Marketing assignment - Brand & Indian Consumer - XYLYS watches

Prepared by Manohar M. M. Iyer
Batch XMBA – 19
Ref. No. VAS2010XMBA15P005
Prepared on December 20, 2012

Indian Consumer Behavior & Premium watch purchase decision: Gist of Case study on XYLYS Brand

Prepared by: Manohar M. M. Iyer, VAS2010XMBA15P005 Page 2


Contents
1. Disclaimer note: ........................................................................................................................................4
2. Introduction ..............................................................................................................................................5
3. Brief understanding of the case study .......................................................................................................6
4. Analysis of Indian Consumer Behaviour & Premium watch purchase decision ...........................................7
5. Building the XYLYS brand in India...............................................................................................................8
6. End note: ..................................................................................................................................................9



1. Disclaimer note:
This document is prepared purely as an educational project assignment to be submitted as a component of
the XMBA curriculum being conducted by ITM (Institute for Technology and Management) at Vashi,
Navimumbai.

The information contained within this document is for educational assessment purposes only

The case study referred here was prepared by S. Ramesh Kumar and Kasturi Baral for Indian Institute of
Management Banglore.

Indian Institute of Management Banglore has the copy right for this case study.

None of the Idea & content mentioned in his document or results/inferences that come out after
understanding this document is permissible to be copied or to be used in part or whole without written
permission from the copyright owners

The reader of this document is strongly advised not to indulge in any such activity



2. Introduction

This assignment is prepared as a part of Marketing Elective study of Consumer Behavior and Brand
Management.

It is based on the case study on XYLYS Brand.

The reference case study was prepared by S. Ramesh Kumar and Kasturi Baral for Indian Institute of
Management Banglore

Our attempt is to answer following related questions:-

1. Present the brief understanding of the case study?

2. Analyse the case from consumer behaviour point of view and how according to you a consumer
behaves for a premium watch purchase decision?

3. How XYLYS is planning to build its Brand in Indian context?

Ps: To obtain copies of the case study please approach the copyright owners as mentioned in the
disclaimer.



3. Brief understanding of the case study

In this case study the authors have explored the Indian consumer’s perceptions of a Brand.

They have tried to understand the various factors that lead a consumer from India to purchase or intend to
purchase a premium watch. For this they have chosen to understand the success of XYLYS brand from the
House of Titans.

The case study encompasses the following major pointers:

• In the recent years various external factors & lifestyle changes has made the Indian consumer’s
purchase decision to tend more towards brands that reflected one’s personality rather than just
having functional utility.

• Though globally a decline in production of watches is seen, for an Indian consumer, watch still is
the eighth most necessary item having a spending share-of-wallet of about 8% to 9%. The Indian
watch market is growing at 8% p.a. and the Luxury watch category has seen a consistent sales
growth of around 20% over the years.

• Watch Industry can be segmented based on Technology, Benefit and Price.
- Technology wise we have non-contemporary bulky mechanical watches having less than 5%
market share, Stylish light Quartz Analog watches being the main market driver and Quartz
digital watches that are perceived as low cost & unstylish.
- Benefit wise we have Casual, Formal and Sports watches with 35%, 60% & 5% share
respectively.
- Price wise we have Economy, standard, premium and luxury sectors.

• Indian Watch market is divided in three broad segments Mass Market (Price below Rs. 1000/-), Mid
Market (Price between Rs. 1000/- and Rs. 10,000/-) and Premium Luxury Market (Price above Rs.
10,000/-)

• The luxury sector can be further categorized as:
- Premium watches (Price between Rs. 10,000/- and Rs. 50,000/-) where brands like XYLYS,
Tissot, Seiko, Citizen, Emporio Armani and Hugo Boss operate.
- Accessible Luxury (Price between Rs. 50,000/- and Rs. 3,0,000/-) where brands like Rolex,
Omega, Longines and Tag Heuer operate.
- Exclusive Luxury (Price above Rs. 3,0,000/-) where brands like Breguet, Patek Philippe,
Audemars Piguet, Breitling and Hublot operate.

• Titan started operations in the 1980s, 20 years after the pioneer watch makers in India, HMT. But
by proper brand building, as on today, it has a consistent brand share of around 21% in the Indian
market inspite of existence other Indian players like Rolex, PA Time, Citizen, Casio along with
Unorganized sectors having share of 65%.

This case study provides a thorough understanding of Indian Consumer Behaviour & Premium watch
purchase decision through the success story of XYLYS Brand of watches.



4. Analysis of Indian Consumer Behaviour & Premium watch purchase decision

To analyse the case from consumer behaviour point of view on premium watch purchase decision, the
case study refers Yankelovich‘s definition of Segmentation by Value. Per the authors of case study:
• It is found that in a product people look for nature of appeal & associations like Glamour, Fashion,
sports and Fun.
• They have four philosophies namely dress, classical, fashion & sport
• Consumer behaviours are governed by psychological needs to position themselves, Value for
money, Self-perception, personality and style.
• Consumers look for Brands that offered benefits akin to:
- Functional benefits like the real need of the product
- Symbolic benefits like status, self expression, sophistication, aesthetic appeal, prestige,
enhancement of self image , ego gratification, and sense of belonging
- Experiential benefits like sensory pleasure, variety or cognitive simulation.
• Their preferences are also influenced by their Lifecycle stages whether they are a School student,
college student, young working executive & experienced executive.

The authors feel that the main consumer for a Premium Luxury watch would be:
• A new generation executive who is set to move toward prime of his career
• Who after a few years of hard-work is ready to announce his arrival in the world of success
• Who wants to display his status by associating himself with value brands & is very brand conscious
• Generally CEOs, senior professionals, entrepreneurs, people belonging to higher socio-economic
strata.
• These individuals constantly seek new and un-conventional experiences.
• They are in their thirties and forties.
• Such consumers will purchase only products that will provide more Symbolic & experiential
benefits rather than just functional benefits.

The above points very clearly provide insights on consumer behaviour point of view on premium watch
purchase decision.



5. Building the XYLYS brand in India

The case study states that the man behind Brand building of XYLYS is Mr. Manoj Chakravarti from Titan
Industries.

The House of Titans clearly had insights on consumer behaviour point of view on premium watch purchase
decision. They were able to generate a unique perception of the XYLYS brand.

They decided to come out with XYLYS watches as a Product that has the following characteristics:
• XYLYS will be a Premium Luxury watch priced between Rs.10,000/- and Rs. 35,000/-
• Though XYLYS is a brand from house of Titan in India, it is to be made in Switzerland.
• The designs were to be created by renowned Swiss designer Laurent Rufenacht, along with Titan's
adviser Michael Foley.
• There can be around 60 models under three collections namely Contemporary, Classic & Sport.
• XYLYS watches were to be created with exquisite craftsmanship & impeccable detailing in a state-
of-art factory that has 80 year heritage of watch making.

Further, the Titans strategy to build XYLYS as a brand in India included:
• The country of origin i.e. the swiss made tag is hugely associated with quality, precision, premium
that has a great influence on a Premium Luxury watch consumer.
• The bi-syllable word XY & LYS is distinctive. It was aimed to convey style, attitude and a unique
personal identity.
• In the year 2006 The brand was positioned as a “symbol of success”
• It was targeted at upwardly mobile successful people and depicted the “Power of X” that were
bold, unconventional, distinctive and underlined one’s power of attitude and confidence.
• The brand ambassadors were new generation achievers like Actor Rahul Bose, Super model Saira
Mohan and Tennis star Carlos Moya who lived life fearlessly in their own terms having a passion to
convert their dreams to success.
• During the year 2010, XYLYS was also positioned as “Feeling of love”, falling in love with XYLYS and
as “You don’t possess a XYLYS, it possesses you”.
• This new positioning not only reflected the attitude, lifestyle, personality of the consumer but also
which the irrational desirability of the product backed by rational reasons like swiss-made quality &
trustworthiness of the house of Titans.

All this care to consumer needs & diligence shown during the production choices for XYLYS watches and
bang on target Brand position, resulted in doubling of sales volumes in the initial years. It developed into a
consistent growth rate of 33% since then.

XYLYS has a consistent brand share of around 21% in the Indian market even today.

Thus from this case study one can see that XYLYS is a success story and can be treated as an example of a
brand that has correctly understood Indian consumer behaviour and a brand that has become a major
choice of Premium watch purchase decision makers.



6. End note:

I thank one and all who have provided me with the opportunity to handle this responsibility and the
knowledge & support to prepare this document.

Please feel free to forward your valuable feedback, comments, queries and suggestions related to this
document at mumbai_man1977@yahoo.com

Thank you,

Warm regards,

Manohar M. M. Iyer


Marketing assignment - Brand & Indian Consumer - XYLYS watches

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