The Content Trap

The puzzle of how the Economist raised subscription revenue while Newsweek and Time struggled is one of several Harvard Business School professor Bharat Anand sets out to explain. His cases range from The New York Times and Schibsted to the Chinese internet company Tencent, along with talent management and the future of education. Drawing on research in economics, strategy and marketing, he argues that success comes less from making the best content than from seeing how content connects customers, from spotting related opportunities nearby, and from treating choices as a connected whole instead of copying rivals. Analogies from My Big Fat Greek Wedding and the in-house currency at Chuck E. Cheese's help explain Amazon's dominance and the rise of Netflix.

Walmart chief executive Doug McMillon included it in a Facebook post of his favorite reads from 2017, and 500 Startups partner Marvin Liao named it in a Book-Talk interview about his reading.