Which brand do we think is strongest Bradford Northern or Bradford Bulls?

I might know someone who is interested in your responses

Bulls definitely. I was brought up on Northern but they're the past.

The Bulls brand was one of the few to really take off in 96 and if you asked anyone in town now about the Bulls they'd know what you meant.

If you asked about Northern only folk over a certain age (40+) may know who you're on about and then not many.

The past 4 years of strife aren't a reason to re-brand. Money should be spent on more worthwhile things IMO.

As you say there's a lot of work to do to turn the club around. The brand is the least important thing to worry about. Less blue sky thinking and more actual action needed!

I'd stick with Bradford Bulls if it were me. The younger generations (the future) won't even remember the Northern days.
The club had its most successful period under the Bulls moniker so I think dropping it would be a bad move.

Bulls. People outside of RL recognise it more then they would Northern.

Pretty much this.

I'd also add that most of us who do remember Northern and weren't overly keen on the name change in the first place, are over it. We've come round and unlike the Giants who still refer to their team as Fartown, we've pretty much lost all the old names now (such as Steam Pigs). When you add that to those who don't remember Northern, I think it's a no brainer personally.

The last few years may be associated with the Bulls name, but so are the 2001-2005 years where we were dominant, as well as plenty of other years before it which were pretty special too.

Bulls, for all reasons previously mentioned.

My first memories of Odsal are from the 1960's so there's a certain nostalgia for Northern. I also think that moniker has a certain uniqueness- like the Wednesday in Sheffield.
However for all the reasons already cited, it would be daft to revert to that title. The idea of the Bulls came from Peter Deakin . He was a marketing genius and if it was good enough for him it will do for me.

Bulls for me too. It's not quite most of my life but it's most of my adult and actual supporting life. It is easily the one I have the connection to.

At this stage I am grateful for anything but what I want is meat and potatoes.

Bulls. Has brand strength still. Northern doesn't have the negatives, but is much weaker, especially in the under 40's group

Going "traditional" is a hipster thing.

Bulls. All younger generation who are our future support base have never known anything else.

Bulls definitely.

All it needs is a few years of stability, growth, continuing to promote the great academy players into the first team and people will eventually forget all the rubbish that is currently going on. The Bulls brand is far more marketable and recognisable.

However I have only ever known Bulls and so am somewhat biased.

Look at it this way. My nephew is 4 years old. He knows nothing of rugby aside from when he's seen me, my dad and bro watching games on the tv. Yet whenever I am in his presence wearing a Bulls shirt he points at the Bull and asks me about it, asks why it is on the shirt, asks about why I am wearing it. As a result he became interested in my sister's old Bullman teddy which my parents still keep at their house and we have even got him saying "Come on You Bulls" when he sees the Bull.

It'll be this type of interest that will eventually get him to want to come to a game with us one Sunday and hopefully when he sees Bullman at the game and experiences it live he will want to come back and eventually start to appreciate the rugby.

I don't know that Northern would have quite the same effect.

Bulls. No doubt.

Even though I still like a chorus of "oh when the pigs, go steaming in" from time to time.

Definatley the Bulls brand. When people think of the Bulls there are memories of Bullmania, the all conquering sides of the early 2000's and Bullman/Bullboy. The mascots are still a strong concept for this club even throughout the administrations and for me that part of the Bulls brand should be strong going forward to engage the local kids again.

Having a stable club with investment in the facilities (if there is developments to be made on the Odsal site) and good financial plans to make the club thrive will be more than enough for this dark period to be buried. Competitiveness on the field and development off the field will make the Bulls brand appealing once again!

Also Frank as a personal favour can you ask the new owners to play Run With The Bulls a little bit more please! Get some identity back on matchdays!

Let's try something different.

Like Cougars.

Now, can we get this thread to 300 pages before the other one?

We need a change of name, something like Red, Amber and Black Sox.

Bradford Administration.

It'll save time in the long run

I like both!

Rebranding with the boars head seems appealing.

Wakey have just done it for the better..

I'm under 40 too.

The local press in Workington/Whitehaven still call us Northern!

To be fair, they've only just electricity up there, so it's not that surprising.

They also have Charles and Diana commemorative plates on their walls.

They were 'Northern' for double the time they were 'Bulls', during my time as a supporter, but to go back would be a retrograde move imo. Bully Bully for me!

TBF even if they did rebrand as northern everyone would still refer to us as bulls. Same as we always call stadium odsal whatever its current sponsor name is.

Think the Bulls brand has a stronger commercial presence than Northern could ever have. Those teams that have re-branded and gone back to tradition did not/have not fully embrace the identities. Wakefield and Hull are recent examples. However at Bradford we did embrace the change and I think dropping it would be a mistake.

What I think it needs is a re-fresh, a spruce up call it what you will. The last owner started this by the new look Bull on the training/leisurewear and I think looking at this would be a good start for the new management team.

That said, they won't have much time before the start of the season. I'd imagine that the shirts are already decided on and this would include the original badge (maybe sponsors too?). Is there really time to get all this changed before the first game of the season?

the only reason there was opposition to changing away from "Northern" is because people had over a long time become sentimentally attached to that weird and generic moniker. It has now completely lost any cachet it had, except maybe a faint nostalgic ring for a few. Can't imagine why anyone would ever even consider resurrecting it. Or dropping "Bulls", around which standard the fans have for the last few years faithfully rallied to keep that name alive.

Also, I would imagine some worried faces in the marketing and design operation. How do you draw, design and sell "northerns"?

No, if we do survive, and have to change, then in view of our resilience, my suggestion would be Bradford Tardigrades. Which look cuddly and are rock hard.