Pencil manufacturer Faber-Castell is hoping that embracing the online world and a counter-digital creative trend will mean the company can still thrive in the digital era. Douglas Busvine explains
If the digital revolution is going to consign anything to the dustbin of history, you might think the humble pencil would be a leading contender.
However, with such pastimes as doodling and coloring being touted as stressbusters to escape the daily grind and the relentless lure of smartphones, German pencil-maker Faber-Castell is thriving 256 years after it was founded.
“We see that people with all the digital devices around go back to a more manual way of expressing themselves,” Daniel Rogger, chief executive of the family owned firm, told Reuters.
“It’s like a counter-trend to digitalization in terms of product usage and of course that’s something that we love to see.”
The fashion for adult coloring, where people have books of different themes and patterns to complete, like children, lifted Faber-Castell to record sales of 667 million euros in 2016/2017.
Reuters, excerpt posted on SouthFloridaReporter.com, Jan. 31, 2018
Video by Reuters.com/Douglas Busvine
