Raynard Snow
Principles of Marketing
Dr. Walters
July 27, 2013
Abstract
In this paper we will discuss the phone booth and its diminishing role in society. As time change we have to change with it and by doing this some things will become obsolete. With cell phones as an everyday commodity, phone booths are like antique inventions that are becoming eye sores all around every city in the world. Questions will be asked and answered in this paper. Can phone booths be revamped? Will they never be used again? Are they more trouble or able to be restructured? These questions will be answered and a lot more information will be given out in the process.
Product Assessment A telephone booth, telephone kiosk, telephone call box, telephone box or public call box is a small structure furnished with a payphone and designed for a telephone user's convenience. In the USA and Canada, "telephone booth" is used, while in the Commonwealth of Nations (particularly the United Kingdom and Australia) it is a telephone box or phone box. Such a booth usually has lighting, a door to provide privacy, and windows to let others know if the booth is in use. The booth may be furnished with a printed directory of local telephone numbers, and a booth in a formal setting, such as a hotel, may be furnished with paper and pen and even a seat. An outdoor booth may be made of metal and plastic to withstand the elements and heavy use, while an indoor booth (once known as a silence cabinet) may have more elaborate architecture and furnishings. Most outdoor booths feature the name and logo of the telephone service provider. This innovative invention popularity is diminishing around the world and are obsolete products. In this paper we will discuss the following:
Discuss this product or service in terms of its current target market demographics using U.S. Census Data.
Determine why you believe the product or service is declining in popularity. Be sure to include information on social, demographic, and ethnic markets; economic and technological factors; political and legal factors; and competitive factors.
Make three (3) recommendations for possible action marketers of the product or service you selected could take to address the product’s declining appeal to consumers.
Determine the best foreign country in which to market this product or service. Support your response with information from the CIA world fact book.
Discuss your product segmentation and positioning ideas for this product or service in its debut in the new country.
Discuss this product or service in terms of its current target market demographics using U.S. Census Data Phone booths are now only used for emergency uses only. If a car breaks down and somebody do not have their cell phone with them. Phone booths current target market is the lower class and the ones in distress. Many people do not use phone booths because it is not convenient anymore. In this days market it is all about convenience.
Determine why you believe the product or service is declining in popularity
Pay phones have certainly seen their heyday. Today, cell phone service providers vie for subscribers. However, pay phones were public. In order for the phone company to earn money, they had to attract more callers. Companies would pay tens of thousands of dollars to a city for a permit to install a phone in a certain location. Some of these places included poorer rural and urban areas. Even today a large number of low-income families do not have phone service in their homes. Many feel that eliminating pay phones would be greatly detrimental to these people. Despite their imminent extinction, telephone booths have proven useful for other purposes. The city of Shanghai, China has converted 500 former telephone booths into WiFi hotspots. On one hand, this is a positive change because the booth is being used. On the other