Kmart, once the largest discount-retail store, was rapidly losing market share to brick-and-mortar competitors like Walmart, Target and, of course, to online stores like Amazon.com.

At the core of the situation was Kmart’s reputation for having inventory problems -- items out of stock, wrong sizes, limited quantities, etc.

But how do you solve an inventory problem without a complete operational overhaul? And do it in way that promotes Kmart’s new retail-meets-online integrated program?

The target was drawn from both new and existing Kmart customers. We embraced the problem by leveraging Kmart’s vast yet little known online selection in a promotion with a real twist that reinforced Kmart’s positioning of honest, friendly yet surprising value.

Turning a negative into a positive, we created 'Ship My Pants', an innovative, first-of-a-kind free shipping offer for mass retailers. When customers can’t find a product at a Kmart, they can order the item online at kmart.com while in the store, and have it shipped free. And with 65,000,000+ items on Kmart.com, nothing is ever out of stock.

With limited media ($85K US) to promote the program, we launched an online campaign centered around a highly shareable, buzz-worthy promotional commercial that demonstrated the offer and communicated the larger integrated program. The promotion was then woven throughout the mobile and .com experience.

In just eight days, the 'Ship My Pants' commercial went viral and garnered over 15,000,000 views online, making it one of the most shared un-televised commercials of all time. In fact, currently, just over two weeks after release, and with no big media buy or Super Bowl coverage, it has become #18 on Mashable's Top Viral Ads of All Time. All the while, making millions of people and major news sources rethink Kmart. The surprising offer and campaign drove unprecedented talk, sharing and visits. New consumers were driven to stores and, to increase loyalty, current customers were inspired to action via fun, direct communications like 'ship happens – For FREE'.

Out-of-stock inventory, a top-three problem at retail, strikes a nerve most with customers. Instead of trying to solve it, we embraced it and created a first-of-a-kind free shipping program for mass retail. This promotion effectively made Kmart’s massive collective inventory of 65,000,000+ items available in any store.

The offer directly addressed customers’ preconceived notions of Kmart, and served as communications entry to Kmart’s new retail-meets-online integrated program.

Our campaign approach was highly relevant as majority cost was in the offer. With limited media ($85K US), we decided to launch online with highly shareable, buzz-worthy promotional content that drove consideration, visits and action.