As yet another documentary focusing on Bradford looms in the TV schedules, DAVID BARNETT wonders what it is about the district that keeps the film crews coming back... and whether we need an image makeover

Bradford, it seems, is the London-centric media’s one-stop shop for gritty realism.

If it’s grim up North, then the grimmest of the lot is Bradford, if a cursory viewing of TV over the last few years is anything to go by. Child poverty? Social deprivation? Racial tensions? Check, check and check. Two hours of TV in the can and trebles all round at the Groucho Club.

Channel 4 – one of the biggest offenders when it comes to picking on Bradford for its social realism documentaries – has brought Bradford to the fore again with Make Bradford British, due to air on March 1. Billed by Channel 4 as “a radical social experiment”, this comes across as a post-Ouseley Big Brother that is set in Bradford because, according to the channel, we are regarded as “one of the most segregated cities in Europe”.

Exactly why Bradford has become shorthand for all these things isn’t too hard to fathom – the 2001 riots still loom large in the public consciousness, despite being toppled as mainland Britain’s worst disturbances by last year’s events in London, and while the dark satanic mills of yore are largely lying empty or converted to apartments these days, the city is still a handy byword for post-industrial Britain.

Outsiders, of course, tend not to focus on the efforts being made to promote Bradford. Last year’s Positive Bradford day, which is being repeated this year, was the masterfully-measured local response to the English Defence League’s damp squib of a protest in 2010. And those with longer memories might remember the bears that roamed free in the city some time ago as part of the Bradford’s Bouncing Back campaign.

Susie Delves, now running the Results Factory Associates PR and marketing firm based in Otley, remembers. She says: “As a Bradford lass myself I would refer you initially to the Bradford’s Bouncing Back campaign many years ago which I think managed successfully to raise Bradford’s profile and reputation. The area became a weekend tourist destination at this time – mostly for curry and countryside.”

So how would Susie sell the district today? She says: “There are many positive cultural and historical aspects to Bradford – a huge number of listed buildings, textile history, the Alhambra, the Media Museum, the Brontes, Salts Mill, canals, stunning countryside.

“I would focus on a ‘Made in Bradford’ campaign on individuals shaped by Bradford and what they have gone on to achieve to counter the deprivation/poverty view portrayed.”

Suzanne Johns, managing director of Little Germany-based Approach PR, is from a family of Bradfordians and chose to locate her business in the city which is synonymous with a work ethic that runs through her family’s lineage.

She says: “Bradford has so many positives that are overlooked because it’s far easier and more interesting for people to focus on the negatives – we live in a moan-and-groan society where it’s the done thing to follow the crowd rather than stand up against it.

“Good PR – whether for a product, a business, a service or a location such as Bradford – should dispel myths, hype and rumour by consistently and relentlessly educating people, which creates an understanding and a deeper appreciation of the subject at hand.

“Bradford isn’t a ‘me too’ brand. We’ve got too much character and a history of our own to want or need to try and be a Leeds, Manchester or York. Bradford is an evolving city based on solid foundations of industrial might and taking the lead on transformational decisions in society. We’re evolving because of our past, not in spite of it. We are Bradford and every one of us has a job to do in educating outsiders and reminding ourselves about the true value of our district and what it means to us. We should all be loud and proud and work together to fuel the fire and the good work that initiatives such as Positive Bradford have started. Bradford’s PR starts at home and it starts with every one of us.”

Jag Panesar, of Xpand Marketing in Saltaire, agrees. Given the hypothetical brief of promoting Bradford, he says: “Let’s assume that there isn’t any marketing for the city. The first thing I would look into is promoting the city to its residents. One of the most frequent things I hear from people that are Bradford born and bred is ‘Bradford is rubbish’ or ‘I can’t wait to move out of Bradford’, or other comments of that kind.

“If the locals are not speaking well of it, how will the rest of the country? The most effective form of marketing is positive word of mouth. On the same hand, the most destructive form of marketing is negative word of mouth.

“There needs to be a strong and ongoing emphasis on promoting the city to locals. Once its residents have pride in the city, this will start to show in people’s interaction with the media. If negative word of mouth starts to decrease and positive word of mouth starts to increase, half of the problem of Bradford’s negative perception will be solved.

“There is no fixed rule for promoting a brand as every brand is different – especially when the brand is made up of a population of thousands. We all make what Bradford is. The rest of the country can only believe that Bradford is a nice city when the population itself starts believing in Bradford.”