While many talk about inclusion, few actually live it. At one of the world's biggest sporting events, the Special Olympics World Games Berlin 2023, people with intellectual disabilities took centre stage. Hundreds of journalists from around the world reported live from the Games, but they forgot one thing: to actively include the perspective of people with intellectual disabilities.

Toyota – one of the main sponsors – challenged us to change this and to communicate the value of true inclusion in the most authentic way possible.

The objectives were clear: to raise awareness, activate the community and increase visibility as a sponsor. Get people to see people with intellectual disabilities. Get people to listen to them. Make people question the true diversity of their reality. Make people understand that inclusion doesn't have to be an illusion.

There is no specific target group for inclusion. The importance of the issue knows no age, interest or gender. We wanted to create relevance and reach, and to raise as much awareness as possible – even beyond the borders of Berlin.

Meet the Creators of Inclusion

A truly inclusive social media team, bringing together creatives with and without intellectual disabilities - an atypical mix. But most importantly, a social media team and a company that had the willingness and courage to try something outside the marketing comfort zone:

To embark on a new and uncharted creative journey, to break away from established creative processes and to take a truly inclusive approach to collaboration. Toyota gave people with intellectual disabilities a voice, a camera and a platform, giving audiences an exclusive glimpse of a new and under-represented perspective - true inclusion.

For 10 days – the entire duration of the Games - the Creators of Inclusion held editorial conferences, conducted interviews, produced social media content, broadcasted live and engaged with the community. Every decision, every process and every piece of content was 100% inclusive.

By committing to breaking away from established work processes, making room for a new definition of creative work and taking an inclusive approach to collaboration, everyone saw the opportunity to benefit from true diversity.

Toyota even gave over its TikTok and Instagram channels, with nearly 200,000 followers, to raise awareness of this unique approach and the inclusive perspective of the Special Olympics World Games Berlin 2023.

A successful mission, but not yet complete.

The results were impressive: over 65 million impressions, over 46 million video views, over 285,000 engagements, a 16.4% increase in ad recall and a 6.7% increase in sponsorship awareness. But most importantly, the Creators of Inclusion won the hearts of millions with their content, proving that inclusion doesn't have to be an illusion.

As an inspiration and honest assessment of our approach, we created an emotional documentary of the journey for Toyota's YouTube channel, which has already received 100,000 video views.

Unfortunately, the mainstream media did not follow our lead.

So we reunited the Creators of Inclusion for the Special Olympics National Games 2024 in Thuringia, Germany.

And Toyota will keep going. Until real inclusion becomes the norm.

A successful mission, but not yet complete.

The results were impressive: over 65 million impressions, over 46 million video views, over 285,000 engagements, a 16.4% increase in ad recall and a 6.7% increase in sponsorship awareness. But most importantly, the Creators of Inclusion won the hearts of millions with their content, proving that inclusion doesn't have to be an illusion.

As an inspiration and honest assessment of our approach, we created an emotional documentary of the journey for Toyota's YouTube channel, which has already received 100,000 video views.

Unfortunately, the mainstream media did not follow our lead.

So we reunited the Creators of Inclusion for the Special Olympics National Games 2024 in Thuringia, Germany.

And Toyota will keep going. Until real inclusion becomes the norm.