The high speed, the cutting edge designs and technology, the sound of the wheels or of the engine and the gasoline smell left behind are all particularities of the automobile race sport world, generating specific emotions for the spectators or home viewers of such competitions. However, automobile race sport has another particularity, which can be seen immediately, as it covers the racing vehicles, the drivers, the track and many other additional spaces across the race. It is Advertising. Advertising communication has become a synonym of racing sport and it represents a modality through which corporations communicate with their targeted population. The racing sports have numerous fans across the world, watching with emotion everything that is happening in a race, living and sensing the tensed moments, the outrunning situations, the accidents, the falls, and celebrating the victories. This world has become an industry, allowing organizations to place their messages along the race, by sponsoring specific teams, or tournaments.
Advertising communication, as utilized within the race sport, appeals to human emotions, selling identities and ideals by creating a common point between the racer and the fan. Looking at the racers entering their futurist automobiles, wearing their branded costumes while holding the flashy caps resting at their armpits, regular spectators admire them and dream to be like them one day, creating an envisioned identity. The purpose of advertising communication is reached when the spectators turn into customers, buying the goods that the sponsors of such competitions sell.
Public relations, lobby, social media or special events are other forms of advertising regularly utilized in the automobile racing sport. Expanding the image of the racers outside the racing field, the sponsor company benefit of an image boost themselves. Having famous racers at charity events represents a lobby trend and having them among the attendants of a mundane event, organized by one of the sponsors, increases the visibility of that event, the media coverage and the number of attendants in general. The association with a sport figure enhances the brand reputation and brand awareness of the sponsors.
In the automobile racing sport, communication connects sponsors with potential customers directly, through the racing event itself, or indirectly, through media, social media communication, or various events. Communication within this domain is very dynamic, allowing significant space for creativity, in order to generate effective responses from the targeted audience.
I am passionate about racing and I am aware that I am a fan, just as the ones that I describe, identifying myself in the figure of a racer. My brother is a racer and for me it is even harder not to be influenced by the racing fever. Seeing him becoming a triple Belgium Junior Champion made me very proud, but also made me dream that I could be like him.
My interests also include Communication, which is a domain that draws me. I am fascinated by the Communication strategies created within the automobile race sport. I analyze them with interest, trying to depict the advertisers’ goals and to understand how these strategies work.
Because I feel that I am attracted by the Communication field, I intend to become a student at Vesalius College. I choose Vesalius College because it is a reputable educational institution, enrooted in humanistic values and permanent opened to absorbing modern trends, challenging its students to think critically but creatively, making a change for bettering the world. Its Communication Studies section includes courses such as advertising, public relations, lobbying, journalism and film, which interest me the most. I am eager to attend these classes, gaining consistent knowledge and experience for becoming a Communication professional.
