You don’t have to be a huge beer lover to know the name Pilsner Urquell. Settled in Czech Republic almost two centuries ago, Pilsner Urquell is a beer brand characterised by its golden colour and clarity.

That’s not all. Next to being known for its golden beer, Pilsner now wants to be one of the first beer brands to be recognisable by sound as well.

Their new sonic identity needed to be distinctive, ownable and memorable, but also enhance the ‘Keepers of the Craft’ brand proposition to elevate Pilsner above competitors.

Mimicking the words sung by Coldplay ages ago, we said to ourselves “Let’s take it back to the start.”

In 1842, Pilsner Urquell brewed the world’s first golden Pilsner beer in their brewery in Plzeň, Czech Republic. Today, they still brew Pilsner Urquell in the same brewery. We needed to create a sonic brand that captured the rich history of this brand in a contemporary way.

The fact that their Pilsner beer is still brewed in the same way with the same ingredients inspired our concept, ‘The Original Source’.

To translate this into music, we took advantage of their unique sound source: the brewery itself – the beating heart of the brand.

Joe Bush, Senior Creative Strategist at MassiveMusic London, says: “To create the sound of Pilsner Urquell, we went to the heart of the brand: the brewery itself – an amazing space, full of heritage and story. We recorded the sounds of key areas of the brewery, and also instruments being played within it, and embedded these sounds at the core of Pilsner Urquell’s sonic brand identity. It’s great to finally see their ownable and memorable sound world coming together, ready to enhance all touchpoints for years to come.”

By recording the sounds of the brewery, we brought this magical place to life through music: the industrious thumping of the cooperage, the proud, metallic copper tanks, the waves of crashing barley, the cavernous calm of the cellars.

These sounds became our instruments, our brewing orchestra, and formed the basis of the Pilsner Urquell sonic brand.

We also recorded more traditional instruments within the brewery, capturing melodies and tones in characterful, unique spaces, breathing an air of warmth and realness to the music.

All of this combined created a unique, contemporary, authentic sonic experience that celebrates craft and passion – ‘The Original Source’ quite literally, in sound.

After recording the unique sound of the brewery and musicians playing within it, we took these recordings and used modern music production techniques to build Pilsner Urquell’s sonic identity. The result is a unique, ownable sonic brand in which you can hear the sound of the brewery and craftsmanship throughout, yet still feels contemporary to match the brand’s positioning.

Now, if that doesn’t deserve a beer, we don’t know anymore 🍻