The Content Trap: A Strategist's Guide for Digital Change

As Bharat Anand shows in this eminently readable book connections are now more important than content.”-Daniel H. Pink author of Drive and To Sell Is HumanHarvard Business School Professor of Strategy Bharat Anand presents an incisive new approach to digital transformation that favours fostering connectivity over focusing exclusively on content. Companies everywhere face two major challenges today: getting noticed and getting paid. To confront these obstacles Bharat Anand examines a range of businesses around the world from The New York Times to The Economist from Chinese Internet giant Tencent to Scandinavian digital trailblazer Schibsted and from talent management to the future of education. Drawing on these stories and on the latest research in economics strategy and marketing this refreshingly engaging book reveals important lessons smashes celebrated myths and reorients strategy.Success for flourishing companies comes not from making the best content but from recognizing how content enables customers’ connectivity; it comes not from protecting the value of content at all costs but from unearthing related opportunities close by; and it comes not from mimicking competitors’ best practices but from seeing choices as part of a connected whole.Digital change means that everyone today can reach and interact with others directly: We are all in the content business. But that comes with risks that Bharat Anand teaches us how to recognize and navigate. Filled with conversations with key players and in-depth dispatches from the front lines of digital change The Content Trap is an essential new playbook for navigating the turbulent waters in which we find ourselves. Review “The Content Trap is a remarkable book that rethinks digital strategy and content. It is relevant for entrepreneurs and executives alike with important lessons for India as we reimagine our digital footprint for the 21st century. The idea of shifting focus from making content to fostering connections is one of the most simple and profound ideas I have come across for guiding businesses and policymakers in digital worlds. “India Inc.” can derive much inspiration from these case studies as it looks to penetrate our fast-growing and dynamic markets in the near future. This book will challenge your thinking.”- Amit Chandra Managing Director Bain Capital“Finally a business book highlighting the possibilities of success for businesses in a connected world. The Content Trap is a well-crafted guide full of gripping case studies and formidable analyses. Bharat Anand offers fresh and provocative insights in a simple and inviting manner that audiences from all sectors will truly relate to. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and highly recommend it.“- Sajjan Jindal Chairman and Managing Director JSW Group“Bharat Anand has written an instant business classic. The Content Trap is a seminal guide to competing in the digital world and is studded with practical insights. Anand uses absorbing case studies to highlight how strategies work in the real world. A must-read for anyone interested in digital change!”- Jayant Sinha Minister of State for Civil Aviation About the Author Bharat Anand is the Henry R. Byers Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School. He graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. in economics from Harvard University and received his Ph.D. in economics from Princeton University.Professor Anand is an expert in digital and corporate strategy. He has studied how new technologies affect what we watch read and hear and how companies navigate digital change. He has written more than fifty articles and case studies received awards for his research and case-writing and chaired various executive education programs. He is a two-time winner of the “best teacher award” at Harvard Business School.Anand has advised leading organizations and entrepreneurs around the world. Recently he