SPENDING £2m on a regional image campaign seems a strange use of public money. At a launch of the initiative this week, its promoters, One NorthEast, the regional development agency, and the North-East Regional Assembly, said research had identified that people in the region had a poor image of the place.

The "Here. Now." PR campaign would encourage the region to feel better about itself, some of the region's business and media chiefs were told.

Leaving aside the issue of how the words "Here. Now." would encourage a sense of pride of place among the region's residents, they very concept of a introspective regional PR campaign should be questioned. Surely it is patronising in extreme to tell local people how they should think about the North-East.

People's perceptions are based upon their day-to-day reality. Those enjoying a good quality of life don't need telling about it. Those whose lot is not so rosy don't need to have the fact that they are being denied the benefits of living in a great region shoved down their throats.

We have been here before of course. A decade or more back the Great North campaign tried to do a similar thing with the region's self-image. Whilst the Great North had the benefit of being rather more immediately understandable, it foundered on the reality of how the region actually was - great in parts.

In 2002, the people of the North-East know they live in a mostly great place. They know of the benefits, some of which, like the countryside, are just obvious. But they also know of its weaknesses, such as isolation from the booming South-East and its struggle to find a post-industrial economic role. A puff-ball PR effort has no relevance here.