My wife recently asked a 35yo work colleague here in Canberra where he grew up. He replied ‘Country Victoria’. She asked where exactly, and he remained evasive. “It must be Moe, then!’ she laughed. He was astounded at her clairvoyance, until she explained that she ‘knows these things’ because her husband was born there. (I’m forever sticking up for Moe and Gippsland)
How did the Moe brand get tarnished? Moe never had a really strong brand – it had a modest population until the late 50s. But it exploded as a service centre to the Latrobe Valley power stations in the 60s and 70s, when its population grew to about 18,000. It was a tough and proud city. But things began turning for the worse a little over a decade ago – SECV retrenchments, house values heading south, folks on welfare arriving from Melbourne, the mysterious death of toddler Jaiden Leske, a State Minister cracking jokes about Moe standing for ‘Moccasins On Everyone’.
I recount this saga not to be smart aleck, but to highlight the importance of external perceptions, brands and re-establishing regional economic capacity. But the problem is often left to local councils which lack the external perspective and resources to do anything about it. Is there scope for clued-up people with an affinity for the region to champion initiatives? In the case of Moe, might they go one step further and rename their city ‘Moet’?
Seriously, Moe has real assets – energy, water, climate, proximity to Melbourne, road and rail services, easy access to beaches, snowfields, forests, and lakes. The Latrobe Valley could also be a global brand in clean coal technology and alternative fuels, and thereby offset its recent misfortunes.
Further reading – ‘The Calf Rarely Brands Itself’ – www.iedconline.org/?p=EDJournal
(This article appears in the Good Oil column of LG Focus – April 2008 issue)
