Yorktown Technologies Case Study Essay Example

although Yorktown Technologies was able to do this through media, such as television, radio, ad magazines it is also as important to provide your consumer with the answers to any environmental questions surrounding the sale of these genetically modified tropical fish.

Additionally, when receiving overwhelming publicity it is important to avoid high demand on limited supply. Another problem that Yorktown Technologies faced is that due t the ethical concerns of the consumers and retailers, the larger retail chains had declined to carry the fish which left the company able to only sell into a fraction of the potential market. Furthermore, another problem with the marketing strategy of the GloFish zebra fish is the fact that its fluorescent zebra fish is not attractive enough to the consumer therefore the number of fish sold had no nearly reached the number hoped.

Case Analysis The important market aspect discussed in this case if the education of retailers and consumers about your product, irrespective of the distribution decision, and your product positioning within the market. According to this article the Yorktown Technologies made a few crucial marketing mistakes. For instance, when they began to market this product they were rushed into launching it due to the overwhelming publicity which caused them to have a very high demand with a limited supply. When beginning the company they generated more than $120,000 loss in 2004.

The majority of the fresh water ornamental fish sold in the United States are purchased from three major retail chains: Walmart, PetSmart, and PETCO. When GloFish was at first introduced none of these mentioned above retail stores wanted to carry the fluorescent zebra fish, now Yorktown Technologie’s suppliers and

distributors have been regular suppliers to these stores for a number of years. Although Yorktown Technologies has been able to market and sell their products successfully they faced international competition in Asia and in Taiwan.

In 2000 researchers from Taiwan were able to create a fluorescent green medaka fish, this fish is similar to the danio fish used by Yorktown Technologies. These green fluorescent fish created in Taiwan are now being sold in the United States for a considerably lower price than GloFish. Blake thought about international marketing of the GloFish, but due to foreign regulations Yorktown could only market in countries that did not prohibit its product.