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Clearblue is the world's number one selling pregnancy test brand2. Clearblue is sold in 35 countries with over 30% global market share with continued growth past five years3. Over 65million Clearblue tests are sold every year around the world2. Clearblue offers superior products in pregnancy and ovulation testing, including the only pregnancy test brand with digital technology and allowing measurement of the level of hCG to indicate the number of weeks since conception (it is as accurate as ultrasound at determining the date of pregnancy) 4. Clearblue is the only pregnancy testing brand to significantly invest in media around the world, with and has gained 'top of mind' awareness5. Clearblue has unrivalled consumer insights, based on over 200 consumer studies, interviewing over 150,000 consumers and collecting over 400,000 urine samples in the past 25 years1.

Key insights about the target market include;

• 80% of women have used at least one pregnancy test11
• The pregnancy testing experience is highly charged in emotion11
• Between 5 and 7% of women are trying to conceive at any given moment9
• In 93% of cases, purchase is planned before the customer enters the store6
• 64% of women want to choose themselves without store staff assistance and want privacy from other shoppers7 
• 100% of women expect absolute accuracy in their test results8
• Most women need in-store education to help select the right product9
• The product is associated with low price elasticity of demand10: with price being relatively low (7th in relative importance) regarding criteria for purchase 
• 98% of women are not concerned about paying extra for innovative pregnancy tests12
• Women expect to pay 25-30% more for a digital pregnancy test as compared with a non-digital pregnancy test13
• 93% of shoppers follow the pharmacist's recommendation14
• 50% of women test for pregnancy twice11
• Research indicates 100% customer satisfaction with Clearblue Digital, as compared with the nearest competitor (Femitest Jet Ultra) at 61%15

Despite Clearblue's global dominance in 2015, Clearblue was not the number one brand in Australia. Market share was only 17%, half the global average16. A review of the Australian retail landscape revealed the following;

• Clearblue digital tests were 80% more expensive than a non-digital test16.
• Australian pharmacists had not received any training on Clearblue or the product category17.
• Australian retail stores (grocery and pharmacy) provided no in-store education17.

Questions

Using the above insights, you are asked to provide marketing strategy recommendations to Clearblue Australia, focusing on addressing the following four questions;

Q1: Provide an outline of the consumer decision process for the pregnancy test consumer. Discuss why this process is important for Clearblue marketers to complete. Finally, share your recommendations for Clearblue at each stage of the consumer decision process?

Q2: Pregnancy tests are an inelastic price category. Discuss how the inelastic nature of priced demand impacts the pricing strategy and tactics for Clearblue pregnancy tests. 

Q3: Pharmacies are an important distribution channel for Clearblue. (a) What type of channel power do pharmacy retailers have over Clearblue? (b) What are the implications of this when dealing with channel conflicts? (c) Provide at least two strategies for managing channel conflict.

Q4: Clearblue is a global brand. Define and outline why Clearblue should consider the ten commandments of global marketing when adapting in-store education materials from other global markets to Australian retail stores. Choose three (3) from the ten commandments of global marketing and provide a recommendation for each that Clearblue should consider when adapting in-store education materials from other global markets to Australian retail stores.

Q1: Provide an outline of the consumer decision process for the pregnancy test consumer. Discuss why this process is important for Clearblue marketers to complete. Finally, share your recommendations for Clearblue at each stage of the consumer decision process?

The pregnancy test market is growing at a fast pace with touching a figure of US$1410million as expected by 2020.Majorly, chosen based on grounds of precision in results and early detection, the consumer choice varies based on shared information available at the time of purchase. The marketers of Clearblue need to understand the consumer decision process for the pregnancy test consumer, to make the offering more competitive so that sales in Australia can be enhanced leading to better returns and profits, as has been identified to be a cause of concern in the case. 

The analysis shows that Clearblue lacks a proper information dissemination about the product. 

As most women recommend in-house education as a support to decide upon purchase, it would be important to train the pharmacists and retailers on the efficiency of the product on competitive measures. This would also justify its pricing as pricing for pregnancy tests have been found to be having low price elasticity.

Q2: Pregnancy tests are an inelastic price category. Discuss how the inelastic nature of priced demand impacts the pricing strategy and tactics for Clearblue pregnancy tests. 

Inelastic price refers to no change in demand or supply with varying price of the product. Clearblue, based on the case facts depicts to have identified that the Clearblue pregnancy test is also having an inelastic price, hence price is not a concern of low market share as identified in Australia. Usually when the pricing is inelastic, the marketers tend to earn profits by enhancing the price. But here, one of the cause of lowered market share in Australia has been identified to be the price. Hence, the inelasticity effect has not much showed up in the Australian market.  At this state, the pricing strategy for Clearblue needs modification and not lowering in price as a tactic to manage price competitiveness. Clearblue should opt for image pricing. Image pricing refers to promoting the value or perceived image of the product and its functions as a distinguishable factor and signify its importance and need among targeted customers, so that they feel that the price is worth the value they get in return of purchase or use of the product. Simultaneously advertising and training should be imparted to pharmacists. And extensive advertising, that has always been a mode of promotion for Clearblue as a global approach, should be targeted to depict the price value for the product based on result precision, as the offering of digital technology is a value add as compared to the offerings of the competitors. Hence for Clearblue, the marketing approach in Australia needs consideration. The product positioning and advertising should be concentrated upon image pricing and emotional positioning.

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