I just had a cracking chat on the phone with my 89-year-old Grandad who inadvertently explained - better than most people I've spoken to in the ad industry - how good advertising works. He told me a story about when he was a door-to-door salesman in Yorkshire.

He used to sell carpet sweepers door-to-door. He said it was always tricky knocking on a door because he knew people didn't want him there. He knocked on this one lady's door and with his usual very charming greeting, explained he was selling carpet sweepers.

The lady immediately said she didn't need a sweeper. She had no money but she also had one of them new hoovers. However, she said the hoover was broken and she was waiting for the local handyman to come fix it.

Grandad asked if he could have a look at it for her. See if he could get it working. She invited him in and made him a cuppa while he tried to fix the hoover. Had a chinwag about everything and anything - as my Grandad does. Crack a few cheesy jokes.

After 20 minutes fiddling about with it he got it working. Said, there you go. That should see you on for a bit. She was proper chuffed about it. As he went to leave she said, "Pete hold on a sec..."

"Give me 10 of your sales slips."

(Back then Grandad said if you wanted to buy you filled in a slip and with your money which he would take away. Then bring you the product the next day)

"I'm sure my ladies could do with a carpet sweeper. I'll take one in all. Plus..."

"...better giving you the money than the other chap who comes down here. Miserable bugger just wants your money. Come back tomorrow"

Low and behold Grandad went back the next day and the lady had 10 filled-in sales slips with all the money. She then asked for two more for her son and daughter.

I'm chuckling on the phone to him at this point. Did bloody well there Grandad. And he just says...

"Well, that's what I had to do. I needed to find a way to be entertaining or useful. They trusted me then."

And that's it. That's what great advertising does. And what advertising needs to do.

In an age where most brands seeom to use advertising to shout about who they are, what they do, what they're selling - worth remembering you're more likely to get sales if your advertising is entertaining or useful to the people seeing it. Get's you that magic ingredient..

Trust.

Thanks for coming to my Grandad's TedTalk.

He doesn't know what a TedTalk is.

(The typos throughout this. Fuck sake.)