The background to the campaign is built upon the brand’s research and insight into the accelerating parallel trends of technological and environmental development in ‘mobility beyond cars’ and Toyota’s goal to provide ‘freedom of mobility for all’.

And Toyota’s Tokyo work will aim to bring this to life by supporting ‘the creation a peaceful society without discrimination through sports’.

According to the company, the foundation for Toyota’s Tokyo 2020 alliance is based on the shared brand/event values of continuous improvement and respect for people and the synergies between the way Toyota and The Olympic Games ‘bring together the entire world in friendship and solidarity to celebrate the highest realization of human potential’’.

“We want to share this thinking with all stakeholders, including consumers, so that we can approach this challenge together,” said Toyota President, Akio Toyoda at the campaign launch.

“Throughout our history, Toyota has made the impossible possible through innovation and passion, and by continuously challenging the definition of impossible. Today, the automobile industry is clearly amidst its most dramatic period of change — and during this time Toyota remains committed to making ever better cars. Just as important, we are developing mobility solutions to help everyone enjoy their lives, and we are doing our part to create an ever better society for the next 100 years and beyond. For this to happen, we have to dream beyond conventional vehicles and create new forms of mobility that overcome the limits of today and solve the problems of tomorrow. We share this dream and this spirit of continuous improvement with Olympic and Paralympic athletes, who challenge their own limits every day. I hope that The Olympic and Paralympic Games will create an opportunity for everyone affiliated with Toyota to challenge their impossible and defy their limitations.”

The world’s biggest auto maker Toyota, which has been making cars since 1937 and which introduced the first mass production hybrid (Prius) in 1997 and the first mass production fuel cell (Mirai) in 2014, is headquartered in the Olympic Games host city of Toyota.

It was back in Spring 2015 that Toyota signed a 10-year ‘mobility partner’ sponsorship deal with the International Olympic Committee: placing it among a select group of 11 IOC top-tier global sponsors that includes the likes of McDonald’s and Coca-Cola and fellow Japanese giants Bridgestone and Panasonic.

The contract, which  includes vehicles, mobility services and mobility solutions, officially runs from 2017 to 2024, but Toyota gained marketing rights in Japan from the time it penned the deal.

The agreement, which will run until 2024, was reported to be worth just under $1bn and covers all relevant Toyota brands within the category (including Toyota, Lexus and Scion).

The car category was traditionally a silo for national Olympic committees and local organizing committees: for example, rival Nissan was a national sponsor of the 2016 Rio Games (see case study),

while BMW was a domestic sponsor for the 2012 London Olympics (see case study 1 & 2),

and VW for the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi (see case study).