WORLD: STUART ELLIOTT IN AMERICA.

'It's in the K!' No, it's not a new slogan for Kellogg's Special K cereal or the street drug ketamine. Instead, it's the latest creative brainchild of Grey Worldwide, which aims to restore the tattered image of the American retailer Kmart.

Kmart, which used to be the premier US discounter, has been laid low by competitors such as Wal-Mart, which promotes its low prices as if they were the answer to a prayer, and Target, which sells itself with a trendy, cheap-chic identity. Kmart has fallen so far and so fast that it was forced into bankruptcy reorganisation and closed 599 stores, which is more than some chains operate.

The remaining Kmarts, under new ownership, turned to the Fresh Grey unit of Grey, plus a couple of agencies that specialise in multicultural marketing, for a creative overhaul. The move followed an acrimonious parting with TBWA\Chiat\Day, which had produced what had been considered to be something of a small miracle: a fun, engaging Kmart campaign that made the stores look appealing, while artfully masking the reality of hodgepodge layouts, dowdy aisles and understocked shelves.

Grey's decision to rebrand Kmart as 'the K' is underscored in the initial batch of TV commercials, which started running during the baseball World Series. In them, several people make hand gestures to form the letter 'K' in sign language. Among the signers are: the Latina singer Thalia Soli; Vaughn Lowery, who became a demi-celebrity after appearing in the TBWA\Chiat\Day Kmart spots dancing in his Joe Boxer undershorts, and Martha Stewart.

Yes, even as she confronts her own ...