Audi of America is using the iPhone to help launch its 2009 A4. On Thursday, it announced the release of what it calls "the first ever iPhone application from an auto manufacturer." The application is free on Apple’s iPhone Application Store.
It provides consumers with the Audi A4 Challenge, a driving game that uses the iPhone’s accelerometer or motion sensor to steer a digital version of the A4 through a series of courses. The game itself is quite crude and simple, its graphics look like they belong on a Sega Genesis console, but it gets the point across as there is not one part of the game where the new A4 isn’t smack in front of your face.
While it might just seem like a cheap marketing ploy, the Audi-iPhone pairing is a perfect way to reach the same demographic markets for both companies. The requisite Audi driver most likely already has an iPhone, since Audi drivers are chic, trendy and quite in the know of things.
Audi has also set up the A4 iPhone experience Web site for iPhone users. Things such as an exterior color customizer and a link to install the Audi A4 Challenge application can be found there, along with tons of links to Audi’s own U.S. Web site. The idea will probably reach its target, even if it’s a bit unimaginative.
It’s an Audi on your iPhone.
