Title	MAURTEN UNOFFICIAL
Brand	MAURTEN
Product/Service	MAURTEN UNOFFICIAL
Category	G02. Challenger Brand
Entrant	ÅKESTAM HOLST Stockholm, SWEDEN
Idea Creation	ÅKESTAM HOLST Stockholm, SWEDEN
Production	HALAL Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS

Name	Company	Position
Hugo Wallmo	Åkestam Holst NoA	Art Director
Petter Nylind	Åkestam Holst NoA	Copywriter
Andreas Karlsson	Åkestam Holst NoA	Art Director
Noah Bramme	Åkestam Holst NoA	Copywriter
Nicole van Rooij	Åkestam Holst NoA	Account Director
Agneta Oppenheim	Åkestam Holst NoA	Account Manager
Karl Wikstöm	Åkestam Holst NoA	Planner
Leila Widgren	Åkestam Holst NoA	Agency Producer
Theresa Lee Zonars	BKRY NoA	Graphic Designer
Magnus Persson	BKRY NoA	Graphic Designer
Madja Amin	Halal	Director
Francine van der Lee	Halal	Executive Producer
Job Sander	Halal	Producer
Magnus Jakobsson	Åkestam Holst NoA	Creative Director

Write a short summary of what happens in the film

We see what looks like the typical sports film. Nice shots of three athletes training to become the best. It’s the usual montage of athletes training, working out and rehydrating, set against an inspirational voiceover about achievement. Combine that, however, with the trappings of a crime thriller. Rather than the familiar faces of superstar athletes, all that’s visible above their necks is a pixelated mass, and like people in witness protection, their voices are distorted and deepened. Why? In the end, a text over explains that it has come to the brands attention that “Many athletes are using our products, despite being officially sponsored by other brands”. Followed by “This is for them” before revealing the pack-shot of the Maurten Unofficial product range, with the text “Un-branded products. For athletes sponsored by others.” and the url.

Cultural / Context information for the jury

Maurten is a Swedish innovation in sports - a carbohydrate gel and a sports drink based on hydrogel technology, which helps elite athletes perform without side effects or the stomach problems and cramps that are a common problem with energy supplement products. Maurten is a success fuel that has already helped many athletes and amateurs to new records and wins, and has garnered much attention and appreciation among elite athletes around the world. The challenge? That many of the athletes are using Maurten under the radar, as they are already sponsored by other brands - global giants with budgets that Maurten cannot compete with. Which makes it difficult for Maurten to reap the fruits of this success. But as true athletes, Maurten decided that if they could not win on raw strength, they could instead outwit their opponents - and turn a problem into a strength.

Please tell us about the challenger brand and how your campaign challenged / was different from your competitors

Maurten is a small brand in their category. But with products so good it has caused them an unusual problem. While their competitors have budgets big enough to sign deals wit the biggest stars of endurance sports, many of the sponsored athletes actually use Maurten, but secretly to not endanger their contracts. Maurtens motto being “Athletes first”, we don’t want to call these athletes out. Instead, we went for making life easier for them – with an unusual take. We released Maurten Unofficial. An un-branded product range designed for athletes sponsored by others. Targeted at everyone who wants to benefit from the Maurten hydrogel technology, without breaking contracts. And launched a campaign that at a first glimpse looked like everything else in the category, but combined with the trappings of a crime thriller.