The Sound Of Huel
Fuelling The Feeling
Client: Huel
Roles: Sonic Strategy, Sonic Branding, Music Composition
Category: Sonic Branding
Year: 2022
Molecular Sound created Huel's sonic identity, working directly with the brand to build a bespoke sound for their mission of providing nutritionally complete food. The result is an award-winning sonic brand that runs across content, campaigns and product touchpoints, and Huel calls it one of the best branding investments they've made since their logo.
The Brief
Huel needed a sound that felt purposeful, modern and rooted in daily rituals, something that could stand up alongside their mission of nutritionally complete food and their "Human Fuel" ethos. It had to work everywhere: across content, campaigns and product touchpoints, consistent enough to guide partners and creatives working on the brand day to day.
How We Made It
We recorded the sounds of Huel's own products, from scoops and shakers to powder and packaging, and used them as raw material throughout the track: two scoops struck together, for example, became the percussive pop that runs through it. Blended with processed electronics and a pulsing motif, it brings sounds from the Huel world customers already know into the digital space, so the result feels energised and intentional: familiar, functional, and full of fuel.
Sonic Logo & Brand Track
The identity starts with a short sonic logo, built for stings, in-app moments and social cuts, then expands into a full brand track built from recordings of Huel's own products, from scoops and shakers to powder and packaging.
Listen
Brand Variations
Alongside the core track, we built variations for different moods and moments across Huel's content and campaigns, including a higher-energy edit for more upbeat placements.
Listen
Sonic Cues
Every cue in this library, from whooshes to pops, opens to closes, is an original recording of a Huel product: scoops, shakers, powder, packaging. Rather than reach for stock sound design, we brought sounds from the Huel world customers already know into the digital space, giving the identity a consistent, familiar voice across product and content touchpoints.
Sonic Guide
Alongside the sound itself, we made Huel a sonic guide: the book that turns a set of audio files into a brand anyone can use. It lays out what Huel sounds like and why, built on the brand's Human plus Fuel idea, then walks through every asset and how to use it, from the three-second sonic logo to the brand theme, the sound cues and the voiceover direction. It also covers the practical stuff, how to search for on-brand music and how to brief a composer. The point was consistency. Huel's marketing runs across a lot of hands and a lot of platforms, so the guide keeps the brand sounding like itself whether it's a TikTok, a product launch or a video in the office, without everyone starting from scratch.
The team at Molecular are the top of their game. Their workshopping approach to building a sonic identity didn't just build an award winning sonic brand for Huel - it helped us dive deeper into our brand positioning and audience. The sonic guidelines are one of the best branding investments we've made since our logo - we send it off to various partners and creatives on a daily basis. And last but certainly not least, our sonic logo continues to be imitated around the office with glowing feedback - a positive sign it's really here to stay for the long haul.
Audrey Madden
Creative Strategist @ Huel
Credits
- Dave ConnollyComposer
