Day 97: Phone Kiosks (iPad Campaign)

The streets of Manhattan are abundant with phone kiosks.  In my seven months of working in the city, though, I’ve seen them in use maybe once or twice.  I initially questioned why so many still remain, until I thought about it from a purely business perspective – it has nothing do to with offering phone service and everything to do with offering an advertising platform.

A wise, old Texan (Gary Krupkin) once told me that McDonald’s isn’t in the hamburger business – they’re in the real estate business with restaurants on the most trafficked street corners in every town in America (and the world for that matter).  His theory holds true in the case of phone kiosks in Manhattan because they are on every street corner in the city.  And they offer advertisers the eyeballs of the highly sought after demographic of New York’s working stiffs.

According to an article published on nytimes.com in August of 2007, “the phone kiosks generate $62 million in advertising revenue annually – and last year the city got $13.7 million of the take, triple what it pulled in from calls.”  The phone companies that share the ad revenue maintain that pay phones are still necessary, noting that during 9/11 and the 2003 blackout, people lined up to use them when cell phone service was knocked out.

I have considered blogging about these phone kiosks earlier in my challenge, but decided to go ahead with it when I saw a campaign from a company called Apple.  The campaign is for the recently released iPad, and it is difficult to navigate the streets without noticing these ads.  What makes the campaign most interesting is that a progressive brand like Apple is turning the tide by using traditional marketing to sell a product that is changing the media landscape.

Phone Kiosk with iPad Campaign in Midtown Manhattan

Phone Kiosk Along Park Avenue