At a time when the business world is fixated on digital transformation and automation, how does a modern CEO lead a 75-year-old company best known for decidedly analog products such as pens, lighters, and disposable razors?
Gonzalve Bich, CEO of BIC, isn’t eschewing digitization (more on that in a moment), but he is embracing human creativity. In 2019, BIC launched BodyMark, a line of temporary tattoo markers. Then, in 2022, the company acquired temporary tattoo companies Inkbox and Tattly. “What I love about the tattoo business and [the] art form is that it is the oldest form of self-expression—even before there was pen and paper; there was tattoo,” says Bich, who has two permanent tattoos and says he usually applies five to 10 temporary tattoos a month.
A matter of expression
Bich says BIC is expanding its “skin creative” offerings to include temporary tattoos that can last from a few hours to a few weeks, and the company is doing research to develop options that could last for months. BIC also is using its scale to broaden distribution: Inkbox, which was a direct-to-consumer company, is now available in Walmart stores, for example.
BIC’s bet on the business of self-expression—its “human expression” division, which includes pens and highlighters and grew net sales by 10.2% at constant currency last year—comes at a time when consumers, especially youth audiences, are looking for fresh ways to show their creativity and individuality. About a third of Americans have tattoos, according to the Pew Research Center, up from about 23% in 2010. (Pew cautions that, due to changes in its survey questions, the earlier results aren’t exactly comparable.) A third of heterosexual men say they currently wear makeup or would consider doing so.
Various companies are trying to meet such demands. Wella, the global beauty brand, for example, sells a hair product called Color Fresh Mask that lets users try dramatic shades such as pink, blue, or mint, in between professional treatments. “We’re excited to continue taking in trends, creating innovative products…helping people around the world become the best version of themselves,” says Wella CEO Annie Young-Scrivner.
The power of the pen
Technology and self-expression aren’t mutually exclusive, of course. Digital tools are commonly used to create paintings, music, film, and other forms of art. A 2022 survey by software company Adobe found that half of Gen Z respondents in the United Kingdom said social media “was the only place they felt they could be themselves.” BIC pushed into digital in 2020 with the acquisition of Rocketbook, a maker of affordable “smart” notebooks.
Not surprisingly, Bich still believes in the power of the pen. (His grandfather, Marcel Bich, started the company in 1945 and launched the BIC ballpoint pen in 1950.) “The way you learn things by writing with a pen and paper or drawing is inherent to our development, and that’s not going to go away with a couple of keystrokes,” he says.
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