dr Rebecca Huntley, a researcher and author, who recently published a book, The World According to Y Inside the New Adult Generation.
Cannes Radio Lions judge for this year and creator of the award-winning Australian radio brand campaign, Ralph van Dijk of Eardrum Australia, will also talk at the Masterclass and run several interactive sessions on how to write world-class radio ads.
Chief executive officer of Commercial Radio Australia Joan Warner> says the annual Sirens breakfast and Masterclass provided a opportunity to recognise the excellence in Australian radio advertising and also look at ways to further improve it.
“As an industry we have tried to be creative in our own advertising campaign – recently launching the latest series of ads which feature one of the world’s funniest men, John Cleese. It is important to keep looking at radio creative, recognise its strengths and also focus on ways to keep improving it.”
The winner of the 2007 Siren Awards will be chosen from the winners and highly commended of the five rounds of the Awards and will be judged by the Siren Creative Council – comprising leading creative directors from national advertising agencies. The 2007 winner will be automatically entered into the Cannes Radio Lions – to be held in June and will also win two tickets to attend the festival.
Both the Sirens breakfast and Masterclass will be held at The Point Albert Park in Melbourne, with tickets and more information available via the link below.