Sponsor (Oct-Dec 1964)

target plan Tv advertising for Phase 5, covering 13 states in the far West, will get under way in the spring of 1965. Distribution began in November. Today Bic has 75 to 90 percent distribution in each U.S. market it has entered — distribution in department stores, variety chains, stationery stores, tobacco shops and drug chains. Sales run about two to three million pens a week; world-wide sales reach three million pens a day. In 1965 Bic expects to spend $2 million in tv advertising — $1 million in spot and $1 million in network. Bic used partial network this year (ABC provided coverage in 80 percent of the country, blocking out the 13 states where Bic had no distribution) but plans to use fullcoverage network tv next year. The '65 schedule, again on ABC, will include the following programs: Dick Clark, Trailmaster (both used in 1964), The New American Bandstand, Father Knows Best, Donna Reed and The Young Marrieds. Bic is interested in advertising to everybody who writes, with emphasis on those groups that write most — high school and college students. Both Dick Clark and Trailmaster reach strong student audiences. In general, however, the network schedule reaches a broad audience, skewed toward women, while spot buys are geared more toward men and students, according to Sy Radzwiller, account supervisor and a vice president of Bates. "The use of both spot and network works well for reaching different groups and giving us complete coverage," says Radzwiller. "In addition, spot tv can lend support to individual markets where ad pressure does not conform to levels of sales achievement." The same commercials are being aired on both spot and network tv. Both are torture-test commercials. One features a high speed drill test. A Bic pen is drilled through a wallboard, extracted from the board and then used by the drill operator. The second is called the "fire and ice" commercial. An ice skater harnesses a Bic pen to her skate so that the point faces into the ice and proceeds to cut some figures. Then she puts the pen into fire. Lastly, she demonstrates how the pen "writes the first time — every time." John Paige, vice president in charge of sales for Waterman-Bic, says tv is a basic ingredient of Bic's success, but four other ingredients are equally important — quality of the product, packaging or point-ofsale image, promotion and sales communication. "Penetrating market coverage," he believes, "is far more than broad surface distribution. "Advertising can only bring people to the product — and tv has done that well — but the product must be good or people won't buy it," says Paige. Bic was first to introduce a lowpriced quality ball point pen. Today Bics sell for 19 cents, 25 cents and 29 cents. The pens are produced at the company's $1 million plant in Milford, Conn., built in 1963. Bic's entry into the United States through Waterman seemed a wise move. In 1958 Bic was distributing in some 90 countries, but was not known in this country. Waterman, which had led in the manufacturing of fountain pens for many years, found itself ill-equipped to enter the budding ball point pen market. The combination of the Bic pen and the established name of Waterman was a natural. Today Waterman-Bic is the number 1 producer of ball point pens in this country. As in the past, tv is slated for a major role in Bic's marketing plans. According to vice president Paige, other ball point pen companies have tried to copy Bic's tv strategy, but have been unsuccessful in doing so. "They just think they know our strategy, but they don't," says Paige. ♦ December 28, 1964 37