Radio’s rare win at D&AD

K9FM – the radio station for dogs.

Prizes from the design organisation D&AD are highly regarded among advertising creatives but radio ads can struggle to get noticed alongside print, tv and film.

D&AD black pencil

The esteemed “black pencil” prize has only been awarded for radio work three times in more than three decades. So we can’t let this most recent win pass unnoticed.

New Zealand agency Colenso BBDO and petfood manufacturer Pedigree created a branded radio station for dogs. The station was broadcast on FM to Aukland, New Zealand in April last year and sounded like this:

The initiative generated a tonne of local publicity and you can hear what fun the writers had, breaking out from their normal formats of fixed duration spots and shortform print copy.

Now Clare Bowen of the RAB in the UK wants Britain’s creative advertising industry to be similarly bold. Writing for campaign.co.uk, Clare says:

Clare’s been in touch today to say the agencies are already straining at the leash.

Thanks @earshotcreative . Seems to be a lot of interest from agencies. Let's hope we can convert interest into brilliant #radio ads!

— Clare Bowen (@clarebtweets) June 15, 2015