Books for the disadvantaged

The internet marketing company says it believes in the value of education, which is why it licensed its book under the Creative Commons, why it was made available online for free, and why it donated R65,000 worth of textbooks to the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) on Monday.

The company's association with CPUT goes back several years: QuirkStars have given guest lectures there and many of the educators have played an important role in the development of the textbook. Advertising lecturer Rodney Duffet prescribed eMarketing: the essential guide to online marketing, but told the company that many of his students were previously disadvantaged and would have to rely on onscreen versions of the free download. So, the company decided to lend a hand.

Each student was given a copy of the textbook and Quirk was, in turn, presented with an Excellence Award from the institution, in recognition of its “valued support and development of eMarketing students”. eMarketing education is a resource that has been downloaded by over 60,000 businesses, agencies and students in 20 countries in the last six months and well over 2,000 copies have been sold.