Leffe's first-ever sonic identity captures its abbey heritage

Belgian beer brand Leffe, part of the Anheuser-Busch InBev portfolio, partnered with Jones Knowles Ritchie (JKR) and Massive Music London to create the brand's first sonic identity. Leffe hopes it can capture the brand's 800-year-old heritage in order to broaden its appeal.

Leffe is an iconic European beer brand that is part of the Anheuser-Busch InBev portfolio. It originates from Notre-Dame de Leffe, a monastery in Dinant, Belgium and dates all the way back to 1240.

It partnered with JKR and Massive Music London to create the 'Leffe Sonic System'. The identity, named ‘The Sound of Monastic Divinity', aims to capture the long-standing heritage of Leffe in order to stand out amongst its competitors.

The sonic identity was created in the original Leffe Abbey and used the acoustics of a bursting balloon. The sound was then converted into a digital reverberation. Providing added versatility, Leffe's new sonic identity has two distinctive assets: a short, memorable sonic logo and a long-form sonic palette.  

The sonic logo starts with an organ melody and builds into a chorus. It ends with choral voices and a bell. Meanwhile, the sonic palette was created as a standalone brand asset but is flexible for future content and activations. It can be edited to be more monastic or more modern depending on context. 

Lourenço Arriaga, marketing director at Leffe, comments, “As we looked at the beer category, we noticed it lacked distinctive and memorable sonic identities. In fact, many brands were relying on generic 'refreshment signifiers' and a wide variety of music, which created inconsistencies.

"We realised that there was a huge amount of potential in using sound to truly resonate with consumers and create a more enriching and unique sensorial world for the brand."