Franchisee Stories

Did You "Ship" Your Pants Yet?

Did You "Ship" Your Pants Yet?

Kmart gets creative and uses a play on words in its latest advertising/social media campaign. “Ship my pants” is the phrase featured and whether you view it as a smart business strategy or desperate and juvenile, Kmart accomplished exactly what it wanted. The video is promoting a free delivery pr.....

Kmart gets creative and uses a play on words in its latest advertising/social media campaign. “Ship my pants” is the phrase featured and whether you view it as a smart business strategy or desperate and juvenile, Kmart accomplished exactly what it wanted. The video is promoting a free delivery program offered by Kmart. The video shows various customers in the store who happily exclaim they just “shipped” their pants. At first listen, this sounds an awful lot like a much more disgusting activity. If Kmart had simply stated that it now offers free shipping for products not available in store, the buzz and media attention would be non-existent for a brand desperately needing attention. As of April 16, the YouTube video has over 9.5 million views.  It has been featured on the Today Show, Forbes.com, The Wall Street Journal and USA Today. Twitter chatter has been non-stop. It is safe to say the video has gone completely viral despite it promoting a feature a majority of Kmart’s competition already offers. Amidst the negative comments saying the strategy is “childish” or “uncalled for,” the video tiptoes the line and has brought an overwhelming response for a company that has not taken an edgy approach before. Love it or hate it, Kmart is swimming in attention.

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Nick Powills

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Nick Powills

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Nick Powills, CFE, founded No Limit Agency in 2008 and serves as Chief Brand Strategist for the Chicago-based firm. No Limit is a full-service communications agency that establishes and elevates brands by bridging Public Relations, Social Media, Marketing, Advertising, Digital, and a lot of creativity, to best strategize well-rounded and successful campaigns for 50+ global franchise brands. By presenting visionary ideas and building real relationships, No Limit is able to create effective media branding strategies to help companies grow. Nick currently leads a staff of writers, media strategists, designers, social media experts and digital producers in an office think-tank where brands are humanized for strong, compelling media stories. Prior to starting No Limit at the age of 27, Nick spent four years working at a franchise PR agency where he mastered the art of building rapport with media outlets and creating newsworthy pitches for earned media placements. He holds a Bachelor of Journalism from Drake University in Iowa.