Titan Xylys: A time for obsession

Further fine tuning its positioning, the premium watch brand from Titan now talks of the obsession associated with owning a Xylys watch

Everybody probably has that one object of affection they are obsessed with - be it a car, a guitar or a gadget. The obsession is often seen as irrational by the rest of the world but the owner couldn't care less.

Xylys, the Swiss made watch brand from Titan, talks about a similar obsession in its latest communication, Obsessive Desire. The TV commercial is woven around an owner being obsessively possessive about his watch.

The TVC, conceptualised by Rediffusion Y&R Bengaluru, shows a man, evidently popular in his social circles, becoming completely withdrawn and besotted once he owns a Xylys watch. A voiceover tells the story of the man's obsession and the film ends with the brand's new tagline, 'You don't possess a Xylys. It possesses you'- words that capture the brand thought.

The film has been directed by Lloyd Baptista and the production house is Milestone Films. The creative team at the agency includes Mukund Sharma and Arun Kumar, creative heads of copy and art, respectively.

Suparna Mitra, global marketing head, Titan Watches reveals that the insight came from talking to the consumer. The research revealed that the biggest reason for the customer to buy the watch was the design, which appealed more than anything else.

"It is akin to falling in love. This is a brand that is not part of the herd. The buying of the watch is usually a very emotional response," says Mitra.

The brand was launched in 2006 when the positioning was around the watch being a symbol of the new generation achiever - with the thought 'Power of X' that stemmed from one's self belief that enables the achiever to succeed on his own steam. Actor Rahul Bose was then the brand ambassador.

"Following the launch, we have decided to re-invigorate the brand and give it an imagery that will enable us to engage, entertain and connect better with our consumers. The new campaign communicates a simple story while reinforcing the brand's enhanced positioning," Mitra adds.

The brief to the agency was to bring out the obsessive desire for the product stemming from the customer truth.

"Picking up from what we found from the consumers, we arrived at the idea of falling in love. Go to a die-hard biker. He probably spends too much time taking care of his bike. Others may find it unnatural but he would not. Going through a few scripts, we eventually finalised the one that romanticises the watch," Sharma tells afaqs!.

Kumar adds that the team started with the premise of desire but the parameter of the same was not ascertained initially - till the consumer truth of an irrational pull came up.

"We have tried to weave a story on this truth and push the limit to what Xylys can do to the user," he says.

The campaign will be led by television for the next few weeks, before delving into print and digital around the same thought.

The company has earmarked about Rs 2 crore for the campaign. The media mandate is handled by Maxus.

Obsessed yet?

Going by the opinions received from the creative experts in the industry, the film has received a mixed response.

Harish Arora, executive creative director, Dentsu India thinks it is a much better premise than before and has a word of approval for the execution.

"Creatively, 'obsession' seems to have a lot of potential and is nicely expressed in the tagline. Compared to the previous round featuring Rahul Bose and Saira Mohan, this time probably the attempt is to reach out to a wider audience," says Arora.

Joono Simon, executive creative director, Mudra South is of the view that the thought has enough potential to make a claim but is slightly farfetched.

"The spot has the sufficient gloss and a universe of time to make a claim but it seems too contrived to be credible," says Simon.

According to him, obsession is one of the recurring themes in advertising and though there are no fixed rules, he thinks it would seem more credible when looked at from the manufacturer's point of view.