Play Through
View the case- Brand
- Dell
- Year
- 2016
- Objective
- Awareness
- Industry
- Tech & Telecom
- Mechanic
- Racing & Sports
- Platform
- App
- Agency
- Y&R
Objective
Dell was becoming title sponsor of the WGC-Dell Match Play for the first time, right as the tournament moved to Austin, the company's hometown. Rather than settle for logo placement, Dell wanted to link the sponsorship to its "Future Ready" platform and grab SXSW's attention a week before the tournament teed off — while giving Austin itself a spotlight as host city.
Solution
Players open a free app and drop into a street-view version of Austin, where real storefronts and landmarks line up into a nine-hole course with local names like "Stay Classy, Austin" and "Keep Hole 5 Weird." For each shot they pick an angle and club, checking the wind first, then swing by swiping the screen or physically swinging the phone like a golf club. As the ball travels, cards on real Austin bars, restaurants and sights pop up with their Foursquare ratings, turning the round into a walk through the city. Bold players can try to blast the ball straight through a building to shortcut a hole, at the cost of a penalty stroke. A separate GPS mode lets anyone tee off from wherever they're standing, anywhere in the US, and logging in with Facebook saves scores and lets friends challenge each other to a round.
Results
The app drove over 2,000,000 video views and 114,559 tee shots hit.
- 1
Players download the free Play Through app and log in through Facebook, which stores scores and lets them share results and challenge friends.
- 2
At the start of a round, players choose between an Austin-based nine-hole course or a GPS mode that opens a tee wherever they currently stand, anywhere in the US.
- 3
The course renders as a street-view of real Austin blocks, with actual buildings and streets standing in for the fairway.
- 4
Each hole carries a local name — "Stay Classy, Austin," "Keep Hole 5 Weird" — and routes players past recognizable landmarks like the Paramount Theater, Franklin BBQ, and the Texas State Capitol.
- 5
Tee boxes, hazards, and greens are mapped onto real Austin restaurants, bars, and attractions, so a hole plays out as a route between actual venues.
- 6
As the round progresses, Foursquare data for each nearby venue surfaces on screen — descriptions, ratings, and favorite marks — turning the round into a city guide.
- 7
Before each shot, players set the angle and pick a club, factoring in the displayed wind speed.
- 8
Players strike the ball either by swiping the screen or by physically swinging the phone like a club, with the gyroscope and accelerometer reading the motion; they can also aim over a building to cut the corner, risking a penalty if the shot fails.
- 9
After the round, the score posts to Facebook, letting players share the result and challenge friends to a rematch.
