Toyota arrives at the Paris Games’ proverbial driveway as one of the official sponsors of the 2024 Summer Olympics and Paralympics with an impactful mission: providing mobility solutions for everyone, from the sprinters to the spectators and beyond.
It’s a global development that began for the company in 2015 when Toyota became part of the Olympic Partner Programme (TOP), which provides sponsors category-exclusive marketing rights during the Summer, Winter and Youth Games.
And so much more.
The IOC sponsorship initiative was first implemented in 1985 and has been a successful rollout since then, a brand-recognition grand slam that has profoundly expanded in the digital age, with the 2022 Winter Games creating over two billion engagements on various platforms. Jiří Kejval, Chair IOC Marketing Commission, said they “were the most digitally engaged Olympic Winter Games ever.”
With that type of reach, it’s little surprise that some of the largest brands across the map are seizing the opportunity to step onto the grand stage to help make the Games… “The Games.”
According to Dedra DeLilli, Group Manager of Sponsorship Marketing at Toyota, it was and is a perfect opportunity for the company to introduce pillars that ushered in significant change.
“Since deciding in 2015 to become a TOP sponsor for both the IPC and IOC, two core tenets of our global partnership have been ‘ever better mobility for all’ and an ‘ever better society,'” she began.
DeLilli took time ahead of Toyota unveiling three commercials that will run during the Summer Olympics and Paralympics to answer a few questions via email from USA TODAY Ad Meter editorial, which opens up its coverage of the sports marketing and advertising around the Games.
“This means we are dedicated to developing products and advancing technological solutions that break down mobility barriers and create safe freedom of movement for everyone,” she continued. “We also continue to support an inclusive society where all individuals have the opportunity to live their fullest lives. The Paralympic Movement and its athletes epitomize these principles.”
The company is no stranger to impactful campaigns, none more so apparent than during recent Super Bowls, where Toyota’s commercials have been a successful platform to showcase athletes’ powerful stories. The 2021 ad “Upstream” featuring Paralympian Jessica Long and the 2022 spot “Brothers,” which introduced the McKeever brothers to the massive Super Bowl audience, were both extensions of the brand’s overall mission.
However, working toward advertising’s biggest stage is one thing. Mirroring that monumental effort on the Olympics’ global platform—one that isn’t set every February on the NFL calendar—doesn’t present common production elements.
Instead, DeLilli notes, it’s a worldwide coordination “across diverse markets with different cultural nuances and timelines” that can be sometimes challenging.
“Unlike regular events,” she explained, “The Games require extensive long-term planning. It requires patience, organization, and a commitment to align around a strategy that can unify markets in every corner of the globe. Choreographing a global campaign demands the ability to communicate regularly and to be receptive to input that reflects the individual needs of each market worldwide.”
It also took a supporting cast that stretched from Los Angeles, California and Dallas, Texas to Tokyo, Japan, with Saatchi & Saatchi, Dentsu and MKTG assisting in various ways as the Olympics neared.
Of course, the road from 2015 until now has been infamously bumpy, with the “Pandemic Years” very much factoring into the planning.
Factored, DeLilli says, but not deterred.
“Having worked in the Olympic/Paralympic landscape for a long time, one thing you come to expect is that change is constant and it’s critical to have a contingency plan ready,” she said. “When news of the postponement broke, although surprising, we were prepared to pivot.
“The good news was that our strategy was sound and would stand the test of time. Our ‘Start Your Impossible’ message was still relevant, and our objectives didn’t change. The road to get there was slightly different than we anticipated, but our North Star remained strong.”
The unprecedented circumstances that gripped the world also shifted Toyota’s focus from the mission to the athletes behind it, ensuring that each Team Toyota athlete felt supported and safe, according to DeLilli.
And that positive action during a growing vortex of negative times didn’t stop with the Olympic roster.
“At Toyota, we often talked about our commitment and fervent passion for uplifting and elevating the Paralympic Movement,” revealed DeLilli. “Given the postponement of the Games, we leveraged the time to ideate tangible ways we could directly support Team USA Paralympic athletes, and thus the Toyota U.S. Paralympic Fund was born.”
The trailblazing program launched in May 2021 to provide monetary support to all U.S. Paralympic athletes and has been another highlight of Toyota’s efforts that transcend well beyond product releases. “Toyota (US) has been able to provide financial support to almost 90% of all Team USA Paralympic athletes,” explained DeLilli, “with $6M infused into the fund and 100% of the donations going directly to Team USA athletes.”
Now, three years after the Tokyo Games and the historical chasm on the timeline that upended normalcy due to COVID-19, the dark and perplexing part of the journey is very much in the rearview mirror.
Nearly a decade after the partnership began, Toyota is ready for Paris, for fans in the stands, and for athletes competing on the world stage—all of them, with the utmost need for mobility.
What should fans expect?
The company’s rollout could be its own Opening Ceremony.
“We’re bringing a 100% electrified passenger vehicle fleet to Paris, in line with our commitment to reduce carbon emissions,” said DeLilli as we wrapped up our correspondence. “On-the-ground in Paris, Toyota will display up to 10 different hydrogen mobility applications, highlighting a thriving hydrogen ecosystem and supporting the expansion of hydrogen refueling infrastructure…supply over 2,650 electrified vehicles (of which 150 will be wheelchair accessible), including hybrid, plug-in hybrid, battery electric vehicles (BEVs), and fuel-cell electric vehicles (FCEVs).”
Additionally, Toyota will feature “around 1,000 hybrid electric (HEV) and plug-in hybrid electric (PHEV) vehicles,” while 500 hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles will highlight the progression toward contributing “zero tailpipe emissions during the Games.”
And before all of it, the entirety of the “Mobility for All” vision, the company has not strayed from storyboarding the messaging into captivating tales of triumph that play out over 60 seconds.
Stepping into the Ad Meter Brand Spotlight, here’s a look at each of the Toyota ads for the 2024 Games:
