NEUHAUS
SETTING THE STAGE FOR LIFE’S SWEETEST INDULGENCE: CHOCOLATE
We created the ultimate theatrical boutique experience to help Neuhaus upgrade the status of its premium chocolates, giving rise to a precious temptation. This project has been honored with the “Janus du Commerce”, an award that recognizes top-quality retail design that’s successful in the marketplace.
WHAT WE DID
Visual Language Brand Repositioning Retail Design Brand Style Book Packaging Recommendations
CHALLENGE
With nearly 2,000 sales outlets in 50 countries, family-owned chocolatier Neuhaus has been crafting fine Belgian specialty chocolates for connoisseurs since 1857. In an expanding and competitive gourmet chocolate market where increasingly creative players are winning larger shares of the target market, Neuhaus needed a distinct brand position. The company came to us for an innovative design strategy that would simultaneously reposition the brand in a contemporary context and elevate the brand to a luxury stature.
SOLUTION
To create the ultimate brand experience, we upgraded the in-store environment to a true luxury experience. We created a temptation boutique for intense chocolate pleasure featuring an “Alley of Desire,” a spotlighted runway of temptations displayed like finely crafted jewelry in a high-end store. Our concept was based on pleasure and the path that led the gourmet consumer on a voyage of discovery, with colors and materials selected to suggest the warm sophistication of fine chocolate. The design blended contemporary sensibilities with a view toward the company’s heritage, leveraging the historical foundations of the brand: the traditional quality, careful ingredient selection and product development. The design concept has been first implemented in the brand’s Brussels stores, and has already been rolled out to more than 70 Neuhaus sales outlets in 15 countries including USA, Japan, China, Germany, Spain, UK.
Low sales counters invite customers to look more closely: the product is magnified while becoming more accessible. The sparkling crystal chandelier brings a hint of fun to this very sophisticated environment.
The Neuhaus ‘N’ serves as an identifying element; its presence represents a seal of the brand’s rich history.
Color palette, material choices and their relations to curvilinear forms all speak to chocolate’s temptation and warm sophistication.
“The Alley of Desire” raises chocolate to the level of a luxurious gourmet product. Displayed on a “discovery” runway, the specialty chocolates stand out and shine like jewelry in its box.
Display cases were designed to resemble tempting jewelry boxes. These create true differentiation for Neuhaus and provide the brand with a distinctive territory: chocolate pleasure.
Combining a coral red color with dark wood makes the space feel warm and luxurious while striking a balance between tradition and modernity.
