ESEE Customer Market Research

44 year old white male, married, 3 kids, Christian, Conservative, love the outdoors, BBA Finance Degree

I buy ESEE knives because the knives are a great product at a great value backed by an incredible warranty and a great company. The knives are practical and applicable for their use.

and . . . the knives are just cool
 
OK, I'll play. I'm a 40 year old marketing professor, originally from Virginia and currently living in Utah. I've always had an appreciation for outdoor recreation since I was a child and have recently gotten extremely interested in survival preparedness and bushcrafting over the past few years. As a result, I look for knives that are tough, dependable, economical and useable and two knife brands fit these criteria best, ESEE and Becker.
 
I'm a 27 year old husband, and father of one (soon to be 2), I work for a well known financial institution, and feel that Capitalism is the way to go, and the Constitution is my bible ! I love being out in the woods, and fly fishing in nw Montana, and central Idaho,and backpacking through out the northwest . I have been an ESEE fan since I have started Blade Forums, and love there no gimics designs, and great product.
 
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We seem to be getting a fairly decent picture of ESEE customers, male, politically right leaning, mid 20's to late 50's, outdoorsmen for the most part, the warranty is a recuring theme, service and customer involvement appear to be major factors in the decision to purchase. As they say in marketing perception IS reality, and ESEE is perceived as being tough as they come. I would guess they also represent some sort of sense of adventure, self-sufficiency, and masculinity to some extent.

That's my cheap analysis, probably worth very little. I would say there should be more specific questions, or at least a set of them.

AGE/GENDER
NUMBER OWNED
HOW LONG YOU'VE BEEN A CUSTOMER
REASON FOR BUYING
WHERE/WHEN DID YOU LEARN OF ESEE
POLITICAL LEANING
RELIGIOUS LEANING
OCCUPATION
INTERESTS
INTENDED PURPOSE FOR OWNING THESE KNIVES
% OF DISPOSIBLE INCOME SPENT ON KNIVES
and other information you deem pertinent
 
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well im a 23 year old white guy. i live in pennylvania. i'm not a serious outdoor buff, but i like quality tools that i can depend on when i need them. i enjoy and respect esse for a number of reasons.
first--the amazing warranty. i don't abuse knives but it's nice knowing if i do manage to break one i'll be taken care of.

second--they seem to be a bunch of cool down to earth people from what i read on the forums.

third--they don't mind giving you free things from time to time. now i'm not saying it's all about the free item. but to me it says "hey we're not all about the money." and it shows they value their customers.

forth--i dig their survival school.
 
FunkMasterFlex said:
We seem to be getting a fairly decent picture of ESEE customers, male, politically right leaning, mid 20's to late 50's, outdoorsmen for the most part, the warranty is a recuring theme, service and customer involvement appear to be major factors in the decision to purchase. As they say in marketing perception IS reality, and ESEE is perceived as being tough as they come. I would guess they also represent some sort of sense of adventure, self-sufficiency, and masculinity to some extent.

That's my cheap analysis, probably worth very little. I would say there should be more specific questions, or at least a set of them.

AGE/GENDER
NUMBER OWNED
REASON FOR BUYING
WHERE/WHEN DID YOU LEARN OF ESEE
POLITICAL LEANING
RELIGIOUS LEANING
OCCUPATION
INTERESTS
INTENDED PURPOSE FOR OWNING THESE KNIVES
% OF DISPOSIBLE INCOME SPENT ON KNIVES
and other information you deem pertinent
Click to expand...

It is important to understand that there are two distinct types of Market Research. The first is QUALITATIVE research, which is designed as open ended questions to better understand and track trends of customer groups. The second, which you have placed above, is QUANTITATIVE research, and this is your pure number crunching. 60% of customers make X per year. 75% male, 25% female. Avg age, etc etc etc.

They are equally important, and both are necessary to make informed marketing decisions. We dump small fortunes into both each year. It is also important to understand that customer values, insights, and trends evolve. It is important for companies to evolve with their customers.
 
FunkMasterFlex said:
We seem to be getting a fairly decent picture of ESEE customers, male, politically right leaning, mid 20's to late 50's, outdoorsmen for the most part, the warranty is a recuring theme, service and customer involvement appear to be major factors in the decision to purchase. As they say in marketing perception IS reality, and ESEE is perceived as being tough as they come. I would guess they also represent some sort of sense of adventure, self-sufficiency, and masculinity to some extent.

That's my cheap analysis, probably worth very little. I would say there should be more specific questions, or at least a set of them.

AGE/GENDER
NUMBER OWNED
REASON FOR BUYING
WHERE/WHEN DID YOU LEARN OF ESEE
POLITICAL LEANING
RELIGIOUS LEANING
OCCUPATION
INTERESTS
INTENDED PURPOSE FOR OWNING THESE KNIVES
% OF DISPOSIBLE INCOME SPENT ON KNIVES
and other information you deem pertinent
Click to expand...


33/M

1 Izula on the way

After reaserching, it appears that these knives are great. They are American made by Americans that stand behind thier product. They look like an extremely good product that will hold up to what I need them for.

I first heard about these knives on this forum.

Republican

Christian

U.S. Army

I spend all of my free time outdoors. I hunt, fish, and run a trap line. I like to go out for a few days at a time with minimal gear.

I want a knife that is going to stand up to what I need it to do. I want it to be able to do everything from cutting line to skinning an animal to keeping me alive at work.

I spend about 2% on knives.


mlrs
 
Single, 51, Army Infantry vet and I found ESEE on here... I'm always looking for quality and from my one day of possessing my ESEE-6 I found it... I like to look around, plan and then buy. If possible I'll buy American first but I'm not xenophobic about it... From my point of view everything about ESEE is based on functionality and when the rubber meets the road that is all that matters.
 
I'm a 27 year old white male.
Canadian
My marital status varies.
Non Religious
lifelong hiker and outdoorsman
The ESEE philosophy of standing behind their gear 100% is very inviting to me.I don't think I could trust my life to a piece of gear that the manufacture won't stand behind 100%.If they don't trust it why should I?
Also the way ESEE goes about things is something i really love.The owners of the company are here amongst us right now.Jeff and Mike both post here regularly give ideas and get input from us directly the end user.Would the CEO of FORD,GM,Toyota do that?They may but I doubt it.The new pack kits are a perfect example of this.
 
Kurtz265 said:
It is important to understand that there are two distinct types of Market Research. The first is QUALITATIVE research, which is designed as open ended questions to better understand and track trends of customer groups. The second, which you have placed above, is QUANTITATIVE research, and this is your pure number crunching. 60% of customers make X per year. 75% male, 25% female. Avg age, etc etc etc.

They are equally important, and both are necessary to make informed marketing decisions. We dump small fortunes into both each year. It is also important to understand that customer values, insights, and trends evolve. It is important for companies to evolve with their customers.
Click to expand...

I fully understand the difference between and need for quantitative and qualitative in different settings. I happen to enjoy the former much more, and felt that a few questions could be answered by having a guildline. Just my bias.

On that note I'd like to know how long people have been customers.

This has been a pretty interesting thread and I thank you for making it, it's been fun. :D
 
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I'm 20
Single
College Student
Train in several martial arts
Love the outdoors

I buy ESEE because they are tough, hold an edge well, look fantastic, have a great sheath system and I know the people behind the products are good honest individuals.

I think just knowing that the folks that make the blades are great people is a real motivating factor. I won't buy cold steel anymore unless its dirt cheap because I don't like lynn thompson. And as cool as some of the DPx gear looks you can be certain I will never touch any of it after the RYP fiasco.

I really only buy busse kin and ESEE for fixed blades- because they are the best of the best for performance, have a lifetime warranty which is HUGE and have awesome people making the blades.
 
32 year old white male, Single living with girlfriend and son.
Grew up in the outdoors, both woods and playing around on beaches and in lakes.
Hard working history on both sides of the family. My father's side worked in the steelmill, my mother's side ran an auto shop. All enjoyed time in the trees shooting things. Myself and my family were hardcore into scouting. We'd hike anywhere, tent camp in three foot of snow, and the like. Tools were gotten to get the job done. Not look pretty or be cool. I generally spent most of my time growing up with an SAK, and then a Buck 105. When I finally found a decent job a couple years ago, I decided I should look into finding the best knife I could. Price didn't matter to me, but it had to be justified by performance. I looked into, researched, bought several knives that just didnt do it for me, and started digging into more specialized, non mainstream markets.
I was digging around Ontario's RTAKII, and then found BF, and this sub. The attitude really clicked with me. The group really welcomed me, even beyond the first "hey you're new Hi! now we're gonna ignore you!" I see so many other places.

Then I ordered an RC6. It was all over from this point on.

And for as much as I love and embrace the no BS attitude... I'm a total and unrepentant gearqueer.

I also like the small size and flexibility of the company. For some reason, small US companies find themselves with cult followings. ESEE reminds me of Alien Bee's in that regard.
 
First off, I'm not an all ESEE person. I always try to get the right tool for a certain job and I own a bunch of outstanding knives from other makers, too.

The usefulness of ESEE's tools convinced me (I have an ESEE 4 and two Izulas). That and that their prices are not over the top considering their warranty. Yeah and I like the design, though most of my other knives are more traditional looking.

For the stats: I'm 33, male, married with children, German, and most of the time I have to be in front of my computers. I like being alone (son's not old enough yet) in the woods for recreation whenever I got the chance to flee from daily routine. Love the fresh air and the wonders of nature. Love to sit by a fire under the sky and work a piece of wood/watch my surroundings/play the guitar. Get away from the fast life and being myself for a while.
 
52 years old
Married
1 daughter
Jewish/Buddhist
Liberal leaning but pro gun, pro servicemen and their families
spent summers at a mountaineering camp in the Sierras as a teen ...

Got on a knife collecting kick, have a bunch of good knives that are too pretty to use. Knew of the HEST, and was intrigued by the Izula II so I bought them, i believe my next knife with be the ESEE-5 as ASEK kits were what I was researching.

Curious? Have any ESEE-5s been branded with the NASA logo? I was a civilian contractor at HQ Space Division in the 1980s and would love something like that as NASA and I share a birthday.
 
I am 28 years old, white, mail.
Single
Socially liberal (naive hippy)
I work full time
I love to hike, hunt, fish, mountain bike, travel, collect knives, collect music.

Above, someone mentioned that they liked how Jeff and Mike are here with us, the end users, talking to us to share ideas, stories and experiences. I don't know of many, if any, other knife makers that participate in that sort of communication.

I would love the means to buy knives from all sorts of knife makers and do my own testing but since I don't have that kind of time or money, I have learned to rely on the reputations that knife makers gain on the forums and amongst youtube reviewers who have gone out and used them. Although I have my own experience with their knives, I don't know of another knife manufacturer with a better overall reputation than ESEE. When I was looking around for good hiking/camping fixed blades, I kept hearing people compare stuff to RAT/ESEE knives and say how great they were. Once I held one and experienced the level of performance, durability and reliability that ESEE knives offer, I'm an ESEE fan FOR LIFE! I'll ask for my pack number some day.

All things considered, I think ESEE is the best knife maker out there and I look forward to seeing where they go in the future. I would love a "Caldwell" style stainless model, which I heard is in the works, for the wet conditions I find myself in here in the Pacific North West.
 
R.A.T. said:
I think one thing that attracts many people to ESEE is the fact we don't suffer fools or dishonest people well. If they're a dumbass, we tell them. If they get pissed off, we simply don't care. In fact, we encourage dumbasses and dishonest people to go elsewhere since we simply don't want them in our world. Otherwise, we bend over backwards to help anyone.

I think most other companies are afraid to be honest with their customers in the ways we are.
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This is my main reason for liking these knives. They are good products that have a great backing. I require my equipment to be the most reliable. I teach my children about getting value for money spent and ESEE makes that easy with knives.

I'm a married Christian WM 53 years old this year. Republican. Four children (3 boys 23,17,11; 1 girl20) plus an adopted daughter, 5 grandchildren and 1 on the way. My father is a retired meat cutter/butcher and I learned knives at an early age working with him in my grandparents store. I currently am a class A driver for an explosives company. I served six years in the US Army (taught Basic Training for the last two) my eldest son serves currently and is about to go back into the middle east. NRA Patron Lifemember. I don't spend as much time in the woods or the range as I used to, but I'm still out there when I have time.
 
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28 y/o Caucasian male from Canada.
Currently dating.
Bachelor in history and Poli. Sci.
Specialized security contractor and general contractor. (self employed)
Urbanite.

I've been fond of tacticool tools for as long as I can remember (knives, flashlights, firearms).
I own a CCTV and alarm company. I also perform residential renovations.
I've always liked the outdoors, I have never been camping though.
I like amassing outdoor survival tools, I hope sometime soon I can use them in at least a controlled environment.

I bought my first ESEE knife because of the overwhelming praise from members here. I bought the Izula with the firesteel.
I want to add the ESEE-5P to the collection.
I am very pro buy-local. (read North America and Europe) and against supporting Asian manufacturing (with the exception of Japan).
 
ESEE makes simple tools that perform well, I can thank them personally for breaking me of my thick blade addiction, I use my RC-3mil more than all other fixed blades due to it's performance.

I like the small American company structure, I have a renewed interest in seeking out and doing business with other companies that are seemingly similar to ESEE. Dirrect access to PEOPLE here in the US has become very important to me. I hate automated telephone systems, and large corporate environments where none are accountable for anything.

I hate advertising. I don't need to be told what to buy, or what is good for me. What was ever in an advertisement in any media, that I actually couldn't liive without, and had no idea until I saw the adevertisement?
 
A) At first, I was a bit surprised at how quickly you all gave away plenty of demographic information which might allow someone to gather quantitative data. This quickly gave insight into the type of people who frequent this forum, but not necessarily a complete picture of ESEE customers. Not saying the two aren't directly correlated (1:1), but at least it's interesting to see. I'm fairly certain the results of this thread are at least somewhat representative of the customer base.

But then, when I reconsidered...most folks on this forum have voyeuristic tendencies anyway, so that explained it. :D

B) The most glaringly obvious aspect of ESEE which most folks seem to be emphasizing is that they RESPECT a company willing to "go the extra mile" for their customers, due to liberality in giving away free stuff and in an excellent warranty policy. I daresay, most of the type of people who buy ESEE products are the same type of people who will "go the extra mile" for others, and who also like to feel appreciated by a company with which they do business. I suppose what I'm trying to say is that we're tired of the big box chain stores and lack of customer care.

C) I've never seen an owner of a company who wasted as much time on the internet as Jeff does. :p

But...Jeff ENGAGES his customers in a unique way...such a stark contrast to so many other companies. He makes us feel like he's one of us, because he IS one of us. He talks the talk and walks the walk. He's not just some mystic figurehead somewhere up in a glass tower who gives orders to his minions. He puts his money where his MOUTH is! And it shows. (EDIT: Sorry, Mike, this goes for you, too!)

All these things are old principles which business owners USED to follow, way back a long time ago, but which have been lost over the years due to corporate greed changing the face of business. It's difficult to put a face on a business today. Think of ANY mid-size to large company, or for that matter, think of just about any size company today, and you have no idea who the owner is, or what they consider important, or why they're even in business to begin with. Most of the time, it's a board of directors or some other cloud-like entity that runs "the company" (i.e. your "Fortune 50" companies).

It's refreshing to actually get to interact with a business owner. Folks are tired of being treated like they really don't matter. I think you'll see a lot more of these "old" business principles being adopted by companies. The folks at Apple and Volkswagen have been able to develop brand loyalty because they were able to put individual faces on their products. Customers saw themselves in the reflection of their computer screen or the paint job on the fender of the latest Jetta (and no, I'm not just talking about the shiny surfaces reflecting their images). We, as ESEE fans, perceive ourselves in the products Jeff and Mike offer because we're not afraid to USE these products. We know when someone's got our back and won't be left out in the cold. We won't be left hanging out to dry. HowEVER you want to say it, Jeff and Mike's philosophy in business is the same one they use in their personal lives..."we've got your back," and that's something totally foreign to most businesses today.


There's your QUALITATIVE research.
 
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