Adrian J Cotterill, Editor-in-Chief
At #CES2020 BIC announced The Next BIC Thing, a new, collaborative platform that aims to deepen BIC’s focus on consumer insights by bringing consumers directly into BIC’s Innovation and Research & Development (R&D) process.
The Next BIC Thing allows consumers to access the latest news from BIC’s new products and become part of a new group of brand ambassadors called the ‘BIC R&D Squad’.
This is a community that will test BIC’s product prototypes, provide feedback, and interact with BIC’s internal teams. It kicks off with BIC’s new AI-enabled prototype shaver designed in partnership with Invoxia, a global leader in the design and development of connected devices.
BIC’s new prototype razor, the first wet shaver with AI technology, will capture data about the complete shaving experience, including temperature, humidity, hair density, shaving speed, number of strokes, time spent shaving, blade dullness, and more. With its community of users and the help of data collected through the application, BIC will create its next-generation of shavers, perfectly adapted to today’s users based on these advanced consumer insights.
Thomas Brette, Group Innovation & Insights Officer at BIC told us “CES is a tremendous opportunity to illustrate BIC’s focus on the needs of the modern consumer. The Next BIC® Thing is one of many initiatives underway at BIC that will not only broaden and strengthen the insights we use to create products that consumers want and need, but enhance our growth path”.
Eric Carreel, Invoxia co-founder said “What we are doing with BIC perfectly demonstrates the virtuous tryptic: device, service and data. By using a smart device that collects useful data, we can better understand just about anyone’s habits and provide instant and personalized feedback. In addition, this data now also drives innovation! BIC is the perfect illustration that a better service allows you to take better advantage of the data and improve your product.”
In 1975, BIC revolutionized the world with the launch of its first one-piece razor. It imposed an entirely new standard of affordable quality that allowed anyone, whatever their level of income, to benefit from a fresh, smooth and quality shave. Technology and R&D allowed BIC to continually invent, manufacture, and distribute razors that were made more efficient, longer lasting and higher quality by reinventing the blades, the design, the ergonomics, and the materials that would suit the largest population of men and women.
The Next BIC Thing and their AI-enabled prototype shaver join BIC’s suite of recent initiatives that include BodyMark by BIC, the first BIC temporary tattoo marker specially made for skin, and Made for You, a premium razor made for both men and women, sold on Amazon in the United States.
I was very impressed at how agile and consumer-centric this French corporate has become.
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