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. As the first-ever Official Mobility Partner of the International Olympic and Paralympic Committees. Toyota was on a mission to elevate the Paralympics like never before by sponsoring the two games equally.

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. As the first-ever Official Mobility Partner of the International Olympic and Paralympic Committees.Toyota was on a mission to elevate the Paralympics like never before by sponsoring the two games equally.

First, we pioneered joining the Olympic and Paralympic logos together for the first time in history. And then we featured Olympians and Paralympians equally in our global 360 campaign. But the biggest challenge of all, is the unequal media coverage of the Paralympic games. We wanted to change that.

So how could we inspire NBC, the Official Broadcaster of the Paralympic Games in the U.S., to join our mission for equality? Simple. We bought media that didn’t exist.

Enthusiasts of the Olympic and Paralympic Movements share our mindset. They’re inspired by the Games and individual stories of struggle. We call these people optimists of the world. This target believes, as we do, that technology and innovation will lead humankind toward a brighter future. And by engaging with them, we believe 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 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. The approach was to not only reach our audience with our message, but give them more of the content they were seeking. We aimed to make what seemed impossible possible — bringing massive exposure to the Paralympics — by going far beyond our own communications.

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.