Toyota this morning unveiled its first global ad campaign as an IOC TOP sponsor, covering 40 markets with a message that it is more than just an automaker. The campaign, called “Start Your Impossible,” emphasizes the category definition Toyota has with the IOC: mobility. It is a category that gives Toyota exclusivity over a broad range of advanced transportation technology and products to help disabled and elderly people get around better, along with the more mundane role of providing cars to the Olympics. A flagship 60-second TV spot, titled “Mobility for All,” will launch Nov. 1. It features images of people gaining freedom to move -- for instance, a teen passing her driver’s test or a Paralympian fencer striving toward a medal -- and Toyota products that enable the same thing, such as a human-support robot helping an elderly woman navigate her home. Saatchi & Saatchi, L.A., and Dentsu, Tokyo, developed the creative elements. It marks the company’s first global campaign that does not focus on cars, and elements of the program will stay visible in non-Olympic years. Toyota is announcing the campaign at an event today in Athens with Toyota President & CEO Akio Toyoda and several high-profile athletes. Along with the TV spots, the campaign includes 10 digital ads with athletes called “Impossible Stories,” and a social campaign called “Relay Your Challenge.” The anchor website, mobilityforall.com, launches Oct. 25 and the entire campaign will run through March. The campaign will run in the U.S., Canada, China, Japan, Brazil, Germany and 34 other markets. Athletes involved in the campaign include U.S. snowboarder Hailey Langland and Paralympians Brad Snyder and Tatyana McFadden. Toyota is the official mobility partner of the Olympics through '24.
