2015 Siren Awards for best radio ads

Southern Cross Austero Perth’s campaign for Allpest took out the prestigious 2015 Gold Siren Award at last night’s ceremony in Sydney. The three-ad campaign by the company’s creative solutions director Matt Dickson also won the silver Siren award in the radio campaign category. The prestigious award means Dickson and Allpest wins flights, accommodation and tickets for June’s Cannes Advertising Festival.

Commercial Radio Australia’s 11th annual awards ceremony took place at Sydney’s Bar 100, following a change to an evening format. Hosts Andrew Hansen and Chris Taylor of The Chaser fame provided plenty of laughs, noting that “As employees of the ABC, we’re the natural choice to host an event that celebrates advertising”. They also suggested that with declining ad dollars across the entire media sector, advertisers would do well not to limit themselves to playing ads before and after music, but inserting ads into songs instead, such as Hansen’s mashup of Nikki Minaj and Baker’s Delight, or Sam Smith and Accor Hotels.

The Gold Siren and the runner-up Silver Siren winners, across the Craft, Single Ad and Radio Campaign categories, were selected across five rounds of judging in the year leading up to the awards. They were judged by the Siren Council, comprised of creative directors and producers from leading advertising agencies and studios throughout Australia.

2015 Siren Award winners

•  Siren Awards 2015 Overall Category Winner (Gold Siren)
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

Photo: MCs Andrew Hansen and Chris Taylor with Gold Siren winner Matt Dickinson