Clemenger BBDO Melbourne’s Ray Ali and Carlo Mazzarella take out Gold and Silver Siren for beyondblue radio campaign at 2018 Siren Awards

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Screen Shot 2017-12-15 at 9.18.33 am.jpgRay Ali and Carlo Mazzarella from Clemenger BBDO Melbourne have taken out Australian radio advertising’s top award, the Gold Siren, at the 2018 Siren Awards held tonight in Sydney.

The ‘Sound Booth’ spot, for client beyondblue, also won the Silver Siren for best single radio ad. The campaign aimed to raise awareness about anxiety and encouraging those with symptoms to seek help.

The Siren Awards are judged by the Siren Council, comprised of creative directors and producers from leading advertising and creative agencies and studios across Australia.

The spot 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.

Ali and Mazzarella (pictured above) 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. We thought that this could be a pretty powerful concept to explore.”

 

The awards were hosted by comedian Cam Knight and attended by creative writers, directors and producers from leading creative agencies and executives from the radio industry.

Tim_Wilora.jpgThe Silver Siren for best radio campaign (three or more ads in a campaign) went to Tim Newton and Wilora Keeley (pictured right) from J. Walter Thompson Perth for a powerful campaign for the WA Police Union in support of a 1.5% 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 ‘NSW Water Safety’ spot for the NSW Government.

The 14th annual Siren Awards, run by Commercial Radio Australia, are designed to encourage excellence and creativity in radio advertising.

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.

 

Says Joan Warner, CEO, CRA: “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.”

Ali and Mazzarella 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.

2018 Siren Award winners:

Gold

Ray Ali & Carlo Mazzarella

Clemenger BBDO Melbourne

“Sound Booth” for Beyondblue

Silver

Radio Single

Ray Ali & Carlo Mazzarella

Clemenger BBDO Melbourne

“Sound Booth” for Beyondblue

Silver

Radio Campaign

Tim Newton & Wilora Keeley

J. Walter Thompson

“How much to…?” for WA Police Union

Silver

Radio Craft

Matt Perrott

Uncanny Valley

“NSW Water Safety” for NSW Government

Client Award

Ray Ali & Carlo Mazzarella

Clemenger BBDO Melbourne

“Sound Booth” for Beyondblue