For a brand that started out making air coolers, Summercool’s growth story is increasingly about what happens beyond the cooler. As Indian consumers become more particular about performance, convenience, energy use and durability, the company is broadening its play across the home appliances market.
That shift also changes the questions a consumer durable brand has to answer. It is no longer enough to offer an affordable product; brands have to understand what people actually want, build products around those needs and give consumers a reason to choose them over increasingly competitive alternatives.
Sanjeev Kumar Gupta, Chief Managing Director (CMD) at Summercool Home Appliances, discusses how the company is navigating this shift, from product innovation and consumer feedback to manufacturing investments, brand building and its ambition to move beyond its traditional air cooler stronghold.
Summercool’s Consumer Has Moved Beyond Affordability
Summercool began with a straightforward proposition: affordable and reliable air coolers. As the business expanded, however, Gupta says its understanding of the consumer became more nuanced.
“When we started, our focus was quite simple that we wanted to make air coolers that were affordable and reliable. But as we grew, we started understanding that Indian consumers were looking for much more. They wanted better performance, convenience, modern features, and, importantly, value over the life of the product. We also realised that these needs differ across markets and households.”
That learning pushed Summercool to look beyond air coolers and explore other home appliance categories, while also building the manufacturing capabilities needed to support that expansion.
Gupta explained, “An expansion into the refrigerator industry is one such illustration, which focuses on products that provide value for money, energy savings, and durability. At the same time, the creation of new manufacturing facilities is helping us develop this ability on a larger scale.”
“For us, innovation is not about adding a new feature simply because it is available in the market. Performance, energy efficiency, ease of use, durability, and affordability all play their roles.”
The company’s investment of more than Rs 350 crore in new manufacturing facilities is intended to give it greater control over product quality, design and production process. Gupta believes that increased in-house manufacturing will allow Summercool to develop products around specific consumer needs rather than simply responding to market trends.
Why A Marketing Investment Must Build Recall, Not Just Visibility
For a consumer durable brand competing against companies with longer-established national identities, Gupta says a marketing investment has to do more than generate temporary exposure.
“For us, a marketing investment is worthwhile when it creates a connection with the consumer that goes beyond a single campaign. Before investing in any platform or event, we look at whether it reaches the right audience, fits the brand, and gives us an opportunity to create a lasting association.”
This thinking has informed Summercool’s spending across television, outdoor advertising and large cultural platforms such as the Maha Kumbh and Navratri.
“Secondly, I am a firm believer that whenever you do anything with intention, it definitely leaves an impact. The same principle has been followed by us in our marketing strategies,” Gupta said.
For Gupta, that impact goes beyond reach and engagement. “While we measure the reach and engagement through such marketing campaigns, more important for us is to evaluate how far such marketing efforts have made people remember Summercool, understand our principles, and think about us when they are buying,” he explained.
One Brand Story, Different Product Reasons To Buy
As Summercool moves into refrigerators and other home appliance categories, another challenge is emerging: how should the brand communicate across a portfolio without making every product sound the same?
Gupta says the company is drawing a line between the larger brand proposition and category-specific communication.
“At the brand level, we want to communicate reliability, value, innovation, and our understanding of Indian consumers. These are qualities that should remain consistent across categories.” He further explained, “At the product level, the communication becomes more specific, focusing on features, performance, technology, energy efficiency, or convenience depending on the appliance.”
“We believe advertising should create the reason to consider Summercool, while product communication should provide the information needed to make a purchase decision,” he further stated.
From Word Of Mouth To Ajay Devgn: Building A Bigger Brand
Product performance remains central to Summercool’s trust proposition, but Gupta says advertising alone cannot create credibility in consumer durables.
“Trust cannot be built through advertising alone. We have always believed that what we promise in our communication has to be backed by the product, its performance, and the experience we provide after the sale.”
In the company’s early years, word of mouth played a major role in building its customer base. As Summercool began targeting a larger and more varied consumer base, the company looked for a stronger way to increase visibility and reinforce its identity.
That led to the appointment of Ajay Devgn as brand ambassador.
“The appointment of Ajay Devgn as our brand ambassador, along with the launch of many TVCs, has helped us enhance our brand presence, especially in case of market entry and product launches,” Gupta said.
But the association is tied to a broader ambition than awareness alone. Summercool wants consumers to move from seeing it primarily as an air cooler company to recognising it as a dependable home appliances brand across categories.
“Ajay Devgn’s brand association with Summercool is an important step in taking the brand to the next level. We have built a strong presence in the air-cooler category, but today our target is much broader.”
He further added, “We believe having a strong brand face has become an important part of building a national brand today, and it is an area where companies need to invest.”
Gupta added that Summercool is focusing across Tier 1, Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets and different income groups, with products designed around varying regional and household needs.
What Consumer Feedback Is Telling Summercool About Demand
For Summercool, understanding consumers does not happen only through formal research. Gupta says the company’s offline distribution network remains a major source of market intelligence, with around 90% of business coming through that channel.
“Our distributors are a very important source of market feedback for us. We regularly interact with them, understand customer responses, and also connect directly with consumers sometimes to know their experiences and expectations.” he said.
Gupta added, “Feedback around cooling performance, ease of use, maintenance, reliability, and after-sales service helps our teams understand where we can improve.”
That consumer feedback is also shaping how Gupta sees the next replacement cycle. Gupta expects the next replacement cycle to be influenced not only by an appliance reaching the end of its life, but by consumers seeing a clear benefit in upgrading.
“As people learn more about the concepts of energy consumption and running costs and new technologies, they are likely to start asking themselves whether an old appliance really suits their needs anymore,” Gupta said.
He noted that this could reshape replacement decisions. “Ultimately, consumers will replace an appliance when the newer product offers a meaningful improvement in everyday use and delivers value to justify the upgrade.”
From Regional Strength To A Pan-India Consumer Brand
Summercool’s next phase is also about changing the scale of the business. Gupta points to a shift from dealer-led growth towards stronger branding, greater R&D investment and more control over manufacturing.
“If we look back five years, our focus was largely on markets such as Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and others. We had a strong dealer network in these markets, but brand recall was still limited.”
Over the last few years, Gupta said Summercool has increased investment in marketing and R&D, expanded its market presence and achieved around 15–20% year-on-year growth in recent years.
He believes the bigger strategic shift is now about building the next phase of the company around the consumer. “I believe the single most important thing we are doing today is building the next phase of Summercool around the consumer, from understanding what they need to strengthening our manufacturing and R&D capabilities to developing products accordingly.”
That ambition also shapes what Summercool wants advertising to achieve. In a market where consumers may compare several similar appliances online, the company wants its brand to be associated with a clear set of attributes.
“In the case of Summercool, it should come across the minds of consumers when they think about the durability and affordability of home appliances.”
Gupta said the ultimate goal is “When a consumer is comparing multiple appliances, we don’t want Summercool to be just another option on the list. We want consumers to actively consider the brand because they associate it with durable products, value for money, and reliability.”
