Facts

India had 28 States and seven union territories with a population of 77.42 million urban

households.
The income levels categorized as follows:
o 62.7 million households earned up to INR 1,50,000 (Indian Rupees) per annum (1
USD was equivalent to about 45 INR),
o 11.6 million households earned between INR 1,50,000 to INR 3,00,000 per

annum, and
o 3.1 million Households earned more than INR 300,000 per annum.
The latest McKinsey report on India's consumer market included watches as the eighth
most required item) at 8% share-of-wallet (SOW) in 2005; this was expected to climb up

to 9% SOW by 2015, and to 11% SOW by 2020.

In India, in terms of category sales, the highest share, as per value, involved watches

priced between INR 500 and 3,000.

The premium segment of watches retailed between INR 4,000 and 15,000 and had been
growing at an exponential rate of 20% annually.

Issues
Customer Perception Issue
The potential target market was shifting towards the international brands for the premium
watches and it would be difficult for an Indian-made tag to impress the target market. This has
made it difficult to culturally adjust the product. As XYLYS was a subsidiary brand of the house
of Titan and Titan was already operating in India since long as a joint venture with other Indian
based companies for example with The TATA Group and with Timex, hence the Indian target
market mostly associated XYLYX as being a more or less an Indian brand whereas the potential
and current target market of premium watch users was shifting to multinational brands and most
did not regarded XYLYX as a multinational brand.

Increased Competition

The liberal government EXIM policies increased the level of competition the firms were facing.
Before the XYLYSs parent company had the major market share and little market penetration
was required but after these liberal government policies several large competitors entered the
Indian market which included Seiko, Casio, Rado etc. This decreased the market share of Titan
and negatively affected XYLYS.
Quartz Analog Issue
XYLYX was the quartz analog kind and the customers had this perception that the quartz is of
low cost and lacking in style which is quite a drawback for XYLYX because XYLYX is
exclusively targeting the premium watch users.
Untapped Sports Market Segment
Sports target market segment was largely untapped and only 5% of the total sports segment was
being targeted. XYSLYX should have specifically made an emphasis on this side of the target
market in order to capture more of the target market.
Major Sales by Unrecognized Sales
The majority of the sales in India were made by the unrecognized sector which mainly included
selling of imported brands through an unrecognized platform that is through black market and
this market formed the majority of the market share i.e. 65%.
Wrong Brand Positioning
In 2010, the brand changed its positioning from Symbol of Success to Feeling of Love. The
brand talked about falling in love with XYLYX. The brand was initially launched with the
positioning to target those individuals who are motivated by the passion to pursue their dreams
and the brand is recognized as bold, unconventional and distinctive. The customers of XYLYX
were highly individualistic persons. But this new positioning was a significant deviation from the
core positioning of the brand. The entire brand positioning was changed in the current campaign.
It reflected irrational desirability of the brand. However, later in 2011, when market research was
carried out the results proved to be indicating that this market positioning was a wrong idea as
the target market had a very individualistic and self-improvement approach. The target market

was high on self-consciousness, success, and professional achievement and capable of leading
others. They preferred reliability, honesty, spirit to excel, and success. They wanted to be
influential, rich, and informative. Their need for self-actualization and self-fulfillment was high.
None of these factors were supporting the idea of romance and feelings of love. Hence there was
a need for positioning of XYLYX to be changed on an immediate basis.
Core Issues
XYLYS has been facing adverse competition due to liberalization, its become a challenging,
though with economy growth there was an improvement in watch industry but there was certain
problems which were challenging Mr. Manoj Chakravarti, as mentioned in the case which are as
follows.

Would conventional or traditional approach of positioning is enough?

Does it necessary for the marketers to get some idea of the unique aspect of self
awareness of their consumers?

How the uniqueness of other well-known brands perceived by the consumers?

How important was the Swiss label?

Does the XYLYS being an Indian Brand, delivering the right message to the customers?

The case investigates into behavioral concepts that are important in terms of the perception of the
brand luxury brands.
Recommendations
XYLYS should add accessible luxury brand watches in their product line with higher
prices than premium watches as the potential target market was shifting towards the
international brands for the high end watches. People perceive high price brand to be
reliable. As watches held a symbolic appeal in the Indian context regardless of the price
and most people are brand conscious. So, high end watches should be introduced to
change the perception of customers and stopping them to shift from their brand.
XYLYS should focus on untapped sports target market. As it is potential target market for
their sports collections. They should hire brand ambassadors as famous sports person

(example Dhoni) for their support category as people in India are highly influenced by
the stars. Competitors have famous brand ambassadors as Deepika Padukone for
TISSOT.
XYLYS change the perception of people by increasing advertising and brand
endorsement programs to be the reliable premium watches Indian brand.
Company should change their positioning from Feeling of Love back to Symbol of
Success. New positioning has significant deviation from the core positioning of the
brand. As most of results of their study showed achievement, success factors, Exciting,
personal ability, leader, achieving success, professional success imaginative the important
factors for potential users of premium watch brands. So they must focus on positioning
their brands as Symbol of Success. In their market mix strategy emphasize on success,
achievement, innovators, and imaginative people. This will help to change the perception
of people towards their premium brand.