Entertainment with Moa in Kiwiland

Hi all,

A bit of a laugh for you all today, courtesy of a friend in Chch.

Now I like Geoff Ross. I think what he did with 42 Below was cheeky and had just the right amount of irreverance and panache. However, the Ecoya thing for me had the marketing oomph of a 'pfft'. 

Now Mr Ross has become CEO of Moa, the Marlborough craft beer set up by Josh Scott (of Allan Scott family fame). Moa has decided to raise a chunk of change with an NZX float, and they have done a bit of a marketing make-over of what was a pretty good craft beer, drunk by craft beer drinkers. You know, the kind of people who are happy to shell out for Founders Tall Blonde or a Mussel Inn Captain Cooker. People who like beer, not to look good, but because they LOVE it.

So, there has been a bit of a burst of venom generated by Moa's IPO, where their brand-spanking (!) brand image may not quite have entered popular culture in a good way:

• http://philcook.net/beerdiary/2012/10/13/the-moa-ipo/#comments
• http://publicaddress.net/8230
• http://publicaddress.net/up-front/moa-sub-standard/
• http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10840093
• http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/7808884/Moa-Beer-ruffles-feathers-with-prospectus
• https://twitter.com/search?q=%23momentsofmanhood (love the Don Brash ones)
• http://atheistpinkosluts.tumblr.com/post/33396770885/moa-made-by-decent-brewers-marketed-by-wankers
• http://atheistpinkosluts.tumblr.com/page/2
• Download the prospectus here: http://media.nzherald.co.nz/webcontent/document/pdf/201241/investment.pdf (and seriously, check out the tone of the 'ads'!)

Love some of the comments, take the Herald: "Ross told BusinessDesk the document targeted the 30 to 50 year-old, high income men that Moa seeks as both customers and investors as it pushes to create an identifiably New Zealand brand in the fast-growing boutique beer market, especially the US. 'It is somewhat Mad Men,' he said, appealing to 'men who want moments of manhood.[...] If you go to (Wellington waterfront restaurant) Shed 5 on a Friday, there a whole lot of guys in suits having a drink. It's their vernacular, their mentality.'" Hmm. Aren't those guys in Shed 5 drinking 85% mainstream draughts anyway? And why was it Moa needed to look like 1960s misogynists again...? Oops - and how is this New Zealand's beer if we are focused on selling it to Americans...?

Moa's strapline "New Zealand's beer, globally". Hmm. Maybe a new strapline... perhaps "New Zealand's beer, w*nky-wannabe"?

It has a ring to it :-D