The Paralympic Games athletes have incredible, world-class abilities and athleticism. Despite this, they are largely ignored by society. People don't often think about the incredible odds that must be overcome in order to compete — it's an accomplishment most able-bodied people can’t even begin to imagine. As a result, Paralympic coverage is almost nonexistent. But without coverage, people don’t tune in. It was due time for change.

Every two years the Olympic and Paralympic Games return to NBC, the world’s-largest broadcaster of the Games. Sadly, the Paralympics receive significantly less media coverage. Toyota wanted to inspire NBC to join our mission to change that. In an unprecedented move, Toyota sponsored both events equally. How? By buying media that didn't exist. This challenged NBC to increase airtime for the Paralympics. It worked. Exposure for the Games more than doubled.

Ahead of the 2018 Paralympic Winter Games, we ran the first-ever Super Bowl ad on NBC featuring a Paralympic athlete to get people excited. Then for the event itself, we increased our media investment across TV and digital platforms by far more than NBC had originally planned. This challenged NBC to increase airtime for the Paralympics to fit our media buy. It worked. In fact, exposure for the Games more than doubled.

The 2018 Paralympic Winter Games received a total of 250 hours of coverage on NBC. This included 156-hours of streaming and 94-hours of television coverage. That is a 200% increase compared to Sochi 2014. For the first time in history, we gave the masses an opportunity to watch and engage in the Paralympics like never before.

The Paralympic Games television coverage garnered 22MM P2+ impressions, and 4.5MM minutes of live streaming were viewed on NBCOlympics.com and the NBC app.

Toyota moved from below one percent top-of-mind association with the Paralympics in the U.S. at benchmark (ranked number 14) to be the number-two brand associated with the Paralympics during the 2018 Paralympics (approximately seven percent top-of-mind association).

According to Toyota research, interest in the Paralympics increased significantly (up 12 percentage points) from benchmark in the U.S. while the Start Your Impossible campaign, including creative featuring Paralympians, was on-air during the Olympics.

Olympic and Paralympic enthusiasts share the mindset we were seeking. They’re not only inspired by the passion of the Games but by the stories of individual struggle. We call our audience the optimists of the world — people who believe technology and innovation will lead humankind toward a brighter future. By connecting with these people, others will follow along.

Our campaign aimed to elevate perceptions of the Paralympic Games to the same level as the Olympic Games. A feat long overdue and well-deserved. But with only 53 hours of Paralympic coverage in 2014 in the U.S., an inclusive ad campaign during the Olympics could only go so far.

Our approach was to reach our audience with our message and to give them more of the content they were seeking. We aimed to start the impossible by bringing more exposure to the Paralympic Movement and going far beyond our own communications.

Toyota believes that freedom of movement is a human right. That when we are free to move, anything is possible. Toyota's goal? To tear down barriers, so that everyone everywhere can reach their potential. Thus began an impressive metamorphosis, shifting the brand from that of a car company to a mobility company providing mobility solutions for all people of all walks of life.

To do this, our brief was to showcase Toyota’s beliefs, actions and products related to mobility innovations and to demonstrate how we are working to remove barriers so that people from all walks of life have more ways to move freely.

By partnering with both the International Olympic Committee and the International Paralympic Committee and featuring the Games equally, our aim was to elevate the Paralympic Movement to the level it deserves.