Toyota is harnessing the power of kids’ creativity in 8th consecutive Toyota’s Dream Car Art Contest, who “prototype” new types of cars that might tackle the world’s toughest environmental and social issues. The children’s sketches are turned into vibrant Vine videos to inspire the generation of parents to turn contemporary world into a better place to live.

Toyota is eying to engage young drivers with its latest campaign, Wakudoki, across eight Asia-Pacific markets such as India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. The new effort, which is the first-ever completely digitally-led campaign of the brand, features popular Japanese dance group World Order who are supposed to build better awareness of the brand among the younger generation.

Toyota is launching a new campaign, “TeenDrive365,” to encourage parents to discuss dangers of distracting while driving with their kids who are young drivers. Today, distracted driving is one of the leading causes of death for teenagers. The US National Security Council estimates there have been 900,000+ car accidents so far in 2013 that were caused by drivers who were using their cellphones. While car brands constantly remind of the danger of texting and driving, it is parents who should explain kids how to behave behind the wheel.

TeenDrive365, Toyota’s biggest effort centered on the teen driving safety so far, encompasses all types of ad content, from print, radio, display and online ads to sponsored content on Twitter and Facebook and a digital hub, it’s key communication platform. The new effort, developed by the ad agency 360i, is focusing on the notion that the first year teenagers get their driver’s license is the most dangerous one in their lives. 

Interbrand’s “2013 Best Global Brands” top 100 list has revealed that Coca-Cola, which used to lead the chart for the previous 13 years, has lost its dominance as the most valuable global brand, yielding precedency to the technology giant Apple estimated at $98.3 billion. The total value of all 100 best global brands is $1.5 trillion, which is 8.4% record increase over 2012, Interbrand reports.

Toyota Africa took online interactivity to the offline world to promote Toyota RAV4. Since the vehicle is designed to appeal to people who spend most of their time away from computer screens, the car manufacturer wanted to reach the target audience through the media that would resonate with their active, offline lifestyle. The brand teamed up with DraftFCB Johannesburg and the digital agency Hellocomputer to build an outdoor bike trail that imitated a traditional website.

Toyota USA previews a new social shopping app, Toyota Collaborator, that will allow potential buyers of the cars to learn more about the vehicles, customize them without visiting a dealership and even go on a virtual test-drive with friends online. The application, which was developed by Saatchi & Saatchi LA in collaboration with Google and Joystick Interactive, was introduced as a prototype at the Google I/O event.