July’s winners: William Cottam, Colin Smith and Artem Bjork creatives,
CHI & Partners; Judge: Lolly Thomson CCO and president, McCann London
Winning ad: Hive 'Superfast any time'
Lolly Thomson, CCO and president, McCann London
I chose this ad because…
I want to be at home. I’m not. I’m stuck alone in my car on the South Circular, travelling at just under 0.2 miles per hour. It’s at moments like this when radio is the only way to keep your sanity – other than the inane babblings of a DJ or the traffic reports belatedly explaining why my progress is so un-Stig-like.
Like most advertising, radio ads can be an unwelcome distraction. Some on the shortlist made my journey even less enjoyable – they were plain annoying. Others were just sweet, but passed me by. Hive, however, got me humming, imagining controlling my whole home from my phone and thinking I should look it up online. God, I wish I was at home – hopefully by Christmas.
My three golden rules for a great radio ad
Billy basics, but all too often we, as an industry, forget these.
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Be relevant – think about real people and lives. Don’t head off on a tangent. Radio is a super-hard-working medium that allows you into their personal space. Respect that.
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You’re not competing against the other ads, but the programmes. Make your ad as entertaining, informative or useful as those. It is all too easy to change station.
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Sound is your best radio friend. Literally. You can elicit a thousand emotions and get listeners imagining the picture you’re painting using soundscape. Don’t be tempted to skimp on this.
Winning ad: Hive - ‘Superfast any time'
The Bard begins with a familiar song:
The Bard This tempo’s way too slow / To tell you all there is to know…
(Spoken) So I’m going to speed it up / Here we go…
SFX The Bard takes a huge breath, then starts a superfast version of the song on banjo.
(Sings) When you’re holidaying in Rome / But you want it to look like you’re at home / Hive Active Lights will come on at night / To make your living room nice and bright / Or if you left for work in a hurry / And you’re trying to save some money / Hive Active Plugs let you turn your appliances off / Whilst you’re having your ear chewed off by your boss / How about you’re out at a romantic dinner for two / And you wanna check your kid’s home by curfew / Hive Active Sensors monitor your front door / So they won’t be sneaking home late any more.
Phew.
He then sings the final line in his usual calm, folk-song way:
…Because with Hive you control your home, from your phone.
(Spoken) From your lights, to your plugs, to your sensors. See what else you can control at hivehome.com.
(Spoken fast) Hive products work with the Hive Hub. Requires Broadband.
Credits
Agency CHI & Partners
Creatives William Cottam, Colin Smith* and Artem Bjork
Creative director Micky Tudor
Producer Marianne Paton
Post-production Factory
Engineer Jon Clarke
*not pictured above
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Hear all the winning radio ads on the Aerials Hub
The Aerials are awarded monthly by Radiocentre to the creative team behind the best radio ads entered at aerials.co.uk and chosen by an invited creative-director judge. Winners are entered into the D&AD Awards for free.
