Maybe I should have added - we already have both the brand and the generic domain names and this is an industry with many well-established brands already competing.
if we focus on building the brand; the question that I then have is what is the best use to make of the generic domain when link-building?
The reality is on a real google search today for 'kitchen knives', kitchenknives.com is the #1 result, and it's the same for many other products where the generic term for SEO ranks higher than brand names. Surely this is because of the anchor text/ domain name match rather than because 'kitchenknives.com' is such an amazing brand?