The best Australian radio ad of 2018 has been announced at the Siren Awards in Sydney on Thursday night.

Carlo Mazzarella and Ray Ali (pictured above) from Clemenger BBDO Melbourne won Gold and Silver at the awards with an ad about anxiety for mental health advocacy group beyondblue.

The ad, ‘Sound Booth’, aimed at raising awareness about anxiety and encouraging those with symptoms to seek help, was awarded the prestigious Gold Siren at the event and the Silver Siren for best single radio ad.

The ad 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.

Mazzarella and Ali 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,” the said in a joint statement.

“We thought that this could be a pretty powerful concept to explore.”

The 14th annual Siren Awards – run by Commercial Radio Australia (CRA) – was 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 from J. Walter Thompson, who delivered a powerful campaign for the WA Police Union in support of a 1.5 per cent 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 ad ‘NSW Water Safety’ for the NSW government.

To listen to the winning ads, click here.

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.

CRA chief executive Joan Warner said: “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.”

Mazzarella and Ali 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.

Below is the full list of winners from this year’s Siren Awards:

GOLD

Winners: Ray Ali and Carlo Mazzarella, Clemenger BBDO Melbourne

Campaign: ‘Sound Booth’ for Beyondblue

SILVER

Radio Single

Winners: Ray Ali and Carlo Mazzarella, Clemenger BBDO Melbourne

Campaign: ‘Sound Booth’ for Beyondblue

Radio Campaign

Winners: Tim Newton and Wilora Keeley, J. Walter Thompson

Campaign: ‘How much to…?’ for WA Police Union

Radio Craft

Winner: Matt Perrott, Uncanny Valley

Campaign: ‘NSW Water Safety’ for NSW government

CLIENT AWARD

Winners: Ray Ali and Carlo Mazzarella, Clemenger BBDO Melbourne

Campaign: ‘Sound Booth’ for Beyondblue