It’s safe to say that a man like Donald Trump can readily get a table at just about any top restaurant in New York City — no matter how popular the place or how short the notice.

That’s why we’d love to see him try to book a table at American Girl Café. This theme restaurant, just down from his office on Fifth Avenue, is situated within the American Girl Place, a store dedicated to what has been the hottest Christmas toy for years among, well, American girls. Not that a macho casino entrepreneur and real estate tycoon like Mr. Trump would be caught dead in such a cutesy venue. But we’d venture to guess that if he did want a table, his enormous clout would not be able to get him past the long lines of girls and their ambitious mothers jostling to get into the café morning, noon, and night.

American Girl’s Midtown showplace has four floors packed with dolls and related merchandise. The cornerstone of the brand is the collection of nine dolls; each of them represents a different period in American history. It’s one of the most enduring brands in the Mattel stable, and it routinely frustrates competitors by its ability to maintain a locking loyalty of its fans.

Brand stewardship is the least understood and most neglected aspect of the retail world. As the marketing professors say in business school, a company can have the best product in a particular sector, but what good is it if nobody knows about it? A carefully crafted image is even more important for the survival and success of retail products that might not be all that good in the first place. Either way, aggressively maintaining a certain image is vital to the success of a product or person. Just ask Donald Trump.

We’re lucky to have some insights as to the workings of this extraordinary phenomenon at American Girl. In a confidential company document obtained by The New York Sun, a highly placed American Girl marketing executive explains the nuances of their proprietary “Brand Hug.”

According to the document, the Brand Hug concept “took shape to include a unique presentation for all nine” of the brand’s historical-themed dolls, with a video screen, doll display, doll merchandise, and descriptive graphics in each of the nine sections. “The fixture would contain these elements in an organized presentation and be topped off with a custom-designed canopy that makes the whole environment feel special, just like a hug.”

The document reveals how a marketing team “worked with an outside service that specializes in media presentations in order to produce three-minute video segments for each of the nine historical characters, as well as a brand introductory segment.”

“We knew from our experience at flagship stores that the first thing girls would do when they entered the store would be to rush up to the doll displays, [and] press against the glass,” reads the document. “The doll displays were designed to be at girls’ average eye height, whereas the video screens were placed higher to attract the attention of adults.”

The multimedia hardware involved in putting together such a display includes 32-inch monitors, digital players — programmed so that no two presentations are running side by side — and special directional speakers to prevent the various voiceovers from overlapping.

If you think the Brand Hug is clever, then consider the feature-length motion picture based on one of the nine historical characters, Kit Kittredge, that is set to premiere this summer. The young actress Abigail Breslin stars as Kit, a girl who witnesses her father blow his fortune during the Great Depression. Chris O’Donnell, Julia Ormond, Joan Cusack, and Stanley Tucci are part of the all-star cast. You can bet that this movie is the first in a long and successful series.

On television, the company has developed a variety of so-called “brandmercials” that it broadcasts on national cable and local markets “and in time periods targeting primarily women (moms) between the ages of 25 to (sic) 49,” according to the document.

“We are excited about using this new approach to grow our business and to educate even more people about our vision of being the premier lifestyle brand that girls and moms trust,” the document states.

During the next couple weeks, drop by the American Girl Place on Fifth Avenue to see what all this fuss is about. Be prepared to stand on line for a while. But once inside, you’ll surely be caught up in a Brand Hug’s warm embrace.

Mr. Akasie contributes to The New York Sun.