Marketforce Perth’s Guy Hamilton Howlett and Neil Martin win Sirens Round 1 for iiNet ‘Loading’

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Guy Hamilton Howlett and Neil Martin from Marketforce Perth have won the single ad category and round one overall of the Siren Awards 2016, with a radio ad for iiNet called “Loading.” The ad promotes iiNet’s new super-fast cable internet and uses a voice and two sentences to recreate the experience of waiting for your internet to load.

Says Howlett: “I wanted to share the joy of waiting for Sesame Street to load on iTunes when you have a screaming 8-month-old baby on your lap.”  

In the campaign category, the round one winners were Nova Entertainment’s Darren Russell and Eddie Bye for their “Bucket of Beef” campaign for client Bucket of Beef. The dog food campaign is a three-part dialogue between a resentful dog and his owner as he persuades her to change his food.

The Sirens craft category was won by 2015 Silver Siren winner Paul Le Couteur from Flagstaff Studios for “Enforcement” for the Transport Accident Commission. What appears to be a group of friends is discussing plans for the long weekend, until it becomes clear they’re police officers talking about their patrols.

Six further ads and campaigns were Highly Commended by judges. Highly commended entries in the single ad category were Luke Thompson and Jim Robbins from Clemenger BBDO Melbourne for “Speeding” for the Transport Accident Commission, Jonathan Williams from Southern Cross Austereo for “Great Scott” for the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, and Cam Blackley, Ryan Fitzgerald and Jim Curtis from BMF Advertising for “Gut” for Sportsbet.

2015 Gold Siren winner Matt Dickson from Southern Cross Austereo Perth was highly commended in the campaign category for his campaign “Shart/Bowel Full of Grapes/Attractive Monkey” for Westspecs. Paul Baxter of Risk Sound was highly commended in the craft category for two ads for “Crownbet: The Game Evolves – NRL” and “CrownBet – AFL Brand”.

Says Joan Warner, CEO, Commercial Radio Australia: “The high creative standards of the Siren Awards continue to attract innovative and compelling radio advertising that is exciting for clients and audiences alike.”

The Siren Awards, run by Commercial Radio Australia, celebrate the best in radio advertising and are judged over five rounds throughout the year by a panel of industry experts, made up of creative directors from leading ad agencies, known as the Siren Creative Council.

The 2016 Gold Siren winner will be announced in May 2016 and wins a trip to the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.  The client of the winning 2014 Gold Siren Award also wins a ticket to Cannes. Silver Sirens are awarded in each of the three categories: single, campaign and craft. There is also a client-voted award, a $5000 cash prize, presented to the writers of the ad voted the best, by a panel of clients.

Round 2 of the 2016 Siren Awards is now open. Entries close 10 July 2015.