Product PR for Neuhaus as a premium brand

Neuhaus is a traditional Belgian chocolate house, founded in 1857 by the Swiss pharmacist Jean Neuhaus in Brussels’ Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert. What began as a confectioner’s shop selling chocolate-coated medicines developed under his grandson Jean Neuhaus Jr. into the inventor of the original Belgian praline in 1912 – a chocolate shell filled with ganache or gianduja.

Neuhaus operates as a long-established Belgian praline house in a highly competitive market. Competition is shaped as much by internationally known brands as by German manufacturers, who have a much stronger presence in the local market and constantly come up with new flavours and product innovations. At the same time, demands for sustainability, transparency and credible provenance are rising, especially in the premium segment. On top of that, the products sit at a high price point. Fine pralines are not an impulse purchase for the mass market but appeal to a clearly defined target group. The challenge was to identify this target group precisely and reach it in the right food and lifestyle media, while also raising Neuhaus’s profile with a broader public in order to widen the brand base in the long term.

The strong seasonality of chocolate makes things harder still. Relevance arises mainly around clearly defined occasions such as Christmas, Valentine’s Day or Easter. Outside these peaks, media attention is harder to win, while in high season the timing has to be exactly right to gain visibility in editorial environments.

To meet these challenges, we developed a PR strategy focused on timing, storytelling and personal brand experiences. Key product and collection launches were identified early and accompanied by tailored press releases to build media presence ahead of the relevant chocolate moments.

In addition, targeted product PR gave journalists the chance to try Neuhaus pralines and assess them editorially. Boutique visits on site enabled personal encounters with the Neuhaus team and created space for interviews, background conversations and brand experiences. In parallel, the Neuhaus story was told consistently: its role as the inventor of the Belgian praline, its craft heritage and the importance of tradition in today’s premium segment.

The Country Manager was positioned as an expert in fine pralines and brought into the communications as an authentic brand voice. This created a link between product, history and personal expertise that set Neuhaus clearly apart from the competition.

The very first press release already generated around 15 editorial placements in relevant food and lifestyle media. Brand awareness of Neuhaus rose markedly, and the brand was successfully positioned as a provider of fine pralines. At the same time, we succeeded in making the story of the heritage house visible and anchoring Neuhaus, both emotionally and in terms of content, in the premium chocolate segment.