Symphony Sumo
A Reflective Design Revamp for Product Revival
The Focus
Revamping the design for a product that was losing market share due to consumer perceptions
Reviving the DNA of an older prototype in today’s contemporary market
Designing the cooler for use in both commercial and residential spaces
The Design
Finetuned the new design by utilising the DNA of an older model, based on feedback gathered at dealer conferences
Also added new features, capabilities and an entirely new product segment with the ‘double-decker’ inclusion
Contemporised an old cooler design for modern sensibilities while retaining the features that resonated with its target audience
The Story
Elephant’s association with Symphony coolers has been a longstanding one – it spans twenty-five years of innovation in design and application, and this reflects in the way both partners have benefited over the years.
That being said, the original design for the Sumo series of desert coolers was developed in 1995. A chunky, stocky cooler with a tremendous air throwing capability, this product was an instant hit. When it came around for its first revamp session, we decided to modernise the design and went with a thinner model. However, all valuable lessons are eventually learned on the field, and our experience with the Sumo was pretty much the same. The product wasn’t doing as well anymore.
We at Elephant pride ourselves on our research process, and when it comes to the cooler market, it is essential to gather customer perception-based data from the dealer network directly. As a result, we hit up many such dealer conferences to acquire feedback about the new model. The results? Our target audience for the Sumo was comprised of people who valued the original design more! Despite the fact that the new design had the same functional capabilities, it was perceived as being too small as compared to the original one. Customer perception often dictates sales, so we needed to make the necessary changes.
“By hitting up dealer conferences, we realised that our target audience for the Sumo was comprised of people who valued the original design more! Despite the fact that the new design had the same functional capabilities, it was perceived as being too small as compared to the original one.”
Re-Reengineering
The trick was to reintroduce the look and feel of the old Sumo, yes, but also to contemporize the design to keep up with the latest features that people deemed essential. These were individuals with larger rooms and spaces where they wanted a big cooler to throw air around.
We brought back the narrow girth, the huge breadth and the wide front of the Sumo. The first thing to strike consumers is naturally the large opening vent. We also added a chrome circle to make the product look bulging, huge and powerful. The new Sumo, hence, is even more imposing than the previous one and improves upon durability and efficiency.
Functional Finesse
Since the product has versatile uses – for example, it can function in huge indoor spaces or small-medium sized outdoor spaces, its output needs to be more than a typical indoor cooler. We added pads from end-to-end for larger air throw to cater to this. Additionally, since these spaces will require a consistent output without constant refills, the tank capacity starts at 50 liters and goes up to 105 liters.
We also added a double-decker capability, which creates its own segment altogether and gives flexibility when it comes to changing requirements.
The model is designed in such a way that the new manufacture is even more economical, with parts being easy stacked/amended/replaced. The access to the tanks is also made easier for cleaning and maintenance.
“The trick was to reintroduce the look and feel of the old Sumo, yes, but also to contemporize the design to keep up with the latest features that people deemed essential.”
Restoring Faith
The key takeaways for us during this project were to concentrate on functional design and cater to the aesthetic sensibilities of the target audience and its perceptions.Our new product succeeded in restoring the faith people had in the Sumo range as a whole, as well as bringing back all its appealing points while compromising on none of the modern capabilities it needed.
“Recognising the need is the primary condition for design.”