This is an assignment I did for my adv. research class at the academy of art university. It's about listening to the digital chatter that surrounds a brand, my choice was Bic lighters. (Note: The first presentation went great. Now my teacher called for a second draft for the whole class, so here it is! I resolved all the spacing issues.)

1. Digital Chatter !
about!
!
Lighters
Paris Daniell – Account Planner
Academy of Art University

2. What Bic is saying!
in the digital space.
Slideshow of different Bic lighters on homepage.
Account access which provides you no features except a newsletter.
Intended message of website is unclear, provides little relevancy for potential Bic customers.
Product info and two different advertising entertainment outlets on flickyourbic.com website.

3. How is Bic currently engaging the digital audience?
Selling lighters with fantasy NASCAR and Design-a-lighter workshop. Seriously?
“Being featured in the Design‐A‐Lighter Gallery in no way reflects the possibility of the Submission being considered for use on Flick Your BIC packaging or adverEsing.”
What does this actually say for Bic lighters
Semi-functional paint shop, where you can create your own
as a brand in the digital space? Not a whole lot.
Bic graphic and upload it to a gallery.
Lack of relevance for the actual target audience After your work of art is finished you can email your lighter to a
stimulates very little digital chatter, crippling the
friend, making it “viral”.
effectiveness of their “viral” advertising.
There isnʼt much incentive to this advertising diversion other
than a chance to make it Into the featured gallery (see quote
above taken from T&C).

4. Quantified
flickyourbic.com
participators.
A glimpse at
the demographic.
March/ 31/ 2009

5. What are people saying about !
flickyourbic.com?
Bicʼs advertising hasnʼt influenced participators that visit their “viral” website.
A search in Google brings up no non-paid links relating to the online content that Bic provides.
Whatʼs being said after they spend time at the destination?
Nothing is being said about fantasy NASCAR, or how cool their virtual lighter design is.
The online experience that Bic provides is one that generates very little digital chatter.
There is a huge incongruence in what the consumer is saying about Bic
compared to what Bic is saying as an online destination.
Aquot;er researching the digital cha0er surrounding Bic,
I have found there are different categories that
conversa9ons about Bic fall into.
So what's really being said about Bic?

6. karllaubartwork: Justified for standing on my chair with a Bic lighter
yelling encore at my daughters 5th grade band concert! police
Celebration
escort out (ouch!)
thecapitan: I just taught our worship coordinator how to use a Bic Lighter!
Seriously!
beverlyinart: @Stranahan Wave a Bic Lighter in the air!
Symbolism
rrhobbs: Free Bird! Free Bird!! (swaying, waving bic lighter...) ♫
Music Appreciation
The show ended, they left the stage, and I remember burning my
thumb while holding a Bic lighter high up in the air for what
seemed like forever, and it stayed lit until Crosby, Stills & Nash
did an encore. Thanks guys.
Enjoyed
http://idonthavetimeto.wordpress.com/2009/03/06/is-it-live-oris-it-minorex/
drakesizzle: Hello friends, I'm in love with my new song.
I'm bored. I have a bic lighter in my hands. The End.
Everyone was holding up their lighters. It was like being *in*
a night sky, with stars twinkling all around you.
ENCORE!! WE WANT MORE! In real life, this was awesome
- there were about 45,000 bic lighters lit up at once!
http://www.oldbuckeye.com/pontiacsilverdome77/

7. anjuili: Smores made with a bic lighter: not the best method, but still tasty
Curious poleclimberben:
@consectarius WD 40 and a bic lighter seemed to
work wonders on my fire ants. quite entertaining as
well. wind gusts are havoc on leg hair
Mischievous
Urban Dictionary: Bic
71 up, 51 down
A 'Bic' is the most common type of lighter available.
Tried, trusted and relatively inexpensive,
its the only type of lighter I use.
My father taught me the most important recipe I ever
quot;Pass me the Bic, so I can light my cigarette.quot;
learned. To make fire you need:
Trusted heat (bic lighter)
fuel (newspaper, dry grass, branches)
Traditional
and air.
rparmenter: How to spot a classy lady: the retractable
Bic lighter lanyard dangling from her belt loop.
Personality
The apple crisp became a birthday cake stand in and in
lieu of candles I blew a bic lighter out over the crisp 29
times in a row. (harder than it sounds) I once again felt
very loved, I have good friends here in Vancouver.
http://walterinvancouver.blogspot.com/2009/03/and-now-we-are-29.html
Representative

8. Quality
Open Beer Bottle with BIC Lighter
and a little bit of leverage - taservictim
h0p://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieK3_X6Vc5c
svandoren: just fished a Bic lighter out of the
washing machine. Either Bic lighters are getting
tougher, or my washing machine's a pussy. fluxion23: Just experienced that rare occurrence
Lasting
where I used an entire Bic lighter before losing it.
chancegilmore: Used up a whole Bic lighter for the first time
Bold
before I lost it, or it got taken by accident. Alright!
benmarvin: Pro Tip: Nose-hair trimmers are expensive
and complicated.Be a man and use a Bic lighter.
tdoster: just harvested the flint from a Bic lighter
Useful
to fix my zippo lighter - pretty cool
Some people might say it's
not a very smart idea to throw 6 Bic lighters into a blender.
Disposable
Those people would be right.
Blendtecʼs will it blend?
A few words about disposable lighters
One of my earliest memories is of sitting in my parents' chevy blazer at an old
drive-in movie theatre, and during the intermission, they showed commercials,
and one of those commercials was two Bic lighters talking to each other. I donʼt
remember anything about the movie, but I remember those lighters. Remember,
you can never have too many lighters, because you will eventually lose them all.
-Bob
h0p://evil‐bob‐420.livejournal.com/

9. Stolen
nevewers: WHERE'S MY BIC LIGHTER?..... WHERE IS IT ????...CALL THE ARMED GAURDS.
greg53: The Bic lighter is somewhere on the top ten list
of missed things in a post apocalypBc world
No‐one knows when the first Bic was stolen but I'm sure it was shortly aquot;er the second it was ever created.
Some purposely steal the lighter but I believe the majority of incidences are accidental.
Few ever wonder of the phenomena but I feel that it is due to quot;muscle memory”. – myspace.com/stolenbic
Treasured
Teacherwalt: just went for a very short walk to
Whittington park and back. Found a Bic lighter.
Helene Silberberg wrote: Friends' Bicʼs feel just like your own, in the Hand.
That's why Bic stealing is on the rise! (be careful, keep track of #1 light)
Social

10. Tricky
Youtubable
Playful
Tossinʼ Da Flame
This game has been called many things, flicking your
Bic, tossin' da flame, the lighter game.
With a similar concept of quot;hackie-sackquot; except using
the top of your hand instead of your foot. The game has
taken off and is played by many people for many
different reasons.
We're extremist. Only to be played with a mid to fully
fluid loaded Bic Maxi (standard) lighter.

11. Where are people having conversations about Bic?

12. What are the things that spark
conversations about Bic?
Boredom
Blowing stuff up
Improvising
Friends
Quality
Customizing
Social Stealing
Games
Music Events
Apocalyptic survival
Relishing the power of fire
Disposability
Doing it yourself
Lighting things on fire
Tinkering

13. What is the underlying idea of these
conversations?
Celebration
Fire love
King of
Expression
Symbolism
Showing off
Music Appreciation
You tube
Tricky
Enjoyed
Playful
Representative
Bored
Prankster
Personality
Wizards of fire
Mischievous
Adventurous
Traditional
Stolen
Curious
Trusted
Guarded
Treasured
Bold
Social
Saved
Lasting
Forgotten
Knight of quality
Where’s my Bic?
and disposability
Quality
Useful
Disposable

14. Flick your Bic for insight.
Bic can engage digital participators with their
online advertising by listening to the digital
chatter that’s going on. !
Bic is already seeded within modern
Insight on these conversations promotes culture, it would be ideal to embrace it’s
effective and creative advertising by creating current placement and inject it into
relevant digital interruptions and diversions.! popular culture through advertising.
If Bic were to create a new digital
experience that matched the interests,
tone, and chatter of the current
audience, they could draw a new
attraction from a broader audience.
Ensuring the survival of the “tried and
trusted” lighter that we call Bic.!

15. Paris Daniell – Account Planner
Academy of Art University