Getting the book
For more information, and to get your copy of the book, please visit the publisher's website now. Alternatively, you can buy it from Amazon - via this link. Alternatively, if you want the paperback version, please click here for the publisher's page.
The title of the book came from a sculpture by Yoko Ono, and is very fitting to this subject. The author, Thom Poole, came across the sculpture on a visit to a wet and cold Budapest, Hungary in 2005, where the best places to escape the damp were the art museums. With this inspiration, the title and imagery for the book and website came about.
The book itself was born from a dissertation Thom undertook as part of his MSc in Marketing for the University of Glamorgan. He wrote his thesis on Data Privacy - the marketing art of the opt-in. As a result of this work, Thom was drawn to the element of Trust, especially within his area of expertise, namely digital marketing.
Digital Marketing has, unfortunately, developed a poor reputation as a result of a lack of ownership. No single Government owns the Internet (although the Americans make a lot of noise as though they did!), and no department seems to have taken ownership of it. As part of the technology sector, most IT departments took early ownership of websites, and therefore on e-mail platforms, etc. Marketing - who should control it appear to be afraid of the technology, and therefore fail to control the reputations of their businesses. Multiply this numerous times and you have the Wild Webby West!