Bic: Interviews & Further Research
*This article has been edited for enrichment and accuracy reasons. The original version was posted on June 14th 2019.
One of our weekly tasks in the course “Introduction to Advertising and Public Relations” as brand ambassadors of Bic, was to interview both an employee who works for the selected company, and a consumer of the brand products, in order to understand better people’s general opinion of the company.
The professor of the course, Mrs. Tsakarestou, offered to help, by prompting us to get in contact with Mr. Konstantinos Ioannidis, who conducts Market & New Media Lab for Panteion University and also works for Bic as Global Manager User Research Panels, Group Insights & Innovation, Market & Consumer Insights. After meeting with him in person, we collected crucial information for our project. When asked about Bic’s bigger vision, he responded that “Bic’s co-values are simplicity and value for money” — all Bic’s products whether it’s stationery or razors, aim to offer simple and high quality meaning. After doing our own research, we found out that this goes along with the company’s values on their website, since they stand for ethics, responsibility, teamwork, simplicity and ingenuity. Mr. Ioannidis, proceeded to explain why simplicity plays such a big role in the company. Bic’s main purpose is to offer “iconic and simple products” that can be a part of people’s everyday life, giving the example of the fact that even the crystal pen has become a part of the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Finishing the interview, we asked about Bic’s future. “I foresee that Bic will continue to grow,” he said, emphasizing the development of new high quality products in an affordable price.
At this point, we understood that Bic connects with their consumers by keeping those values in mind. For this part, we were sure we needed to understand the consumers’ point of view and learn more about their opinions of the brand and their products. This is why, we decided to conduct an interview of a consumer near our own age in order to learn more about what our own generation believes.
We concluded that Bic’s products are both easily accessible and in an affordable price, which is extremely important when it comes to consumers and especially younger ones, since they have too many expenses and needs that need to be fulfilled. But our work didn’t just stop there. We decided to conduct one more interview of a consumer in a different age group in order to compare our findings — that’s where our family members came in handy. According to our interviewees, Bic is a trustworthy and reliable brand because it represents what it stands for, is safe and durable and offers good quality products from day one.
Continuing our research, we thought it would be important to find out whether Bic is innovative and if so, in what ways. Starting with stationery, Bic has developed a 4-colors 3+1 mechanical pencil & ballpoint pen, combined into one writing instrument as well as a variety of colored ink pens. When it comes to lighters, Bic uses unique materials and more specifically, one of the strongest plastics in the world. As of razors, the moveable blade is the result of years at research while providing amazing shaving comfort at the same time. Last but not least, Bic has developed an app that allows customers to preview how their logo will look on a pen.
To conclude, our research has shown that the best way to gain and keep consumer loyalty, is to provide products that offer the same quality use from start to finish. This is why Bic is such a reliable and trustworthy brand in all age groups.
Konstantina Angelidou, Grasiela Varkari, Ina Makrydaki, Afroditi Kokla, Margarita Kammenou
