Case Study: Knife Aid

Leveraging powerful content-driven PR and social tactics to capture investor attention

Company: KnifeAid

Location: Malibu, California

Industry: B2C Culinary Services

Background: Knife Aid’s Journey into the $700 Billion Culinary Market

Knife Aid was started by two Swedish brothers who had found moderate success offering their knife-sharpening services to customers in their hometown. Once they moved to the United States, they set their sights on capturing a bit of market share within the $700 billion culinary services industry.

Challenge: Overcoming Cultural and Market Barriers in Knife Aid's U.S. Expansion

The KnifeAid team were amateur chefs - not marketers. While they had been fairly successful in generating business through word-of-mouth strategies in Stockholm, attempting to penetrate the American market in the same way garnered minimal results. They enlisted the help of Ike to:

  • Develop a unique brand voice and tone to attract US consumers and adapt to cultural nuances

  • Improve organic website traffic to make KnifeAid discoverable on Google and similar search engines

  • Build a community of amateur chefs, similar to what they’ve achieved in Sweden

  • Establish a public profile to improve brand visibility and attract interest from potential customers and investors

Solution: A Comprehensive Growth Strategy for a Burgeoning Brand

Given its infancy in the US market and desire for rapid growth, Knife Aid required a solution that crossed borders and created an immediate impact throughout the funnel.

  • Localize Content: Adapt existing website copy from Swedish to English while properly capturing cultural nuances and speaking directly to Knife Aid’s target consumer base.

  • Establish Onsite Blog: Develop a strategy focused on conquering high-volume keywords and long-tail search queries relevant to the brand.

  • Reignite Social Channels: Leverage social channels to build a following by creating engaging written and visual content designed to drive virality and encourage conversation.

  • Nurture Captured Leads: Utilize email marketing strategies to promote service discounts and deliver ongoing value to readers via biweekly newsletters.

  • Craft PR Story: Develop and distribute press releases designed to build brand awareness and attract investors

Ike partnered with Knife Aid to localize content, implement targeted SEO strategies, and build a vibrant social community—achieving increased visibility, organic growth, and secure seed capital from investors on NBC’s hit-series Shark Tank.

+300%

Increase in Revenue

+$2.5M

Increased Company Valuation

+4,588%

Increase in Organic Keywords Sitewide

Mikael Söderlindh, CEO, KnifeAid

"Working with Ike transformed our approach to growth. His content, SEO, and community-building strategies gave us the visibility we needed to expand our business and opened doors we hadn’t imagined.”

Watch Mikael and Marc on Shark Tank