BIC Group

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BIC SA

logo
legal form Société Anonyme
ISIN FR0000120966
founding 1945
Seat Paris , FranceFranceFrance 
management Bruno Bich
sales 1.949 billion euros (2018)
Website www.bicworld.com
As of December 31, 2018

The BIC Cristal , the world's best-selling ballpoint pen
The BIC lighter

The BIC Group is a listed French company ( WKN : 860804 and ISIN: FR0000120966) that was founded in 1945 by Baron Marcel Bich in Paris and is headquartered in Clichy, France . The BIC Group is best known for its ballpoint pens (since 1950), disposable lighters (since 1973) and disposable razors (since 1976). Since July 2008, disposable mobile phones have also been offered. Today BIC is active in more than 160 countries worldwide.

Company history

On October 25, 1945 the company PPA (Penholder, Mechanical Pencils and Accessories) was founded. Marcel Bich, a former production manager of an ink factory, was its chairman and chief executive officer, and Édouard Buffard was its production manager. The company settled in a factory in Clichy and produced spare parts for fountain pens and lead pens.

Bich believed in the potential of the ballpoint pen and bought the patent from the Hungarian László Biró, who had invented the pen principle in 1938. In December 1950, Bich launched the BIC Cristal. The ballpoint pen has now sold over 100 billion times. In order to sell the ballpoint pen better and to be able to differentiate itself better from other manufacturers of writing utensils, the company adopted the name BIC in 1953.

The brand name BIC is the shortened form of the name of the company founder, Bich, because the pronunciation of his name is too similar to the English “ bitch ” and therefore cannot be used internationally.

international Developement

In the following years BIC expanded into other countries, for example to Italy (1954), Brazil (1956), Great Britain (1957), Australia (1957), New Zealand (1957), Scandinavia (1957), USA (1958) and in the Middle East (1958). In 1959, BIC took over Ballograf, a Scandinavian manufacturer of ballpoint pens and pencils. 1997 BIC expanded to Asia . Today the company is present on five continents and active in more than 160 countries worldwide.

Development of the company logo

The company logo dates from 1953. It consists of two parts: a parallelogram with curved corners, angled upwards to the left and right and with the letters 'BIC' with 'i' as the only one in lower case and the BIC Boy on the left. The parallelogram was originally red with white letters when the BIC Cristal was introduced in 1950. The font of the letters remained unchanged. The BIC Boy was described on the company's website as "a schoolboy with a head shaped like a ball and a pen behind his back." The ball is the hard metal that became the main feature of the new ballpoint pens from BIC in 1960. Raymond Savignac designed the Bic Boy. He also drew the “Nouvelle Bille” (New Ballpoint Pen) advertising campaign aimed at attracting schoolchildren's attention to BIC. When the BIC Boy was added to the left of the rhombus a year later (1961), both changed to the newly introduced and still official company color orange.

BIC in Germany

BIC has had a branch in Germany since 1955. The company has been based in Eschborn near Frankfurt am Main since 2003 . Christian Kockmann heads BIC's activities in Germany and Austria .

Trademarks of BIC

The following brands belong to the BIC Group:

  • BIC
  • Tipp Ex
  • Conté
  • Criterium
  • Sergent Major
  • Sheaffer
  • Stypes

Products

BIC sells 32 million products every day around the world. With 20.3 million stationery items sold daily, these account for almost two thirds of sales. In addition, consumers buy 4.4 million lighters and 7.3 million razors every day.

Stationery

BIC sells various stationery items (ballpoint pens, felt-tip pens, mechanical pencils, highlighters, markers, colored pencils, glue). In the course of the company's history, BIC acquired Conté, a brand for drawing and painting products, in 1979. In 1992 the company bought the Wite-Out brand in the USA and in 1997 the Tipp-Ex brand in Europe to expand its product range with correction products. In 1997 the group acquired the Sheaffer brand, a manufacturer of high quality writing implements (fountain pens, ballpoint pens, mechanical pencils). In 2004 the company took over the French manufacturer of fountain pens Stypen.

In Italy , Greece , France and Luxembourg the word “Bic” has become a generic name for a (disposable) ballpoint pen . "To protect against wear, the ball of the BIC Cristal ballpoint pen is made of the extreme material (note: hard material ) tungsten carbide ." The ink is indelible.

Lighters

In 1973, BIC expanded its product range and launched the company's first lighter, the BIC Maxi , followed by the BIC Mini in 1985 . Since then, the range has been expanded through the marketing of various lighter models (maxi, mini and slim size), motif lighters and electronic lighters. In 2000, BIC launched a range of stick lighters for lighting candles, barbecues, chimneys, etc., and lighter covers in 2002. The company's disposable lighters can be recognized by their typical oval shape, which has not changed since its introduction.

In total, BIC produces 1.5 billion lighters in five factories worldwide. In the world market, BIC has a share of approx. 50 percent in the lighters division. The lighters sold in Europe are made in France and Spain. In its factory in Redon (France) the company with 350 employees produces around 650 million lighters annually (2014). The classic BIC lighter from 1972 and the clear hexagonal BIC disposable ballpoint pen from 1950 are in the collection of the New York Museum of Modern Art in the Department of Architecture and Design.

Razor

In 1975, BIC launched its first disposable razor. Since then, the company has continued to develop its range of single-blade razors and two-blade razors. In 2003, BIC launched a 3-blade razor. Then, in 2009, the company launched a line of 4-blade razors.

In 2017, BIC founded the BIC Shave Club in France, a subscription all about shaving accessories available on the Internet at www.bicshaveclub.com. This service has also been available in Great Britain since November 2017.

BIC Sport

The BIC Group also includes the subsidiary BIC Sport, which was founded in 1979 and which is one of the world's largest manufacturers of surfboards . BIC Sport's products include surfboards for surfing and stand-up paddling as well as numerous windsurfing boards, including the BIC Techno 293 One Design, with which young people contest world championships.

Tights

Tights and knee socks of the BIC brand were introduced less successfully than lighters. In 2005 or 2003 a redesign of the cardboard packaging is mentioned.

Production sites

BIC has a total of 24 production sites, 12 of which are in emerging countries, ten in Europe and two in North America. The majority of factories make stationery, five plants around the world make lighters, four make razors, and one plant focuses on other products. 15,000 men and women work in BIC's 24 factories. The majority of them are employed by a factory in an emerging market (approx. 10,500 employees), followed by Europe (approx. 4,000 employees) and North America (approx. 800 employees).

Europe

North America

Africa

Asia

South America

Lawsuit against Germany and France

In October 2018, BIC filed a lawsuit with the European Commission due to a lack of monitoring of the market conformity of lighters in Germany and France . The company accuses the two countries of failing to meet their market surveillance obligations. This means that non-compliant lighters can still be sold or imported into both countries. In particular, it is alleged that lighters imported from Asia do not comply with the relevant safety regulations. With the lawsuit, the company hopes to force the authorities to take tough action against the suspected dangerous competing products from Asia.

Shareholder structure

The company is listed, but 44 percent of the shares are family-owned. The group is listed on Euronext Paris and is part of the French stock exchange indices SBF120 and CAC Mid 60.

BIC is also part of the following socially responsible investment indices:

  • CDPs "Leadership Level" (A-) and "Leadership Level" for the additional module "Supplier",
  • Euronext Vigeo - Eurozone 120, Euronext Vigeo - Europe 120,
  • FTSE4Good Indices, Ethibel Pioneer and Ethibel Excellence Investment Register,
  • Ethibel Sustainability Index (ESI) Excellence Europe,
  • Stoxx Global ESG Leaders Index.

Sponsorship

From 1967 to 1974 the company was the main sponsor and namesake of the cycling team Équipe Cycliste Bic . Between 1981 and 1983 BIC was the main sponsor of the Karlsruher SC .

Web links

Commons : BIC  - collection of images

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Annual Report 2018. In: www.bicworld.com. Accessed August 28, 2019 .
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g Our Heritage, Your Passion. BIC website. Retrieved November 29, 2018.
  3. ↑ Who we are. BIC website. Retrieved November 29, 2018.
  4. ↑ Group Presentation for Investors - October 2018. BIC website. Retrieved November 29, 2018.
  5. ↑ BIC Integrated Report - BIC Model. BIC website. Retrieved November 29, 2018.
  6. ↑ Bic, un industriel à la pointe. L'Usine Nouvelle. Retrieved December 4, 2018.
  7. ^ Il ya 50 ans, le stylo à bille Bic entrait à l'école RTL France. Retrieved December 4, 2018
  8. ↑ BIC Logo History - History of All Logos Logo History. Retrieved December 4, 2018
  9. ↑ BIC in Germany. BIC website. Retrieved December 4, 2018.
  10. ↑ Group Presentation for Investors - October 2018. BIC website. Retrieved November 29, 2018.
  11. ↑ Present worldwide. BIC website. Retrieved December 4, 2018.
  12. ↑ Our products: stationery. BIC website. Retrieved November 29, 2018.
  13. ↑ NN: Disguised genius - icon of simplicity. In: +3 Magazin, No. 39/2017, p. 9
  14. ↑ 2017 Registration Document. BIC website. Retrieved December 4, 2018.
  15. ^ BIC Group - Redon Lighter Factory Site Visit. BIC website. Retrieved December 4, 2018.
  16. ↑ Bic Cristal® Ballpoint pen. Museum of Modern Art website. Retrieved December 4, 2018.
  17. ↑ BIC LIGHTER ON SHOW AT MOMA. BIC website. Retrieved December 4, 2018.
  18. ^ The BIC Shave Club. BIC Shave Club homepage. Retrieved December 4, 2018.
  19. ↑ Our Story. BIC Sport Homepage. Retrieved December 4, 2018.
  20. ↑ Bic stockings: Beinzierde produkt.at ,. The launch magazine for retail, catering and branded goods. Issue 05/05, 2003 or 2005, accessed March 3, 2019.
  21. ↑ Eva Pöcksteiner: Das Markukt: How a brand becomes a monopoly of terms! ... Dissertation, University of Vienna, July 2008, accessed March 3, 2019. - Mentioned BIC lighter, pen, razor, pantyhose.
  22. ^ A Global Presence. BIC website. Retrieved December 4, 2018.
  23. ↑ Lighter manufacturer is suing Germany. Süddeutsche Zeitung Online. Retrieved December 4, 2018.
  24. ↑ Lighter giant accuses Germany and France. The world online. Retrieved December 4, 2018.
  25. ↑ BIC files a complaint with the European Commission due to a lack of monitoring of the market conformity of lighters in France and Germany. BIC website. Retrieved December 5, 2018.
  26. ↑ Group Presentation for Investors - October 2018. BIC website. Retrieved November 29, 2018.
  27. ^ The BIC Share. BIC website. Retrieved December 4, 2018.
  28. ↑ 1967 - BIC professional cyclist team FR. In: www.bicworld.com. Retrieved August 28, 2019 (French).
  29. ↑ The History of Shirt Sponsorship. League park three. Retrieved December 4, 2018.
  30. ↑ 80s VINTAGE KSC "BIC" FOOTBALL SHIRT TS147. Retro-Star.de. Retrieved December 4, 2018.