Who will take home the inaugural ad soundtrack ARIA Awards tonight?
Tonight 72andSunny with Campfire X, Bolster Group, BRING Agency, Innocean, M&C Saatchi and The Brand Agency will go head-to-head to win one of two inaugural ad soundtrack ARIA Awards. We spoke to the leaders from the six nominated agencies about why they should win, and what winning would mean to them. Drumroll, please.
The new categories comes as an extension of ‘Our Soundtrack Our Ads’, an initiative from ARIA in partnership with M&C Saatchi Sport & Entertainment.
The initiative calls on the Australian creative and advertising industry to “pledge their support of homegrown music by elevating its work with local voices, sounds and stories; encouraging creatives to invest music budgets into homegrown artists”.
ARIA CEO, Annabelle Herd, previously said: “This category is such an exciting, and important, addition to the ARIA Awards.
“We’re continuously looking for opportunities for Australian music to be heard in all its forms, by all who create it, so we’re thrilled that this award will provide a platform to recognise and celebrate the brands that are doing the same.”
The nominees were determined by a seven-judge panel: Beth Appleton, CEO at Jaxsta Music; Eric J Dubowsky, ARIA and Grammy-winning producer; Holly Rankin (aka Jack River); Justin Graham, group CEO at M&C Saatchi APAC; Libby Minogue, CMO at Virgin Australia; Madeleine Stockwell, marketing manager at Smirnoff; and Mohamed Komba, senior director of local A&R at Warner Music.
Nominees for Best Use of an Australian Recording in an Advertisement (under two minutes)
72andSunny with Campfire X / Google
Baker Boy – Helping You Help Others
Why They Should Win: Genevieve Hoey, 72andSunny ANZ creative lead
This Baker Boy film should absolutely win. In remote Indigenous communities, ‘shame job’ is a huge issue among youth and refers to perceived barriers that stop someone from pursuing their dreams.
This commercial is a story of mentorship that was brought to life by Baker Boy’s anthemic song, ‘In Control’, with its powerful lyrics about fighting ‘shame job’ in both English and Yolngu Matha. The first ever brand commercial to share this incredible language in every Australian lounge room.
Winning this inaugural ARIA category is hugely important to us and our partners who helped make this including Google, Campfire X, Pollinate, EXIT films, Stefan Hunt, Cristilee Houghton, OTIS Studios.
Any award that encourages our advertising industry to elevate local musical talent is a huge win. At 72andSunny, we champion our local music scene and artists.
In addition to this collaboration with Baker Boy, we’ve recently worked with Genesis, GFlip, L Fresh The Lion and Young Franco. Winning this ARIA would validate our passion for staying local.
M&C Saatchi Sydney / Tourism Australia
King Stingray – Come and Say G’day
Why They Should Win: Justin Graham, group CEO APAC, M&C Saatchi
Our campaign for Tourism Australia and the soundtrack that underpins it is a reflection of all Australians. There is no greater role of music in influencing the brand of a nation. This was a global campaign across 15 countries showcasing the best of Australia.
To drive this ambitious campaign, we needed a soundtrack as timeless as the Australian land and culture itself. So we turned to our nation’s Indigenous people, to create a soundtrack like no other.
Australia’s Indigenous culture is the world’s oldest living culture, yet the musical traditions and languages of these people are little known outside their lands.
By turning to the original Australian Indigenous culture – we created a unique and captivating soundtrack that drives a truly authentic Australian story. One that embodied the spirit of a timeless land and its people in their own voice – giving a global platform and a new appreciation to ancient and uniquely engaging musical traditions.
The campaign launched with a reimagining of Men at Work’s classic ‘Land Down Under’, sung in ‘Yolnu Matha’, by Aboriginal band King Stingray.
The Brand Agency / Tourism WA
Empire Of The Sun – Walking On A Dream
Why They Should Win: The Brand Agency’s business director, Brendon Lewis and creative director, Dean Hunt
The nomination is a milestone, and the new award category has given Australian advertising and PR agencies even more reason to source music from the talented pool of artists that Australia produces.
Working with Tourism WA and the best of Western Australia’s creative talent to make this campaign was reward enough, but to see the Walking On A Dream remix by Empire Of The Sun recognised at the ARIAs is an absolute dream.
The song perfectly encapsulates the spirit of the idea, and most importantly, Western Australia. It’s such a beautiful and dreamlike place to explore.
BRING Agency / Wild Turkey
Matt Corby – Music 101: Trust Your Spirit
Why They Should Win: James Griffiths, executive creative director at BRING Agency
We were honoured when we discovered we were nominated for not one, but two ARIAs this year.
At BRING we pride ourselves in integrating deeply with music artists to create marketing moments that connect with fans.
Nominees for Best Use of an Australian Recording in an Advertisement (over two minutes)
Innocean Australia Pty Ltd / Australian Marine Conservation Society
John Williamson – Voice of the Sea
Why They Should Win: Carolyn Cho, client partner at Innocean
We, like all Aussies, love the oceans that surround us. Yet our seas and marine life are in desperate need of protection. Our charity client, the Australian Marine Conservation Society has been defending the oceans since 1965.
Music has the power and an innate ability to connect with future generations, teaching children to learn about, love and respect our natural environment. Our collaboration for AMCS with the iconic songwriter, John Williamson, ‘The Voice of the Sea’ is much more than a song, it’s a national anthem for the ocean for the younger generation to literally become voices for the sea, forming a choir to protect it.
What started as a song has become the foundations of the national school syllabus, dance moves and a children’s story book soon to be published by Penguin. An ARIA award would not just mean something to AMCS, but also to the thousands of children who have joined our choir in school halls around the country.”
Bolster Group / Sims Sessions
Becca Hatch – Blessed
Why They Should Win: Bolster Group’s content lead, Hugo Dean
We are so proud of our work with Becca Hatch, Tentendo, Sony and EA Games to bring this campaign to life in a way that achieves a commercial goal while still maintaining genuine artist merit.
The dedication shown by Becca to re-learn her song in a completely fictional language and then be able to perform it in a single take shows how much care and love she put into this collaboration and that is what truly sets the creative apart.
For many people who work at Bolster, receiving an ARIA nomination is a dream come true and not something that we thought possible only a few years back. Our agency is built on passion for music and to think that a piece of work we have produced is now nominated for the country’s highest music honour is a real pinch-me moment for everyone involved.
As a genuine lover of The Sims, this project was very close to Becca’s heart and for it to be a vessel for her to receive her first ARIA nomination takes an already dream campaign to a new height.
The EA Games team in Australia and New Zealand also showed such trust and support in us bringing this concept to life and for them to be inaugural nominees in this category is a reflection of their dedication to push the boundaries with their local marketing and never rest on their laurels as an industry leader.
M&C Saatchi Sydney / Tourism Australia
King Stingray – Come and Say G’day short film
Why They Should Win: Justin Graham, group CEO APAC, M&C Saatchi
Winning the inaugural ARIA Award would be a further endorsement of this campaign and its impact.
The campaign has been hugely successful, and has achieved unparalleled global success, with more than 1.1 billion campaign views. It’s also received creative acclaim locally and abroad.
Winning an award as recognised as ARIA would be a further boost for the creative team who led this campaign but more importantly for the 100 plus musicians that were involved including multiple composers, choirs, orchestras, legendary Aboriginal artists Frank Yamba, The Iwiri Choir, Marliya of Gondwana indigenous girls choir and didgeridoo artist William Barton, and of course, King Stingray.
BRING Agency with TBWA\Melbourne / Vodka Cruiser
The Veronicas – The Solo Project
Why They Should Win: James Griffiths, executive creative director at BRING Agency
With Wild Turkey, we brought to life Matt Corby’s unique story in a way that felt authentic to him.
With Vodka Cruiser we convinced The Veronica’s to split up! That isn’t easy.
But it’s these stories that live on beyond a traditional ad and showcase to other brands the power of Aussie music and its creators when harnessed innovatively.
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The ARIA Awards will be broadcast live tonight on Stan from 5pm AEDT, with a delayed free-to-air broadcaster later in the evening on Channel Nine at 7:30pm. This marks the first time the awards night has been placed behind a paywall.
Comedian Tommy Little and the Today Show’s Brooke Boney are set to host the awards.
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Lauren McNamara is a journalist at Mumbrella, covering the creative and PR beat. She joined in November 2022 as editorial assistant, after completing a Bachelor of Communications (Journalism) at UTS.
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