Airconditioning and commercial refrigeration major, Blue Star, has announced its foray into the residential segment from the forthcoming summer season with a wide range of aesthetically appealing and modern room airconditioners which will be available in a large number of retail channels across the country.

Blue Star is India’s largest central airconditioning company with an experience of over six decades in providing expert cooling solutions. Blue Star has been selling room airconditioners vide its 700-odd sales and service dealers mainly catering to the corporate and commercial segment such as offices, restaurants, showrooms, boutiques and ATMs.

Over the last couple of years, the Company has witnessed a significant demand from the residential segment given the higher disposable income and the growing middle class who are upwardly mobile and seek comfort. Despite the fact that Blue Star room airconditioners were not available in retail channels, a significant amount of Blue Star’s sales came from the residential segment, mainly from consumers who believe that a specialist is better than a generalist and a conviction that if Blue Star is a leader in cooling large spaces, its room airconditioners must be good.

Considering the above, the Company thought it prudent to aggressively target the residential segment and leverage on the expertise in cooling that Blue Star has built over the years. The Company has significantly altered its marketing mix to focus on the residential segment.

On the product front, it has launched a new contemporary and stylish range of split airconditioners to appeal to home consumers. These airconditioners will be available in a wide range of 2, 3 and 5-star ratings as per the energy labeling programme of the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE). Apart from being energy efficient, these airconditioners boast of several features including i-feel for comfort where one sits, six filters for ultra-pure air, turbo operation, auto mode, dry mode, sleep mode, elegant remote control, rust-resistant construction, self diagnosis, amongst others. In addition, it has also launched a futuristic range of smart split airconditioners with inverter technology which are highly intelligent and can save on power dramatically.

As regards to the distribution, the Company is planning to offer these products through some reputed retail channels in select cities in addition to the current 700 sales-and-service dealers. It is also building up a strong installation and service franchise network to support the retailers.

In terms of advertising and brand communication, the Company has plans to double its advertising spends to about Rs 100 million in the forthcoming summer season with a new set of TV commercials supported by print ads, mainline dailies, hoardings and internet. The differentiated value proposition to the residential audience has been identified as ‘Get office-like cooling at home’ which leverages Blue Star’s expertise in cooling offices and communicates that one can get the very same expertise at home. The Company has identified this value proposition based on extensive research and an insight that most consumers believe that office cooling is superior to home.

Speaking to the Press at a conference held in Chennai, B Thiagarajan, President, Airconditioning & Refrigeration Products Group, Blue Star Limited said “The residential airconditioning market has been on a fast growth path. The penetration of airconditioners in India is set to double over the next 3 years mainly driven by the residential segment. We are confident that given our credentials and expertise in cooling coupled with the fact that our new range will appeal to the residential segment and also will be easily accessible through an extended channel, we will be in a position to significantly enhance our market share in the room airconditioners business.”

For additional information, please contact: B Thiagarajan, President, Airconditioning & Refrigeration Products Group, Blue Star Limited, Bandbox House, 254D, Dr Annie Besant Road, Worli, Mumbai - 400 030 email: btn@bluestarindia.com Telephone: 66544000.