Abbey Duncan-Hughes

Think about the last time you wanted to know something. Did you Google it? Or did you ask ChatGPT? Ask Siri? Use Google’s AI results? Maybe you simply spoke the question into your phone. For years, we’ve become accustomed to adapting the way we communicate to suit a search engine. Need a plumber? Type “plumber Kaitaia”. Looking for somewhere for dinner? “Best restaurant Kerikeri”. Want some marketing help? “Marketing consultant Northland”. Short, functional search terms designed to get Google...

Here's my logo. If you know TopGate Marketing, hopefully you recognise it. And that’s exactly the point. I don’t need you to stop and study it. I don’t need to reinvent it every year or tweak it every time a new design trend comes along. I want you to see it and know it’s TopGate. Because one of the most valuable things you can build into a brand isn’t newness. It’s recognition. And recognition comes from something that can sometimes feel surprisingly uncomfortable in marketing: Repetition....

Imagine hiring an employee who worked 24 hours a day. Never took annual leave. Never called in sick. Never asked for a pay rise. Sounds pretty good, doesn’t it? The funny thing is, most businesses already have one. It’s their website. Yet it’s often one of the most overlooked assets a business owns. I’ve met plenty of business owners who invest heavily in advertising, social media and networking, while their website quietly sits in the background looking much the same as it did five or ten...