A quirky brand story for Leftfield

Leftfield Wines was never interested in behaving like a traditional wine brand. In a category crowded with heritage cues, tasting jargon and carefully polished sophistication, Leftfield deliberately leaned the other way. The brand embraced curiosity, individuality and a sense of creative unpredictability, appealing to people who saw themselves as slightly outside the mainstream.

 

The audience wasn’t defined by age, income or life stage.

It was defined by mindset.

Leftfield wanted to connect with people who questioned convention, distrusted pretension and preferred authenticity over expertise. People who valued creativity, originality and experiences that felt less scripted.

Our role was to help sharpen and articulate that philosophy through a new brand story and character copy that captured the personality of the brand more clearly and consistently.

Rather than talking about wine in traditional category language, we built the narrative around the idea of “the other side”. A metaphorical world occupied by curious, imaginative people who resist sameness and see life a little differently from everyone else.

The resulting copy became intentionally playful, rebellious and slightly surreal, giving the brand a stronger emotional identity while helping distinguish it from competitors relying on more conventional wine storytelling.

An important part of the project involved expanding the personalities of Leftfield’s distinctive steampunk-inspired creatures, each representing a different wine within the range.

These characters gave the brand an opportunity to talk about flavour profiles and wine characteristics in a much more entertaining and human way. Instead of relying on technical tasting descriptions, each wine became a personality with quirks, emotions and behaviours audiences could relate to.

The Flamingo Recluse, representing Pinot Noir, became the introverted creative with hidden depth beneath a colourful exterior.

The Squidcrab Pinot Gris evolved into an emotional, warm-hearted character balancing sweetness and spice with chaotic honesty.

The Lizard Fish Chardonnay took on the role of the socially intuitive observer, effortlessly balanced and universally liked.

By personifying the wines through storytelling rather than traditional wine terminology, Leftfield was able to make the category feel less intimidating, less self-important and far more approachable to its audience.

The final result strengthened the distinctiveness of the brand voice and reinforced Leftfield’s positioning as a wine brand for people who prefer originality over convention.

Not just wine from the vineyard, but wine from the other side.

TESTIMONIAL: Gabrielle Manu, Global Villa Maria
“Leftfield holds a unique position in our portfolio and required an equally unique approach. What made this project a special one for us is Steve’s refreshingly different approach to brand storytelling. Anyone can ‘talk the talk’ but Steve and his team were able to deliver a strategic direction and brand story that didn’t just talk at people – it invited them into the story.”

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