A Spanish taxi driver was the 17th member of the Radio Lions Jury. Chairman Ralph van Dijk played 'Dumb Ways to Die' to him on the way over to the awards announcement on Wednesday. "He liked it," said van Dijk."He said it was 'pure, simple ... very good'".
That's why it took the Grand Prix and two Gold Lions. "The criteria was very simple. Radio is a very pure medium and works in a very uncomplicated and direct way," said van Dijk.
"We were looking for clever relevance, with cut-through that does a job. We've all heard the ad for days, my kids have been singing it. But we threw everything at it, stripped everything away and that is why it won. It is a beautiful execution, a simple piece of music that effectively reached teenagers and is going to stay with them."
He said some of the more interesting entries had a branded content element, and that trend, with more integration, looked set to continue.
Judging by the success of 'Dumb Ways', van Dijk apologised to next year's jury for the swathe of three minute songs they would have to listen to. But if the 17th judge is to become an integrated part of the team he agreed that the nailed on winner was likely to be a jingle about petrol prices integrated into a traffic bulletin.
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