An ad campaign promoting Allpest has won the 2015 Gold Siren award for the best radio advertising of the year.
The three ads in the campaign “We Don’t Do Husbands”, by Matt Dickson, Creative Solutions Director at Southern Cross Austereo Perth, also took out the Silver Siren award in the Radio Campaign category.
The 11th annual Siren Awards, run by Commercial Radio Australia, recognise the best radio advertising in Australia. The new evening format was hosted by Andrew Hansen and Chris Taylor of The Chaser fame at Bar 100 in The Rocks.
Matt Dickson’s award marks a win for radio network creativity and Dickson’s first Gold Siren after a number of finalist entries. The quality of the ad has also been recognised by the New York Festivals of World’s Best Advertising being recently announced as a finalist in the radio category.
Dickson’s “We Don’t Do Husbands” campaign for pest control company Allpest is made up of three witty ads involving back and forth husband and wife banter, which won Dickson the Campaign Category in the first round of Siren Awards judging in June last year.
The Gold Siren and the runner-up Silver Siren winners, across the Craft, Single Ad and Radio Campaign categories, were selected from hundreds of entries over five rounds of judging throughout 2014-15. They were judged by the Siren Council, comprised of creative directors and producers from leading advertising agencies and studios throughout Australia.
The Gold Siren wins airfares and accommodation, plus automatic entry and tickets to the Cannes Advertising Lions Festival in June, for Dickson and his client Allpest.
Siren Awards judge Marty Braine, from Brainestorm Digital Productions, said: “The ‘We Don’t Do Husbands’ campaign is a compellingly funny demonstration of relationship dynamics that millions of people can relate to. It’s deceptively simple and a lovely performance.”
The Silver Siren (Craft) was won by “Ball of Fire” by Paul Le Couteur of Flagstaff Studios, for its innovative use of a nano-microphone on a tennis ball served at 234kmh, for client Tennis Australia for The Australian Open.
Creatives Alida Henson, Megan Riley, Guy Howlett, Neil Martin, Pat Lennox and Ben Green from Marketforce Perth won the Silver Siren (Radio Single) for “Women in Engineering” for Curtin University.
The Siren $5,000 Client Award was won by Matt Arbon and Alex Davidson from Workshop Australia (Sydney) for the ad “Spot the Difference” for MindHealthConnect. This award was judged by an industry panel of clients rather than by the Siren Creative Council.
Commercial Radio Australia CEO Joan Warner, said: “The creative bar at the Siren Awards is lifted every year. Matt Dickson’s very funny winning entry is a testament to the outstanding creative talent that is flourishing within radio networks. The extremely high quality of entries demonstrates the wide appeal of good radio advertising.”
2015 Siren Award winners
Siren Awards 2015 Overall Category Winner (Gold Siren)
(also winner of the Silver Siren: Radio Campaign)
Matt Dickson
Southern Cross Austereo, Perth
“We Don’t Do Husbands,” Allpest
Siren Awards 2015 Single Category Winner (Silver Siren)
Radio Single
Alida Henson, Megan Riley, Guy Howlett, Neil Martin, Pat Lennox & Ben Green
Marketforce, Perth
“Women in Engineering,” Curtin University
Siren Awards 2015 Campaign Category Winner (Silver Siren)
Radio Campaign
Matt Dickson
Southern Cross Austereo, Perth
“We Don’t Do Husbands,” Allpest
Siren Awards 2015 Craft Category (Silver Siren)
Craft
Paul Le Couteur
Flagstaff Studios, Melbourne
“Ball of Fire,” Tennis Australia / The Australian Open
Siren Awards 2015 Client Award
Radio Single
Matt Arbon & Alex Davidson
Workshop Australia, Sydney
“Spot The Difference,” Mindhealthconnect