...BIC UNDERWEAR: Brand Extension Gone Wrong February 28, 2015 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Brand expansion is an excellent way for a company to position itself in different markets. When done correctly, brand expansion can strengthen a brand and provide great financial growth for an organization. When a company already has a recognizable brand, it can make entering a new market a much more pleasant experience, if the new product clearly aligns with the other products of that brand. In this paper we will discuss the brand expansion attempt of BIC. BIC is successful for its disposable consumer products. As of 2014, BIC holds 34% of the market for Stationary products (making it the second market leader in North America), 30% of the market for Lighters (making it the number one market leader worldwide), and 19% of the market for Shaving razors (making it the second market leader in North America). (BIC, n.d). BIC has held a dominant position in these markets for years (as early as the 1970’s). In 1998, BIC made the bold decision to try its luck at launching a line of women’s disposable underwear and panties. I. History BIC was founded in 1945 in Europe by Marcel Bich, when he manufactured the fountain pen and mechanical pencil. Around this time ball point pens were becoming increasingly popular in Europe and increasingly expensive (selling for $12.50 on average). In addition to being expensive, the pens available on the market were known to clog and leak frequently. BIC introduced...
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...is to analysis an appropriate price of a Bic pen. To plan on purchasing 10,000 Bic pens each year for total five years. Through analyzing the material, Mfg costs, labor costs, SG&A and packaging, transportation and profit of a Bic pen to get a reasonable price. Material According to Lemon (2016), Bic pen is made of tungsten carbide ballpoint, Brass tip, link, polystyrene barrel and polypropylene cap and tube. To be more exact, the ballpoint is made of tungsten carbide which can be found the price is USD 60/Kilogram in the Alibaba website. To use the density of the material(15.63g/cm3)and the volume formula of ball（r=0.5mm），to get the weight of the ball is around 0.00817g, thereby we can get that the price of each ballpoint is 0.06USD. Secondly, the brass price is USD 8/kilogram, which can be found in Alibaba.com. The weight of each tip brass is 1.28g (Pen Modding, 2016), so the each price is 0.0102USD. Thirdly, due to the length of ink tube is 10.2cm, the internal diameter is 2mm and the density of ink is1.11 g/cm3. Therefore, the weight of the ink is approximately 0.36g, and the link cost is about 0.003USD for each pen. Fourthly, the polystyrene barrel for ink remains in the pen which cost USD 1800/metric ton. It is necessary to use the outer diameter (3mm), internal diameter (2mm) and density of the material (0.95 g/cm3) to get the weight of barrel is about 0.45g, thus, per barrel cost 0.00081USD. Finally, the weight of a Bic pen is 6g (Start Right Supplies, 2016), and...
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...horizontal. Vertical is expanding the product line and horizontal is integrating with the supply chain. Companies diversify to grow, to utilize existing resources or to escape their environments. Advantages could include achievement on the economic scale and to expand product offering while disadvantages could be difficulty coordinating the business. Another problem with diversifying can be the manager lack of knowledge about the business. Successful strategies of managers are developing skills in diversification. They must also have well-developed beliefs how to diversify in order to achieve synergies. To achieve synergy you must exploit economic scale and scope while efficiently allocating capital. In comparison the BellSouth Corporation and BIC Corporation utilized the diversification strategy. BellSouth was incorporated in 1983 providing telecommunications through Internet, video, voice, and entertainment. BellSouth was formed through a breakup with...
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...FEEL CLEAN ALL DAY, EVERYDAY FEASIBILITY DECISION: FEASIBLE HANDY PENS, LLC. Business Feasibility Study EXECUTIVE SUMMARY In the convenience driven world we live in today it is no question that people are looking for more and more ways to make their lives easier. With that being said I would like to ask you a question. On an average day how many of you find yourselves using a pen? Our thoughts exactly, so one day we sat down and thought how great it would be to combine this compact device, which people already use throughout their daily activities, with something most people wish they could use on a daily basis. Well after some brain storming that’s exactly what we did. Our new product “Handy Pens” combines the convenience and familiarity of a pen with hygienic items we found to usually be more troublesome to carry in your pockets or handbags. For starters our pens include an attachment full of either a breath freshening spray to keep your mouth smelling minty fresh in the blink of an eye or a pen with an attachment filled with hand sanitizer keeping your hands germ free with the push of a finger. Barriers to entry in the stationary industry are low and we feel consumers would be excited to test out the innovative concept behind Handy Pens. We understand our weaknesses and plan to turn them into strengths, we acknowledge the threats ahead and are excited to change those into opportunities. The potential rewards in this industry outweigh the...
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...different industries, such as Braun AG (German manufacturer of small appliances), S.T. Dupont (French maker of luxury lighters), Eve of Roma (high-fashion perfume) and Jafra Cosmetics (home sales) and so on. Some of these companies became the victims for the success of future development. Four of these acquisitions proved to be unprofitable or unsuitable and were divested, and the other three yielded low profits by Gillette’s standards. One example is that there is a French manufacturer Bic, which excelled in disposable products. Gillette has a company in the same industry, Paper Mate. The French manufacturer big brought some trouble to the Paper Mate. It s $0.19 disposable stick pens particularly affected the Paper Mate line of refillable pens and drove Paper Mate’s share of the retail ballpoint pen market from over 50 percent down to 13 percent. Although Gillette got a success in building market share when reintroduced to be market in 1975 with heavy price promotions. But the two other products of Bic, its disposable razors and lighters, which were being marketed very successfully in Europe and elsewhere and threatening Gillette’s strengths. And the loss of before is a victim for Gillette. Another thing that Gillette became a victim is about advertising. Schick sued Gillette for misleading claims of technological superiority in its advertising. Schick think that advertisements of Gillette for Mach3 used misleading statements such as “the world’s best shave” and “the best a man...
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...COMPANY: Société Bic was founded in Clichy, France in 1945 by Marcel Bich. ‘Bic’ is a shortened, easy-to-remember version of Marcel’s family name and hence was adopted as the logo for all of the company’s products. Bic is well known for producing and manufacturing stationery products, razors, lighters, water-sports equipment, services with promotional products and phones. The company is located in more than 160 countries worldwide and employs over 8400 employees. The Bich family owns 40% of Bic stock and controls 55% of its voting power. Bic’s vision is “we offer simple, inventive and reliable choices for everyone, everywhere, everytime.” Their consumer range therefore, stretches from offices to small children, encompassing ‘everyone’. In order to satisfy this wide spread, Bic tries to gain a balance between reasonably high quality and reasonable price. In performing a strategic analysis of the company, we hope to evaluate its current position and make recommendations of how they can improve in the future. 1.0 – HISTORY: 1945: Marcel Bich bought an empty factory in Paris with his partner, Edouard Bouffard. Bich had substantial knowledge of the writing instrument trade having previously worked as a production manager for an ink maker. Together they started producing fountain pen parts and mechanical pencils, and in 1950 Bich purchased the patent for ballpoint pens. This led to the creation of the disposable pen. 1954 – 1957:...
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...Evolution Of the Pen Regg Penn MAN 4054 Final Paper Professor Marcelo Alvarado-Vargas Where did the Pen come from? I can argue that everything that you and I know is majorly because of the existence of writing equipment and the pen. It’s clear that most of the fabric of history, was recorded by some previous form of the pen, along with some kind of paper. Pens were not always around however the concept of writing and recording images and symbols has been around since the beginning of time. Take the caveman for example; there are thousands of ‘cave paintings’ or drawings that have been either preserved or recorded so that curious individuals could see them. Those drawings were probably drawn with rock at first, then later on chiseled, which I would imagine was very time consuming. I remember learning in a History Course that Ancient Romans carved documents onto wax sculptures. As the progression and the knowledge of human beings expanded, new writing equipments became available. With invention of paper or papyrus, the pen came into existence. According to Maxfield Carroll, “The word "pen" is derived from "penna," the Latin word for a feather or plume. And that is exactly what the early pens were---quills or reeds with the tip carved to form a nib” (Carroll). The Quill was basically a bird feather being dipped into ink. The Quill pen was first used in Western Europe for writing church documents. This was sometime around 6AD. This is usually the pen that is seen in movies...
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...For the exclusive use of K. Larsen, 2016. 9-914-525 DECEMBER 16, 2013 FRANK V. CESPEDES JAMES KINDLEY Clique Pens: The Writing Implements Division of U.S. Home A fierce thunderstorm had just brought brief relief to the sweltering mid-August temperatures in Tampa, Florida, as Elise Ferguson, president of the writing implements division of U.S. Home, Clique Pens, stared at the notepad in front of her. She had jotted some thoughts about just whose needs were more important for Clique to satisfy—its retailers or its consumers? Fortunately, the 2013 back-to-school sales of her core writing implements product lines appeared to be on goal for a 3% increase over 2012. These sales were not without a cost, however, as various discounts, allowances, and other off-invoice deals had pushed gross profit margin down from 42% in 2010 to just over 36% in 2012. (See Exhibit 1.) Another one of Ferguson’s primary goals for Clique was to stop this decline in gross profit margin percentage and grow its overall gross profit by 4%. She hoped to accomplish this by growing revenues and increasing the gross profit margin. At this point, she felt it was unlikely that the latter would happen this year (2013). Ferguson wondered, were all these “giveaways” to retailers necessary? If so, couldn’t the monies be shifted to a form referred to generally as Market Development Funds (MDF), which would in theory allow Clique to have more control over their use in driving sales of its products...
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...CS113: Academic Strategies for the Business Professional Unit 6 Academic Writing Assignment Full Name: Heather Taylor Two-digit Section #: 06 Instructions: Download this document to your computer before filling it out. Save using “Save As” and add your name to the front removing the phrase “YourName” All of the gray boxes below should be appropriately filled in and the document saved again before submitting to the Unit 6 Dropbox. Paragraph Writing Paragraph #1: Purpose: Describe Write a complete paragraph about a person who has influenced you in positive ways. Do not write more than 1 paragraph for this topic. Focus on at least one way in which this person has made an important impact upon you. Use specific ideas and examples to illustrate your points and make sure to refer to the Paragraph Structure Chart located at the end of the Unit 6 Reading. Include a topic sentence, supporting details and a conclusion (minimum 10 complete sentences). My pastor has been a big influence. He has influenced me in many positive ways. He is a role model for me to follow. He is always trying to brighten up a person’s day. He often visits people in the hospital. This gives them a reason to smile. He does food drives for many organizations. He collects food for Book Bags of Hope. He volunteers and gives out food to the less fortunate. He is a person that has a big impact on many lives. Paragraph #2: Purpose: Share an Opinion Write...
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...Any man who keeps working is not a failure. He may not be a great writer, but if he applies the old-fashioned virtues of hard, constant labor, he’ll eventually make some kind of career for himself as writer. This reminds of Haley Diaz, a young, but expressive author of her own works inside of a first grade classroom. She has the smarts, and the ability to reel you in with the words she applies with the use of pen and paper. Haley knows how to construct her papers from start to finish using conventions provided by her teacher. She connects you with imaginative thinking, real life events, and things she has seen. Her use of imagery, English-Language Arts conventions, and detailed illustrations will leave you in awe, and with a big smile. When reading through the first grader’s writing named Haley Diaz, the literary element imagery comes to mind. She allows for you to go with her on her journey from being an amateur writer to an advanced writer. She paints this picture of herself, the things she likes, her family, and what’s most important to her. She captures every single detail, unless it’s something that she doesn’t care about. She pays very close attention to detail to everyday life events, and replicates it in her storytelling. Her illustrations are vivid and provide us with much detail of things that have occurred regardless of the interest level. I see a developing learner with plenty of potential when I read the words she writes on such thick lined paper. This is a learner...
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...Paper Chromatography Purose- the purpose is you will use paper chromatography to separate colors from ink. If the ink is soluble in water, it will travel up the paper with the water. Solubility is related to the type of intermolecular forces between the substances; substances with similar IMF’s will be soluble. As the solvent rises on the paper and evaporates, it leaves the colors in its path. Background info- I know that water is a polar solvent and that rubbing alcohol is a nonpolar solvent. Materials- 1. Chromatorgraphy paper 2. 2 Petri Dishes 3. Black felt tips pens 4. Water 5. Felt tip pens of other colors 6. Alcohol Procedure- 1. Obtain two pieces of chromatography paper. Trace a quarter in pencil, in the center of the paper 2. Poke a small hole in the center of the circle 3. Select 3 felt tip pens of different colors (one must be black). Make one dot with each en on each piece of chromatography paper along the line traced around the center, as illustrated on the board. 4. Use a pencil to label these dots with the color and “FT” for felt tip. 5. Select 3 permanent makers of different color (one must be Black). Make one dot with each marker on each piece of chromatography paper along the line traced around the center, as illustrated on the board. 6. Use pencil to label these dots with the color and “P” for permanent. 7. Remove the papers from the solvents when the solvent has moved to within 2 cm of the edge of the paper....
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...this week: $1.00 For going to the store for you: $.50 Baby-sitting my kid brother while you went shopping: $.25 Taking out the garbage: $1.00 For getting a good report card: $5.00 For cleaning up and raking the yard: $2.00 Total owed: $14.75 Well, his mother looked at him standing there, and the boy could see the memories flashing through her mind. She picked up the pen, turned over the paper he’d written on, and this is what she wrote: For the nine months I carried you while you were growing inside me: No Charge For all the nights that I’ve sat up with you, doctored and prayed for you: No Charge For all the trying times, and all the tears that you’ve caused through the years: No Charge For all the nights that were filled with dread, and for the worries I knew were ahead: No Charge For the toys, food, clothes, and even wiping your nose: No Charge Son, when you add it up, the cost of my love is: No Charge. When the boy finished reading what his mother had written, there were big tears in his eyes, and he looked straight at his mother and said, “Mom, I sure do love you.” And then he took the pen and in great big letters he wrote: “PAID IN...
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...unhappy. My boyfriend and I broke up the night before my last exam. I would talk to my friends about it but I felt like it became too much for them. I knew they wanted to make me happy so they would listen but I didn’t feel right about putting them through it so I started writing. Whenever I needed a break from everyone around me, I would grab a piece of paper and a pen and just start pouring my thoughts onto paper. It was usually about how I was going through a tough time, which now seems increasingly petty, but at that time paper was my confidant. I wrote everything, even if it was a paragraph, or even barely a line. I used to transfer all the bad thoughts in my mind onto paper and just leave it there. I substituted my friends for paper. Paper wouldn’t talk back or tell me that it wasn’t god for me. It would just listen, absorb, and always be there. And that’s when I fell in love with writing. This is when writing became a habit. When I got over irrelevant boyfriend issues, I still had that craving to write something, anything, so I started writing about my day. If I had had a bad day, I would sit with my book and pen and just write till I overcame the bad thoughts. Those rare but sweet moments when I would go into a stream of consciousness showed me glimpses of certain peculiarities I didn’t even know I possessed. Sometimes I would re read things that I had written previously and I would be able to feel what I had felt when I was writing those words. All those memories would...
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...You almost have to be of a certain age these days to remember what it was like to sit down and write out a letter or to even have had to handwrite it. A handwritten or typed letter takes time, creativity and thought., which is why people prefer to text, email, or just jot down a short note, etc. There are times when all you want to say is "meet me at 8" and then a text or a short note is perfect. The problem comes only when you are required to put together a proposal letter for a business, a cover letter for an open job position or even when you want to journal some things so that you read it at a later date. It is with those opportunities that we find our skills have been reduced to LOL, k, brb, tc, cya. Letter writing is important as it reveals something about your personality that a machine can't. Your style of handwriting, choice of ink and paper all say something about you as an individual. Now almost everyone has become too busy so there is no time for anyone to put their words in thoughts. Writing love letters is no longer interesting to people. Lot of new technology has replaced the beauty of writing love letter. Sending email, messages, SMS has become the trend now. But when you express your love, the best way is to write a letter to your beloved one. And when you start writing your thoughts there are no limitations to convey what we think. The quantity and quality of contemporary written communication is fast flowing down the tubes of mindless entertainment devices...
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...this poem, Morning is a new sheet paper for you to write on -the poet is comparing the day with a sheet of paper and your action with a pen without an eraser. Every word on this paper represents something priceless. Each sunrise symbolizes a new sheet of paper or a new day. The pencil that writes on this piece of paper can only relate to your action. It cannot erase or rewrite what was noted down. Whatever you want to say, all day, until the night folds up and flies away- May your words have a solid foundation that will bring joy and happiness to oneself. Every sentence that contains my words shouldn’t offend anyone but should bring joy and satisfaction to my fellow being. A sheet of paper completes when sunset appears, and no line can repeat itself because once it is gone it can’t return again. The bright words and the dark words are gone-May this pen always be exposed to light in order to continue to write the glory of positivity, and to never encounter darkness where all lines will disappear. Until dawn and a new day to write on-The light are fading away, soon dawn will appear, and there will be an absent of light that will resolve in darkness. Light will disappear, and darkness will appear and so there will be no more line on this sheet of paper. In conclusion- Only my pen can determine what the future holds for me. I hope that this pen have enough ink, to write about the glories of this sunshine. Now I will file this paper and put it away for I have no guarantee that...
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