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Some sports sponsorships just make sense, like Reese\u2019s and Angel Reese or Rao\u2019s and Tommy DeVito. Add Bic Soleil and the Pro Volleyball Federation (PVF) to that list.<\/p>\n
The razor brand served as the title sponsor of the PVF\u2019s championship tournament, formally called the 2025 Bic Soleil Pro Volleyball Federation Championship, in Nevada earlier this month. The deal came together in part because of a volleyball play called a \u201cbic,\u201d short for \u201cback-row attack,\u201d in which a player attacks the ball from the back of the court. Beyond the obvious synergy in the name, the play is a bit of a metaphor for the Bic Soleil brand, Karen Schwartz, global VP of blade excellence at Bic, told Marketing Brew.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe bic is designed to surprise opponents,\u201d Schwartz said. \u201cYou don\u2019t see it coming, and that\u2019s sort of like our Soleil razors. We\u2019re a little bit understated. We don\u2019t spend as much on marketing\u2026as some of the other brands out there, but when women use a Bic Soleil, they love it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Plus, there\u2019s no shortage of exposed legs and armpits in volleyball, \u201cso the benefits of the product are on display,\u201d she added. While Bic Soleil\u2019s deal with the PVF was exclusively focused on the championship this year, it\u2019s part of a broader push into emerging women\u2019s sports for the brand, and Schwartz said it might not be the end of Bic Soleil\u2019s presence in volleyball.<\/p>\n
The bic play wasn\u2019t the only aspect of volleyball that stood out to Schwartz and her team when the PVF approached them with the idea for the sponsorship. Schwartz said she took note of the growth of women\u2019s volleyball around 2023, when the University of Nebraska women\u2019s volleyball team set a record for attendance at a women\u2019s sports event. She also has some young volleyball players in her family, and appreciated the fact that the sport is popular at the youth level, she said.<\/p>\n
Bic Soleil has been working to get in on the ground floor with women\u2019s sports leagues, targeting sports that seem to be more up-and-coming rather than leagues that are already established in the mainstream. The brand recently renewed its partnership with the Professional Women\u2019s Hockey League for a second season, which was its first-ever sports deal, Schwartz said.<\/p>\n
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\u201cFor us, it\u2019s really about those unsung heroes,\u201d she said. \u201cAs we looked for places to start and learn about women\u2019s sports, we really wanted to get in on some of these sports that were taking off early\u2026because we see the potential of where they can go.\u201d<\/p>\n
In addition to the championship title sponsorship, Bic Soleil\u2019s deal with the PVF included signs around Lee\u2019s Family Forum arena, digital and social ads, and a campaign that ran on CBS Sports Network and the jumbotron promoting the brand\u2019s \u201cSet a Bic, Score a Bic\u201d sweepstakes that offered audiences a chance to win Bic x PVF merchandise every time a team set a bic during the tournament.<\/p>\n