Are We missing half of our Potential Market?

Hankins

Hankins

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Dec 7, 2008
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Are We missing half of our Potential Market?
After 12plus years of Making knives my Wife seldom gets excited about new designs or styles.
So why couldn't we as Knifemakers start to Target Market to the Ladies for Custom Blades???

Tell me if this sounds appealing or not
High chromium count Stainless Likely 440C
Mirror polished with Bolsters
Either pink G10 outlined in Swavorski Crystals or maybe completely blinged out an covered in Crystals
Possibly MOP scales with an Accent Ruby on ea side
OAL not more than 6-7 inches
 
Being the husband to a wife who doesn't care for jewelry, I think you're idea is pretty appalling. :D

But I'm also of the opinion that knives are tools first most. So maybe knives as jewelry may appeal to other people, Females included.


I know! Maybe if you included a fancy purse with the knife!
 
Yes, I think the market is under-served.
Personally I find pink and jewels gaudy and inappropriate in a knife. If I gave such a thing to my girl she'd cut me with it before throwing it away.
Rather than trying to put a fine knife in a party dress, I'd try to figure out what kind of knives women would want and for what purpose, if they knew they could have them. Solve her problem, is what I'm saying.

An interesting case in point - the aforementioned lady likes tools and appreciates knives. But damned if I can't get her to wear/carry a fixie, so I don't know what to do. It's not the colors - she likes the purpleheart on her utility (actually she packs that sometimes), and the curly maple on the little pokey 'fishing' knife, but she's not going to collect them just to have them. It may be that she generally needs a folder instead, which she WILL carry.

I know a couple women in NYC who are chefs. They want awesome knives and are just getting into their tools. The market is RIPE there for custom knives, and there are a couple makers. There's also a hugely spendy outlet. I'm trying to get them to browse online to broaden their options.

Question remains, what do they want?? I bet the female chefs want excellent, durable tools, elegant style and materials without being over-the-top, and they want their tools to FIT them, instead of having to contort to accommodate tools made for larger-on-average hands/reach/etc.

-Daizee
 
I know when it comes to tools my gf really appreciates things (like her drill) that are "her size" (i.e.: meant to fit in her hands, have explicit instructions, etc). I'd imagine marketing something "with women in mind" (after surveying women and identifying key features they're looking for) might get you a ways down the road. To that end, I think women might find "girly colors" rather offensive actually. They're looking for something that has "the way they use things" in mind and don't want to sold "girly things".
 
Nail file, cuticle tool, knitting and crochet needles, small scissors, small retractable utility knife, small pen knife, swizzle sticks, ice cracker, nut crackers, pizza cutter, kitchen cutlery...
 
In theory you're correct. But it would be necessary to create the need in women to want and buy an expensive custom knife.

When a woman thinks of a knife it is either as weapon (Bad! Ick! I'll kill myself!) or a tool (I suppose I'm supposed to COOK more for him now!?).

But when a man thinks of a knife it is either as a weapon (Cool! Now I can protect myself and my loved ones!) or a tool (Can't have too many tools! I can use it for all sorts of things!), or a fashion statement (When someone sees THIS bad boy hanging on my hip they'll know that I'm a real manly man!)

It would have to fit in the purse so six inches is probably too large, especially with a sheath.
Folders are too hard on the fingernails.
It has to do something that they can't do right now with a nail file and fingernail clippers.
It would help if they were endorsed and used by "glamorous" women and Redbook Magazine.

In general women don't understand why a guy would want to wear ANYTHING that's ten years old, such as a favorite shirt or coat. I doubt that they would pay a lot of money for something that would go out of style.

We need MARKET RESEARCH to find out why knives are a guy thing, or lacking that, all you married guys or guys with girl friends ask your better half what it would take for them to want and carry a knife.

- Paul Meske
 
I like the points Daizee raises, fit to her, but performance above all else.


For those swayed by colour, I have found that Purple sells it's an outright compulsion for some.
 
I don't think EDC/work knives will ever appeal to women... except for maybe women who use them occupationally just like men.

However, a lot of knife makers *do* tap into the female market through custom kitchen knives, which I think any women would love if she tried one. Just like with custom men's knives, however, sometimes you first have to convince them that they need it. But once they know they need it, they'll accept no substitutes ever again. :D
 
lonepine said:
In theory you're correct. But it would be necessary to create the need in women to want and buy an expensive custom knife.

When a woman thinks of a knife it is either as weapon (Bad! Ick! I'll kill myself!)
Click to expand...

*lol*
Interesting. Mine keeps hinting about boot knives. Maybe there's a market for a "stick it in the bastard's eye" knife.

Ma cousine carries a 4" Laguiole in her purse. Nice knife.

I think the idea of a custom nail file is awesome. In fact.... I'm gonna make one. Maybe even RIGHT NOW! Oh man, there are 4 other knives on my bench that need attention. Look what you've done...
 
Girlfriend prefers folders over all else and tends to want four main things, comfortable grip for smaller hands, easy deployment, stupidly sharp edges upon arrival and 'friendly' colors like red, orange, yellow, etc. She's not a big fan of anything particularly fancy except for damascus blades, which she's nuts for.
 
Funny this should come up. Ever since my friends and family found out that I was making knives, I get to hear "their" idea of what a perfect knife would be. The women all want bright colored handles, (ie: pink, bright green, purple, red, yellow, toxic green, or some weird combination of those) with smaller, sharper blades and handles contoured to fit their hands. Just because we "think" we know what women want, doesn't make it so!

Case in point. Early on I made a hunting knife with a Pear shaped handle (at least that's what I call 'em). I thought I made the handle too small after I finished it plus I was not happy about the Dymondwood scales that were on it. The blade looked funky to boot. I tossed it aside even though my Wife loved it. "What does she know about knives" I thought.

One day our friend who cleans our house saw it and asked if she could pick it up. She handled it and got pretty excited about the handle shape and the bright green section of the handle. "Man, this would make a great knife in the Kitchen" she said. I told her it was suppose to be a smaller hunting knife but it didn't turn out quite right. Nearly every week when she came over she handled that knife. (I finally sharpened it and gave it to her for Christmas, immediately p*%$*g off my Wife because she wanted it!...ooops)

Then I let my neighbors try it along with my Aunts. Nearly everyone liked how the handle felt and that bright green section of Dymondwood. Some asked if I could make it with different colored handles but none asked if I could make the handle larger or smaller.

The best thing a maker could do if they wanted to target women would be to get a lot of women's feedback on what they really want. Of course, we all know what women say they want and what they really want are two different things!!! ;) I'd get at least 20 women to show you want they want in a knife. Let them handle a few of your smaller profiled knives and then work off of their suggestions. You may have to have a few models (knife models, not female models) to offer.

But beware, if you take custom orders, expect a dozen or more change orders before you get that knife completed! :black_eyed: :rolleyes:
 
I think men go astray when we believe we know what women want. Even after observing them (and their purchasing habits) for decades, we don't really understand WHY they want the things they want.

That's pretty fundamental if you want to open up the market.

For example, my wife reads a LOT of fashion magazines... but she usually wears sweats, hoodies and jeans. She can tell you what every designer is coming out with, what colors are "hot" this year, and how much things cost. Does all that knowledge influence her? I don't know. It does seem to give her a desire to buy purses in the new hot colors.

One thing marketeers talk about is demand generation. As noted previously, women SEEM to look at tools differently than we do. I'd say in part that's because there has been little effort at generating demand for knives among women. I mean, what are they supposed to do with a knife? How will it improve their lives? Remember, they generally don't have pants pockets to put a knife in, nor the sort of belt you could put a sheath on. Sure, they have purses... already full to the brim with more stuff than they can manage. So exactly what is it that will compel them to add one more thing to that bag of useful stuff?

Gotta give them a reason to carry one before you worry about how to attract them to your specific knife.
 
maybe we should ask mel gibson? From the movie what women want? this is the question that we men will never answer.
 
Good post, Greg...
I have been with my wife for 21yrs. In that time I have bought her at least a dozen knives and made her two. She keeps them in a rubbermaid bin up in the closet for "when she needs them". This Christmas, I bought her a Wenger "Clipper" in translucent watermellon pink for her purse. I know she carries a nail clipper, cuticle scissors, a file, and tweezers in a small kit. My thoughts were that this would "lighten her load". It is sitting on a shelf in the closet right now. Turns out, the b!+@# don't like knives:grumpy:.... and it only took me two decades to figure that out.:p:thumbup:

Women: You can't live with'em.... yup, that's it.
 
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I have an idea...

Pictures of knives we've made or otherwise seen that women we know have indeed liked or are at least known to use regularly.

Here or a fresh thread?

-Daizee
 
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