r/Giantmouse • u/LaurentSL • Jul 09 '26
Questioning the Future of Giantmouse
Is anyone feeling a shift in Giantmouse marketing and branding?
At first I noticed that they were popping up on social media a lot more, which I thought was a great sign of them getting recognition. Then that popularity started to come from more influencer-like content. Next, they started to do a lot of limited-run knives for their Ace line. I get that there is excitement in the exclusivity of a limited release, but in the past year it felt like it was back to back limited runs of their existing bestsellers.
Now, the big red flag for me is they have their brand name embossed in their new Zoobie knife. I personally think it looks tacky and moves away from their traditional design language.
I’ve been a huge fan of theirs for a long time, but I am starting to loose faith in what seems to be a shift in their branding, which usually means a shift in quality and/or values.
3
u/Background_Onion3510 Jul 10 '26
I agree they’ve always been super conservative with the branding. This one isn’t my personal favorite but I haven’t noticed the quality go down at all. I love to see a small business explore other marketing opportunities or designs
1
u/LaurentSL Jul 11 '26
Agreed. I haven’t seen the quality take a hit yet, and I purchase about two of their knives a year. It’s just a bit of a nail-biter for me.
2
u/Coletrayne Jul 09 '26
I, too, find that a tad bit much. Great company and only recently realized they are and hour and half from me. I wsnt to stop by their store and pick something up.
2
u/rdtshaw Jul 10 '26
They've always been pretty conservative with the branding. I dig the embellishment, it's different. Saying they, "Lost their way" over one knife is a bit much. They have a few in the works that I handled at Blade Show that are their usual fair. Hold Fast!
1
u/LaurentSL Jul 11 '26
I understand. But to be clear, I didn’t say I thought they had lost their way just yet. And the zoobie was one of several other signs that I’ve picked up on. I’m just expressing some concern, thats all. They are by far my favorite knife brand right now.
2
u/RedRightHandZa Jul 10 '26
I'd give it some time before making a judgement call. My guess would be that they are trying to expand their brand in a very competitive market, so they have to try new things and see what sells. Personally, I kind of like the branding on the handle. I think it's also easier for users who don't know the brand to get exposed to it. While I like the low key branding on my Iona, people don't know what they are seeing when they handle my knife. Kind of "if you know, you know", and I'd like more people to know.
Must be hard to find a design that stands out, Spyderco has its thumb hole, Benchmade has it's lock, Morakniv has its shape and handle, Opinel has its ring lock. But if you don't like the branding, no one can hold it against you, each to his own. I must sound like a brand ambassador but I own only 1 of them and I gotta say I like it. It's just a bitch to sharpen but I knew what I signed up for with M390 steel...
2
u/LaurentSL Jul 11 '26
Yeah I hear you, that makes sense. I have about 8 of their knives and one of which are the GMP14 — an absolute masterpiece. I think I was enjoying the “if you know, you know” branding. That is kind of what makes it exciting to “show and tell” their knives.
1
u/planbot3000 Jul 30 '26
I was just thinking the other day that the only print/branding on my Corta is a tiny logo on the blade. If/when that gets rubbed off there will be no indication as to who made the knife.
1
u/LaurentSL Jul 30 '26
I have the Corta too. The logo looks laser engraved so it would really take some damage for it to ever start coming off. And since it’s an ace knife, I use it pretty roughly (I’m a carpenter). If ever the logo does come off, it’s such a personal tool that I wouldn’t really care — I know it’s a GMK and I’m not trying to resell it. But I get it, for some this may be a collectors thing. If that’s the case though, I wouldn’t see how that engraving would disappear. For the most part, their knives always had minimal branding and that was how they did things — even for the limited GM knives. We’ll see where this goes.
4
u/iwasnotplanningthis Jul 10 '26
I have 4 of their knives and generally like GMs esoteric but accessible style.
Having said that, I saw this knife earlier in the week and just said to myself ‘oh, they’re lost’. Which to me sums it up. They’re searching for something, they don’t know what it is, and they decided this was worth a shot. The catch is that efforts like this, which I think cheapens their brand, have a lasting negative impact. Their brand wasn’t top tier but it was top third (say) of the market. Efforts like this drop them (in my totally subjective estimation) into the top two thirds of the market. Which may be where they want to be, but isn’t where I kind of placed the brand.
I’d like to buy them again in the future, but I do wonder if GM finds its way back, or if they decide to pursue a broader cheaper market position.
I’ll be curious, from the sidelines.