BMF Takes Top Prize As The 2023 Siren Winners Announced

Ad agency BMF’s “Special You can Buy – Atoms 1078” for client ALDI Australia has won the coveted Gold, Silver single ad, and Bronze client Siren Awards for 2023 for the best radio ad in Australia.

The agency won against tough competition, which included over 70 different agencies from across Australia participating in the 19^th annual Siren Awards, hosted by Commercial Radio & Audio and which recognise the important of creativity in creating truly memorable, effective radio advertising.

Creatives of the multi-award winning radio ad are Kiah Nicholas and Emily Field, with David Fraser and Dantie Van Der Merwe as creative directors.

“It’s a huge honour and a privilege,” Kiah Nicholas said of winning the Gold Siren Award for 2023. “Emily and I are blown away with the industry acknowledgement, not only for the Gold Siren, but also the Silver Siren for a single radio ad and the Bronze client Siren awards.”

“Out of all the awards in all the world, how special it is that we won the Gold Siren for ALDI Australia’s “It’s Special You Can Buy,” and that we had such a special client to make it with,” Emily Field said.

The winners were announced in a special Siren Awards show streamed from the ARN studios today and hosted by KIIS talent Mitch Churi and Nat Penfold.

The winning ad aimed to make for unexpected retail experiences by aligning ALDI special buys as some of the most special things in existence, using soundscape, production and casting with great impact to engage radio listeners.

Ford Ennals, CEO of CRA said: “Congratulations to all of the Siren winners over the five rounds we held this year. Over 30 finalists were chosen for the Silver Siren Awards, and the level of creativity displayed by all the finalists was truly mind blowing.

“We congratulate Kiah, Emily, David and Dantie and the BMF team for taking home the Gold Siren Award for 2023 for their client ALDI Australia. Against strong competition your ad stood out for the client panel as well as the Sirens Creative Council.”

BMF, as the winning agency for the Gold Siren Award, has won the coveted gold trophy and two tickets to the 70th Annual Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity with travel and accommodation. The winning ad will be entered into the Cannes Lion radio award. ALDI Australia, as client of the winning agency, will also receive a travel and accommodation package to the Cannes Festival in June. As the Bronze client Award winner, the writers of the winning ad also receive $1,000 from CRA.

On winning the Gold Siren prize package, Kiah said, “I’ll have to get my passport updated very quickly! Going to the Cannes festival is a huge opportunity. Emily and I can’t wait to learn as much as we can and come back, reinvigorated, to pass our knowledge forward, not just with our colleagues but also to award school students and to people coming up in the industry.”

“Radio is the only medium where you can still get people’s undivided attention. It can move hearts and minds, as much if not more so than other mediums, “Emily said.

“The Siren Awards celebrates the importance of creativity in radio advertising. A client comes to you with a problem or a goal and creative expression provides the solution. Ideas are the most powerful thing at the end of the day. Craft and execution are also key as a great idea is nothing if it’s not executed well,” Kiah added.

BMF also won the Silver Siren campaign Award for the ALDI Christmas 2022 campaign. Creatives were Josie Fox, Erica Mallett, Angel McMullan and Harry Stanford.

BMF creative directors David Fraser and Dantie Van Der Merwe said: “Not only was it incredible to win the Gold Siren, but we’re stoked to have been in such good company with the ALDI Christmas campaign also winning a Silver Siren. We’re super proud of all the teams. And we couldn’t have done any of it without our ALDI clients consistently backing great creative work.”

The Silver Siren Award for radio craft was awarded to Chris Gates and Paul Corbett from The Studio at SCA for the Sliding Doors radio ad.

“I remember when I met Chris when I came from New Zealand,” Paul said.  “He told me: ‘if you want to make a mark, you need to win a Siren’. Now we have! And to win it with Chris means everything to me.”

Gates said, “it’s an honour and a privilege to win for our clients 7-Eleven and Mobil. It was an absolute surprise and we couldn’t be more happy. It was a tough campaign to  produce and we are thrilled.”

M&C Saatchi were highly commended for innovation for the Ugly makes you super campaign for Baiada (Steggles Turkey). Directors were Nathan Cavaleri and Jason Leigh. Sound Engineers were Nathan Cavaleri and Simon Kane and Creative Directors were Sharon Edmondston and Cam Blackley.

Ralph van Dijk, chair of the Sirens Creative Council said: “A Siren winning radio ad, “makes people pause in their everyday and leaves us with one single-minded and unforgettable message. A Gold Siren winner will do this in a new and unexpected way, raising the bar and helping to redefine the medium.”

The streamed 19^th Siren Awards event showcased some of the best ads of 2023, as well as revisiting Gold Siren Award winners from previous years. CRA would like to thank ARN and the CADA team for their help in hosting the Siren Awards this year.

The annual Siren Awards celebrate excellence and creativity in radio advertising. The awards are judged by the Siren Creative Council – a panel of creative directors from leading ad agencies across the country. The Client Award was judged by a panel of clients rather than agency creative directors.