Trust and relationships at heart of advert re-invention

Andrew Harrison is right when he says that TV’s core product needs re-inventing (MW 12 August). Traditional advertising, particularly in its most grotesque form – the 30-second ad – tries to convert a customer at every touchpoint, taking them from brand awareness to customer in one fell swoop.

Re-invented advertising builds trust at each touchpoint because the more times a brand and a customer engage before purchase, the more likely the customer is to remain loyal.

An advert is the start of a relationship, not the start of a transaction, and should simply point an audience to something genuinely useful or entertaining. The majority of times, this useful or entertaining property will reside on the web.

We build trust and develop relationships by encouraging users to chase content threads across different media. Sales are a very welcome byproduct.

Jim Boulton, UK deputy managing director, Story Worldwide