Imagine you´d be not really into Spyderco: Do they miss some marketing-opportunities with already existing models?!

[Wartstein]

- Do you think there are existing Spyderco models that could get marketed more broadly or differently to attract more or different customers out of the people who don´t know a lot about Spyderco?
Any examples?

Some of my humble considerations / thoughts:

I started this thread (viewtopic.php?t=88925) about the new ffg Salt 2, partly for voicing my opinion that this model could perhaps be more offensively marketed as not only a "Salt" / rustproof knife.

Now that I have a Salt 2 ffg myself I believe even more, that I probably would have overlooked this model if I weren´t too much into Spyderco, but "just" more generally into folders - despite the Salt 2 ffg fills a niche in my use more perfectly than any other folder I know of could.
Reason for that would have been (if I would not know a lot about Spyderco):
The marketing of the "Salt" knives in general.

- For one it is great and sure attracts a lot of customers, that Spyderco does have a dedicated Salt line, and offensively markets it as just that. So all the folks who need or want totally rustproof folders will almost inevitably come across the "Salts".
- BUT: The "lightweight", hiking, ultralight backpacking, mountaineering crowd might overlook the great options the Salt 2 (and Pac Salt...) offer also for THAT arena, just because the focus is put so heavily on the "maritime" properties... I certainly WOULD have overlooked it some years ago.

Long story short:
I believe even more now that a version of the Salt 2 ffg, marketed explicitly as an ultralight BM Bugout alternative (and for me a much better option) would be a success. Perhaps just give it a different color and call it "Spyderco ultralight" "Ultrahiker" or whatever

/ Then there is the Chaparral FRN

- Marketed mainly as a "gents knife" - a role it certainly CAN fill too, but if I would not have tried this model myself, I would have never known that it actually is just a strong, sturdy knife and superior over most other Spydies performerancewise, when it comes to slicing.
I would have assumed that this is a nice option for rare suit-and-tie scenarios and the one occasional cut, but a bit flimsy and not good for general EDC.

Now if the Chap would be marketed as "Spyderco Superslicer" (not with that exact name of course), this would emphasize its REAL strong point: Just a great performer for almost any knife task, superior over almost any other Spyderco when it comes to great performing, thin enough blade stock (one of the most important foundations for a great slicer, since the WHOLE blade thickness is hard to modify by customers, while changing grind angle, thickness behind the edge... can be done at home quite easily)

[Naperville]

I don't get any magazines other than Blade, so it would be presumptuous of me to think they do not market/advertise their knives.

I love Spyderco knives. I hope that they advertise their "water" knives (LC200N and H1) in aquatic, scuba and boating magazines.

I hope that they advertise their bowies in hunting and outdoors-man magazines too.

[Wartstein]

I don't get any magazines other than Blade, so it would be presumptuous of me to think they do not market/advertise their knives.

I love Spyderco knives. I hope that they advertise their "water" knives (LC200N and H1) in aquatic, scuba and boating magazines.

I hope that they advertise their bowies in hunting and outdoors-man magazines too.

Thanks for your reply!

What I thought of is not mainly advertizing in magazines and the like - but for example how Spyderco describes certain models on their own site:
Take the Salt 2: They emphasize the corrosion-resistant aspects (which is good of course!), but one can hardly realize by just quickly browsing the text that this is actually a amazing ultralightweight option and perfect alternative to the Bugout, wher people always rave about the light weight.

[standy99]

Most fishing tackle stores carry Spyderco’s Salt knives online and Marine industry suppliers catalogs always have Spyderco Salt knives.

So I would say Salt series is well known in Yachting, boating and the Marine/gas and oil rig industry.

This is all without any Spyderco marketing just the product always there and known about.

[VooDooChild]

I think spydercos get dismissed based on their looks and thats it.

[Jared]

I do think you’re dead on about the Salt 2 FFG. Your other post about it caused me to look a lot closer at that model. I don’t normally pay a whole lot of attention to weight specs on knives unless it gets emphasized as a super light option and then I’ll see how light it really is.

I just wish I’d have read that post about one week sooner, but that’s life.

[Eliteone2383]

I think spydercos get dismissed based on their looks and thats it.

I dismissed them my whole 38 years on this earth until recently. My reasoning was they look and feel cheap in the g10 models. I did not know they offered titanium and carbon fiber scales until recently. Also because they look cheap I assumed their heat treating was sub par in order to cut even more corners. I was wrong in my assumptions but many others have those same assumptions.

[Wartstein]

Most fishing tackle stores carry Spyderco’s Salt knives online and Marine industry suppliers catalogs always have Spyderco Salt knives.

So I would say Salt series is well known in Yachting, boating and the Marine/gas and oil rig industry.

This is all without any Spyderco marketing just the product always there and known about.

Yes, but this actually proves my point a bit:

The "Salt series is well known in Yachting, boating and the Marine/gas and oil rig industry", as you say.

But NOT so much in the mountaineering / ultralight (hiking) scene and so on, despite for example Salt 2 and Pac Salt 2 could be perfect for that applications. Just because the ultraligt crowd probably often times overlook this knives, since they assume: "Only for marine environments..."

[Evil D]

I didn't know Spyderco even existed before coming across the Walmart Native. If you don't subscribe to magazines or pursue knife brands somehow or find them in a sporting goods store how would you ever find the brand?

On the other hand what marketing would they do? Billboards? TV commercials?

[Wartstein]

I didn't know Spyderco even existed before coming across the Walmart Native. If you don't subscribe to magazines or pursue knife brands somehow or find them in a sporting goods store how would you ever find the brand?

On the other hand what marketing would they do? Billboards? TV commercials?

I am afraid "marketing" actually does not mean in English what I thought it would... :o

WHAT I actually meant: In their own description (website, catalogue, byte...) Spyderco positions and describes for example the Salt 2 almost exclusively as a knife for "salty" environments or folks who need/want that total, rustproofness.
No real easy-to-see hint that this knife ALSO is a great ultralight / hiking option, so people who are not really into Spyderco and just quickly browse their site, might miss this aspect, despite there certainly is a market for it.

[Evil D]

I didn't know Spyderco even existed before coming across the Walmart Native. If you don't subscribe to magazines or pursue knife brands somehow or find them in a sporting goods store how would you ever find the brand?

On the other hand what marketing would they do? Billboards? TV commercials?

I am afraid "marketing" actually does not mean in English what I thought it would... :o

WHAT I actually meant: In their own description (website, catalogue, byte...) Spyderco positions and describes for example the Salt 2 almost exclusively as a knife for "salty" environments or folks who need/want that total, rustproofness.
No real easy-to-see hint that this knife ALSO is a great ultralight / hiking option, so people who are not really into Spyderco and just quickly browse their site, might miss this aspect, despite there certainly is a market for it.

I don't think you're far off. Marketing being how they describe the knife and what customers they seem to be pushing the knife towards. I agree especially with Salts, they're so much more than just an ocean/fishing oriented knife and that's why I wish they'd offer all of them in basic black colors too.

[aicolainen]

It probably wouldn't hurt sales to mention it in the product description, but...

Most people that buy knives doesn't even know about Spyderco and would never think to look there.
It might however serve to "educate" some sales personnel that aren't really into knives, and base their recommendations on what they read in the product description.

The people I know, that are into knives, would mostly choose the Bugout anyways, because they don't like the look of Spyderco's and have not experienced that it is a function of the great ergonomics and handling.
They similarly shy away from the backlock, because it appears boring and non-fidgety until you get to know it.

If I can judge others by how I shop for knives, marketing wouldn't matter much. I usually know what I'm looking for, or get ideas based on previous experience and read spec's, comparisons and reviews until I'm able to make a choice.
I have more Spyderco's than any other brand and Salts make up an overwhelming amount among those, even though a very, very limited amount of my outdoor adventures happens on, under or around salt water. I've just found them to be great for what I need. Lightweight and low maintenance, primarily.
Same with the Chaparral LW, it was one of my early Spyderco's, and I'm certainly not in the market for a gentlemen's knife. That's not a valid area of use for me. It was purely based on my experience with the Dragonfly, and the realization that a choil makes a whole lot of sense in smaller knives. My research indicated that the chap would provide the best mix of grip area and cutting edge in a really pocket friendly package that still provided a slicy thin blade stock similar to the DF2.

I'm not sure how to market this to people that don't have enough experience to really know what their looking for.

[Doc Dan]

I just never see Spyderco marketed as hunting knives. The hunting industry is huge in America and many other nations. Benchmade, for example, and Buck as another one, can be found in all of the hunting magazines and sponsoring the hunting shows. I have said it before, but I think Spyderco is missing a huge market, there. The Stretch is a hunting knife and so are the Moran models, the Delica, Junction, and others. I think Spyderco should sponsor some of the shows on TV and on the internet, plus run ads in the appropriate magazines like American Hunter, Shotgunner, Bowhunter, Gun Dog, Outdoor Life, Field and Stream, and others. Spyderco has better products than many others that do sponsor and advertise heavily.

[z1r]

I didn't know Spyderco even existed before coming across the Walmart Native. If you don't subscribe to magazines or pursue knife brands somehow or find them in a sporting goods store how would you ever find the brand?

On the other hand what marketing would they do? Billboards? TV commercials?

I am afraid "marketing" actually does not mean in English what I thought it would... :o

WHAT I actually meant: In their own description (website, catalogue, byte...) Spyderco positions and describes for example the Salt 2 almost exclusively as a knife for "salty" environments or folks who need/want that total, rustproofness.
No real easy-to-see hint that this knife ALSO is a great ultralight / hiking option, so people who are not really into Spyderco and just quickly browse their site, might miss this aspect, despite there certainly is a market for it.

I don't think you're far off. Marketing being how they describe the knife and what customers they seem to be pushing the knife towards. I agree especially with Salts, they're so much more than just an ocean/fishing oriented knife and that's why I wish they'd offer all of them in basic black colors too.

I imagine that since the Salt series was presumably designed for use in marine environments it makes sense that marketing would be concentrated in that target market. But, as with most products that prove to be very useful, news of the products' performance spreads to other markets where the product's attributes find favor with users. However, since the primary market is with those who would use the markets where corrosion resistance is important, it makes sense to concentrate marketing dollars in those markets. Pumping advertising dollars into ancillary markets may not necessarily result in increased sales in those markets. Sometimes word of mouth is as good as it gets.

[kobold]

I see a Chaparral as an Opinel done right. :spyder:
Since I have Chaps I only carry Opinels when I anticipate losing them.

I am not into marketing, so I might be completely wrong, but I don't see a lot of it going into Byrds?
They are competing against the Chinese brands like Ruike and Civivi, so it is kinda like fighting fire with fire.

[Wartstein]

I see a Chaparral as an Opinel done right. :spyder:
Since I have Chaps I only carry Opinels when I anticipate losing them.

.....

This... kind of!

The Chap for me certainly and 100% is an "Opinel done right" when it comes to general EDC, since I would not hesitate to use the Chap for practically any task - its blade is just stronger, cause still noticeable thicker than an Opinel blade and also taller.

But when it comes to more "only light to medium cutting" the Opinels still have their place.

Though you are right: Only time I´d ever take an Opinel over a Chap is when I need a longer blade (Chap XL, where are you... :rolleyes: )

[z1r]

Having owned a Chap for just under 24 hrs now, I find I am more and more impressed with it. Not much bugger than a Dragonfly yet the blade is almost as big as the Native 5. I also like that the clip allows for a deeper carry than the Native does. Still love my Native, especially when I anticipate needing something just a bit heftier than the Chap.

[kobold]

I think the Chaps and the Opis are the same thickness at 2 mm.
edit: also, lets not forget, that the spydiehole weakens the blade. I didn't mean that the Chap is a more resilient beater than the Opinel, I was more about the design, aesthetics, materials and fit and finish.

[Wartstein]

I think the Chaps and the Opis are the same thickness at 2 mm.

Opinels have different blade thicknesses related to the overall size.
People on bladeforum have measured, here some data (from THIS site: https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/opi ... l.1279203/)
So up to Nr 9 Opinel blades are thinner than the Chap blade...(Fr 5 and 6 are missing in the table, Nr 6 seems to have a thickness of 1.33 mm)

[Wartstein]

I think the Chaps and the Opis are the same thickness at 2 mm.
edit: also, lets not forget, that the spydiehole weakens the blade. I didn't mean that the Chap is a more resilient beater than the Opinel, I was more about the design, aesthetics, materials and fit and finish.

I think the tallness of the Chap blade makes it more rigid / less flexy than an Opinel blade (and I personally don´t think that the hole weakens it by a lot, but I am no expert, just guessing!)

Anyway: I did really hard tasks with my Chap, including twisting the blade in harder materials: No problems. I think (but did not test) one of the smaller Opinel blades would have given in... (but are in return perhaps even better slicers than the Chap, depending on thickness behind the edge, grind angle and so on)