The winner of Round 4 of the 2020 Siren Awards has been decided, with advertising agency The Royals named overall winner after securing victory in the campaign category for the Athena Home Loans ad series “The Call.”
They also placed first in the single category for the individual commercial “The Call – No Fees.”
Creatives Lewis Farrar (right in photo) and Pete Sherrah (left) from The Royals took a humorous approach to the campaign, recruiting the vocal talents of recognisable Australian comedians Dan Ilic and Susie Youssef to create a sense of familiarity, trust and authenticity for the audience.
In the single category winning ad “The Call – No Fees”, Ilic and Youssef go back and forth in an exaggerated mock phone call, which plays off the frustrations that can build when customers are confronted with confusing fees and complicated processes.
Farrar and Sherrah cited relatability as a key component in the success of the campaign. “The comedy and timing between Dan Ilic and Susie Youssef really helped bring the concept to life, they have incredible chemistry on and off air and we think you can hear that in these spots,” they said.
Sound engineer Dee Gjedsted from Risk Sound landed in top spot in the craft category for the Visit Victoria ad “Your Happy Space Spring Radio 1.” The ad artfully uses overlapping audio to transport the listener to a busy city scene, with the hustle and bustle of hectic city noises gradually fading into the relaxing and refreshing sounds of the “happy place” that is a peaceful regional landscape.
Joan Warner, CEO of industry body Commercial Radio Australia said: “We applaud all of the category winners and the highly commended creatives who received acknowledgements in Round 4. Their work is a wonderful example of the strong storytelling and creativity that lies in radio advertising. We know that the vision and innovation of the next batch of entrants will continue to impress.”
The CD Dodd ads “Scrap Metal Jingle – Growl in the morning”, “Scrap Metal Jingle – Money for your metal” and “Scrap Metal Jingle – Same but different” from creatives Liz Hammond and Alida Henson at Rare all received highly commended acknowledgements in the single category.
As a series, the CD Dodd ad campaign “Scrap Metal Jingle” from Rare’s Hammond and Henson received a highly commended acknowledgement in the campaign category. Southern Cross Austereo creatives Tony Byrne, Andrew Fritsch, Carly Nicolaides, Geoff Esdaile and Graham Hunter were also acknowledged for the Jimmy Rods campaign “Jimmy Rods – What it means to be a man.”
Gjedsted and Risk Sound received a highly commended nod in the craft category for the Visit Victoria commercial “Your Happy Space Spring Radio 2.” Others who received acknowledgements were sound engineer Paul Taylor from Eardrum for the Austral Bricks ad “Bricks Are Back” and Southern Cross Austereo sound engineers Ethan Kavanagh and Nat Marshall for the Marshall Mowers ad “Mower: The Musical.”
Administered by Commercial Radio Australia, The Siren Awards honour the best of radio advertising. The awards are judged across five rounds, with adjudicating performed by the Siren Creative Council – a panel of industry experts, made up of creative directors from leading ad agencies.
The 2020 Gold Siren winner will be announced in May 2020, with the winner being awarded a trip to the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. Silver Sirens are awarded in each of the three categories: single, campaign and craft. In addition, there is also a client-voted award with a $5000 cash prize, which is presented to the writers of the ad voted the best by a panel of clients.
Round 5 of the 2020 Siren Awards is currently open for submissions, with entries closing on 11 February 2020. Browse the Round 4 2020 winning ads here or at www.sirenawards.com.au/ and visit the Siren Awards on Facebook.
