Finalists in this year's Radio Mercury Awards were announced last week.
13 commercials in the Radio Station Produced category made it to the final round of judging.
You'll find them linked below. Just click to listen.
Which one do YOU predict will win?
Please reply before Wednesday, June 5th, when the Mercury judges' choice will be revealed.
What is not provided here is any measure of the effectiveness nor the objectives of these ads. These awards rarely ask for that info but I do believe that being clever or funny is great for a sitcom or standup routine, not so good in advertising when it does not create name recognition for the business/product and/or succeed in an objective - namely sales increase. But some of these entrants clearly address an issue that can be assumed to be the object of creating the ad to begin with, i.e., Prostate Cancer Foundation specifically addresses that the exam is prolonged and uncomfortable, Chicago Food & Wine presents the idea you do not have to be a wine aficionado to have a good time at the festival. Since the objective or problem is clearly presented and the solution effectively laid out - I vote for those two: Prostate Cancer Foundation and Chicago Food & Wine.
Diane,
It's often been noted that the attributes of commercials that win awards are quite different from those that generate bankable results for the advertiser. It's wonderful when a commercial manages both to serve the advertiser and impress awards judges.
I concur with you on both the Prostate Cancer Foundation and the Chicago Food & Wine Festival spots; they're great illustrations of radio advertising that engages the listener's imagination while effectively implanting the sales message.
Thanks for weighing in.
I would vote for the Waccamaw Metals
Recycling ad. Just for sheer force of effectiveness, and practicality, this ad,
while funny gets the point across very well. The woman's voice, and ethos is
contrived, but the deadpan nature of the guy at WMR provides memorable contrast
which propels the creative very nicely. The spot hits a homerun on two fronts,
it is genuinely funny, beginning to end, but it is every bit as much
informative in a provocative way.
Congratulations to Clear Channel Creative Services Group on winning the 2013 Radio Station Produced Mercury Award for their spot CareerBliss.com: Tom. Tough competition this year, and a great group of finalists.
