NO LIONS FOR PERTH

With judging of the Radio, Outdoor and Press categories completed, Perth has missed out at this year’s Cannes Lions.

Marketforce had four finalists, 3 in Outdoor for its Office of Road safety ‘Mates Motels’ campaign and 1 in Press with Tourism WA ‘Wave’, while 303 had a radio finalist with Royal Lifesaving Society’s Child Drowning Prevention ‘Magazine’.

JWT Sydney has led the way for Australia, winning three Press Lions, including a Gold Lion for Olympus Binoculars. The agency also won three Outdoor Lions including Silver for Olympus Binoculars.

In Radio, Australia failed to replicate last year’s Grand Prix win, scoring just one Silver Lion for Clemenger BBDO Melbourne’s RACV Car Loans ‘Disclaimer’ commercial. The 60-second spot plays on the need for disclaimers in ads, with the majority of the ad taken up with an argument between the man doing the disclaimer and the voiceover man. Written by Paul Reardon and Julian Schreiber, it was entered into Cannes after winning the 2008 Gold Siren Award for best radio commercial of the year.

Reardon, along with Jonas Peterson, was the writer on Clemenger BBDO Melbourne’s Snickers’ ‘Hoedown’ spot, which won last year’s Grand Prix.

Overall, judging has been tougher this year with traditional powerhouses the UK and US performing poorly in the Press and Outdoor categories.