FRANKFURT — German PR firm HFN has relaunched as Sugarandspice, with a new RebelMouse sales partnership that underscores its commitment to 'social discovery'.

HFN, founded by Fritz Nollert in 1994, is now led by former Waggener Edstrom SVP Manuel Huettl. As Sugarandspice, the firm aims to combine expertise in storytelling with analytics, community building and content management tools.

The sales partnership with content platform RebelMouse covers Germany and the UK, and hopes to help marketers qualify their target audiences, look for prospects in the right online communities and have greater confidence that their content will engage prospects and motivate them to buy.

"We are excited to partner with sugarandspice in the European market," said RebelMouse founder/CEO Paul Berry. "These guys truly understand the correlation between a great content strategy and its successful amplification. We are sure that RebelMouse will enhance what sugarandspice has to offer, and they will be able to maximize how effective the RebelMouse toolset can be for their clients."

Sugarandspice's offering now includes such areas as predictive analytics (via partners Cogia and Unicepta), storytelling and content management, helping the firm land new business from  PowerGen, Pegas, Amevida, SugarCRM and Bogner.

"Everyone in marketing understands the world is changing fast, but wading through the hype is very difficult," said Huettl, who now serves as owner and principal at sugarandspice. "We’re here to help our clients demystify the technology and realise its potential for brands. We combine storytelling and technology to help clients discover who is most likely to buy their products."

Along with Huettl and Nollert, the firm's management board also includes Karl-Friedrich Brenner. The team of 10 is split between Frankfurt and Munich.