If one thing history does teach us is that positioning is vital, and can either make or break a company. It is always said that it is better to be something to someone, instead of everything to everyone, but from what i can see this is certainly not the path that many companies are taking at the moment. For example Google is an example of a company that started out with the mission of organising the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful, which it is doing successfully through its search product. Now though it is diversifying to online software, youtube annd products such as instant messenger. So my thinking is, is google now trying to be everything to everybody?
Has the web changed the positioning landscape? Personally i don’t think it has, i think the lessons of positioning are still extremely relevant on the web, but maybe we are starting to forget the reason for positioning? Are companies getting so big that they truly believe that they can become everything to everyone?
Many companies would aim to have internet users rely solely on their services, i.e. email, picture sharing, instant messenger, but i am not sure that users really mind using different services. In the physical world it would be like getting your credit card, bank account, and utilities from the same company.
Maybe these companies are seeing something that i am not.
