Perth has eight finalists at the national Siren Awards for radio – Winners announced May 10th

April 15 2013, 1:20 pm | BY Martin Trevaskis | No Comments

Sirens.jpgPerth has one Single, five Campaigns and two Craft finalists in the running for the annual national Siren Awards, presented by Commercial Radio Australia.

The single radio finalist is Golden Eggs ‘Gay Toast Soldiers’ by Southern Cross Austereo’s Matt Dickson and Alida Henson (now working at Marketforce).

The five campaign finalists are:

• Bannister Downs Dairy by Steve Browning

• City of Perth ‘He Gave Up A Lot’ by Marketforce’s Guy Howlett & Neil Martin

• Forrest Chase by Equilibrium’s Gordon Haynes and Ella Rossanis

• Mrs Mac’s by Meerkats’ Kurt Beaudoin and Tom Wilson

• RAC Insurance by The Brand Agency’s James Wills, David Donald and Garry Horner.

In Craft, Soundbyte’s Brad Habib is a finalist for ECU Open Day and Brainestorm’s Justin Braine for HBF Outdoor Fitness. RAC ‘New Car Discount’ is also one of 8 Craft finalists for Sydney-based radio producers Eardrum.

The winners will be announced at a breakfast on May 10 at Water at Sebel Pier One in Sydney.

The overall Gold Siren winner for the best radio ad of the year will win a trip to the Cannes Radio Lions, to be held in June, and two tickets to attend the festival. The client of the winning 2013 Gold Siren Award will also win a ticket to Cannes.

In addition, Silver Siren winners will be announced in each of the three categories: single, campaign and craft.

The national Siren Awards are run by Commercial Radio Australia and are designed to recognise the best radio advertising in the country. The winners are decided by a panel of industry experts, made up of creative directors from leading ad agencies, known as the Siren Creative Council. There is also a client-voted award, a $5000 cash prize, awarded to the writers of the ad voted the best, by a panel of clients.

Chief executive officer of Commercial Radio Australia, Joan Warner said the Siren Awards, now in their ninth year, provide a great opportunity to recognise excellence in Australian radio advertising.

“Over the past years, the bar for creative excellence has increased and the calibre of radio ads in the Siren Awards reflects this improvement,” Ms Warner said. “This year finalists come from around the country and the ads cover everything from beer to tax accountants to travelling safely on trains. The finalists are made up of the winners of each round plus a final call round,” Warner said.

See (and listen to) the full list of finalists here.