• April 18, 2007

After its short-lived stint as Wal-Mart's ad agency, DraftFCB, Chicago, is back in the blue-light special after all, landing the estimated $190 million K mart advertising account. K mart, now part of Sears Holdings Corp., had been with Grey Advertising, which will conclude its K mart assignment within 90 days. DraftFCB will now handle all TV, magazine, and radio advertising, as well as customer analysis and strategy, data analysis, customer relationship marketing and branding work.

"We're committed to building lifetime relationships with our customers, and DraftFCB has a proven track record of helping its clients achieve success by utilizing a full range of marketing tools and capabilities," said Bill Stewart, K mart's chief marketing officer, in a release.

Draft made headlines last year when it won Wal-Mart's $580 million account only to lose it within six weeks in the wake of the Julie Roehm whirlwind.

Unlike most retailers, Sears does not report month-by-month sales data, but when it released its fourth-quarter results last month, it said K mart's same-store sales declined by 0.9 %, and that for the full year, same-store sales fell 0.6 %, reflecting increased competition and lower transaction volumes. At Kmart, Sears said, the declines in a number of categories were partially offset by increases within apparel and pharmacy. --Sarah Mahoney