Abstract

Branding is a means of distinguishing a product or a service of a company from those of another company. Yet it is also something more than that; it is seen, by many authors and company managers, as something that can create awareness, reputation, and distinctiveness in the marketplace. A brand is a company’s promise to realize what it symbolizes in terms of functional, emotional self-expression, and social benefits. Branding and brand management have undergone a major change owing to the growth of online and digital marketing as a means of communicating and selling to consumers. Brands are taking on more and more meaning, and consumers have a more explicit influence on the success or failure of those brands. Knowing about consumers’ perceptions, attitudes, and preferences enables companies to employ various marketing tactics to reach and influence them. This article studies the needs and behavior of a potential target market of a children’s fashion brand. It correlates what the brand has to offer to fulfill those needs and design consumer-centered branding strategies to create awareness, reputation, and distinctiveness in order to win more customers. A survey with potential clients was conducted, on the basis of a nonprobability convenience sample, of people who buy children’s apparel in Brazil. It found that the brand studied had attributes and products that its potential clients were looking for in the market. To create awareness of the brand, the branding strategies should focus on communicating these attributes and products through a combination of paid and earned channels to bring potential clients to the company website.