Dell, in an effort to help promote its first year title sponsoring the WGC-Match Play Championships next week, launched a mobile golf app at SXSW that "lets users play a virtual round of golf through the city of Austin," according to Kate Maddox of AD AGE. The app, called "Dell Play Through," is part of the Texas-based tech firm's "Future Ready Campaign," which launched last year, and was created in partnership with Y&R, N.Y., its sister agency VML and digital production studio MediaMonks. The game "lets players explore the city through a nine-hole golf course, laid out to include some of Austin's most famous landmarks." Dell has "partnered with Foursquare to provide details and ratings about some of the places golfers pass along the way and lets them save places as favorites." The virtual golf course was "designed by Matt Ginella, travel and golf-course expert for the Golf Channel." Dell is "promoting the golf app" with a video starring Ginella that is running on YouTube, the PGA Tour website and its own website, "as well as paid and organic social media" (ADAGE.com, 3/14). MEDIAPOST.com's Laurie Sullivan noted the move by Dell "furthers the brand's content strategy in a big way." Mobile players "select angles and irons based on their wind speed," and then can "swipe the screen to strike a ball or physically swing the phone." Users can "even try to hit the ball over buildings to cut corners, but only if they want to risk a one-shot penalty for going out of bounds." The app "connects to Facebook so users can share their scores and challenge friends to a match" (MEDIAPOST.com, 3/14).
