Ahead of the start of Tokyo 2020, IOC and IPC partner Toyota launched an integrated campaign in Australia called ‘Breaking Point’ celebrating its work with Paralympian and wheelchair rugby star Ryley Batt and leveraging its domestic rights as a partner of the Australian Paralympic and Olympic teams.
The activation, bringing to life the auto brand’s global ‘Mobility For All’ Games-linked philosophy and marketing platform, focuses on Batt’s abilities and skills as well as his grit and determination, whilst simultaneously demonstrating how Toyota’s Product Planning & Development Team worked with him to re-engineer his wheelchair to optimise his performance.
To bring to life its mission to improve mobility for all, the group worked with Batt to create a purpose-built seat to ensure he performs at his best. Made from rigid, durable carbon fibre, it’ was designed to work in tandem with Ryley’s body to enhance endurance and agility on the court.
The campaign, which was created by Saatchi & Saatchi Australia, is spearheaded by a hero spot which comes in both long- and short-form films helmed by Good Oil’s Adam Gunser and spanning television and the brand’s online platforms with social support.
“As the global ‘mobility partner’ of the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, our Product Planning & Development (PP&D) team has been working closely with Australian para-athletes over the past few years to help refine and improve their equipment,” explained Toyota Australia Chief Marketing Officer John Pappas. “The journey has been an incredible partnership so far, and with Ryley, we were able to find a number of new ways to continuously improve his equipment and ultimately get to a place where instead of feeling restricted by the fit, his equipment feels like a more natural extension to his in-game performance.”
Saatchi & Saatchi Australia Chief Creative Officer Mike Spirkovski added: “It’s incredible to witness what these athletes go through in a game; how hard they play and push themselves, and the force they inflict on their equipment. Their wheelchairs take an absolute battering, which our director Adam Gunser has brought to life in a very real and powerful visual story. It proves just how unstoppable these athletes really are.”
The activation was created for Toyota Motor Corporation Australia Senior Manager (Brand Management & Communications) Andrew Wearing, Manager (Marketing Communications – Brand & Commercial Vehicles) Matt Tannock, Manager (Communications – Commercial And Brand) Jeremie Smith, Senior Brand Communications Coordinator Michelle Gulia and Senior Brand Communications Coordinator Suhailah Davies by Saatchi & Saatchi Australia.
The team working on the project at the creative agency included Creative Officer Mike Spirkovski, Executive Creative Director Simon Bagnasco, Creative Director Lee Sunter, Copywriter Mac Wright, Art Directors Anna Fullerton and Celeste Watson, Head Of Design Matt Alpass, Executive Producer Lucy Trengove, Senior Integrated Producer Holly De Roy, Chief Client Officer Ben Court, Chief Strategy Officer Alex Speakman, Group Account Director Damiano Di Pietro, Planning Director Joe Heath, Senior Account Director Zoe Kypros, Account Director Tom Collier and Account Executive Elina Nassif.
The production company was Good Oil with Director Adam Gunser, Executive Producers Juliet Bishop and Simon Thomas, plus Producers Tracey-Lee Permall and Simon Thomas.
Post production was handled by Blockhead NZ, the sound house was Bang Bang Studios, the photographers were Ben Clements and Michael Corridore and the post producer was Ross Colebatch.
Comment:
While the auto giant is rolling out various Olympic activations and marketing programmes in key markets around the world (like this Australian initiative), it remains surprisingly quiet and low key in its domestic, host country.
At the time of the campaign launch, flagship Tokyo 2020 sponsor Toyota remained conflicted over its strategy around the pandemic-delayed, spectator-free Olympics as multiple surveys show that the vast majority of Japanese do not want the Games to go ahead during spiking Covid-19 cases during the summer.
Toyota Motor Corporation officials admit that the company felt conflicted between its desire to see the Olympics succeed and the public concerns about holding the event during a pandemic.
Toyota is the IOC and IPC’s first ever ‘mobility partner’ with rights exclusivity in multiple categories – including vehicles, mobility support robots and mobility services – and a focus on driving home its role in the current mobility revolution which spans sustainability, electrification, automated driving and flexible personalisation.
It was back in 2015 that Toyota Motor Corporation became part of The IOC’s Olympic Partner programme and a Worldwide Paralympic Partner.
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