Impolite Diaries | Terver Bendega

Your Business Needs More Negative Reviews

Posted on March 2, 2021March 2, 2021 by Terver

Bald is the new head, hairy is the new face, hand sanitiser is the new face of fear, veganism is the new “tastes like chicken,” texting is the new talking and embracing a mix of negative and positive reviews is the new face of business authenticity.

If you’re a business owner or brand custodian, you’ve probably been raised on the idea that positive 5-star reviews are all your business needs. It’s not hard to imagine why. Afterall, before you buy something online– whether it’s food at a restaurant, clothes or downloading a service application, you probably check the reviews to see if it’s worth the try.

So you should do everything in your power to try and get 5-star reviews across the board and prevent any negative reviews, right?

Spotting bogus deals this Black Friday

Posted on November 23, 2020November 23, 2020 by Terver

Over the weekend, Nigerian musician 9ice released an “apology” video asking fans to intervene in his 3rd marriage by pleading with his wife to forgive his infidelity.

Outside of my initial shock at the sheer manipulativeness of the entire situation, my next thought was just how dodgy it all was– the background music, the trademark patriarchal selfishness of the apology, the camera angles.

Bogus. Like many of the Black Friday deals you’ll be seeing this week.
With all the hype around Black Friday, you’ll be tempted to operate under the impression that every offer is worth trampling over fellow shoppers to get in on– both online and offline with retailers and grocers slashing prices to ‘rock bottom’ levels for one day only.

But research has found that that’s rarely the case.

27 life lessons I learned before turning 27

Posted on November 5, 2020November 5, 2020 by Terver

1. Whether or not you need to, pee before getting in a car. Even if it’s only a short drive, Lagos traffic will humble you.

2. Happiness comes and goes, so aim for contentment. This can sometimes be achieved with a cold bowl of yogurt and granola. Or a cookie.

3. Choose small consistent efforts over sweeping life-changing declarations.

Managing up, the beginners guide to managing your manager

Managing upwards: the beginners guide to managing your manager

Posted on October 5, 2020October 6, 2020 by Terver

Managing upwards or learning what your boss needs and delivering on that can be an even bigger success factor than being “good” at your job.

Here are 16 handy tips to managing your manager:

Why everyone in marketing should read (African) fiction

Posted on September 30, 2020September 30, 2020 by Terver

Thirteen odd years ago, in my final leg of senior secondary, my school got a new literature teacher– Mr Eden. Mr Eden was graceful. Even while wielding a whip, he talked and walked like little blue birds helped him get dressed in the morning.

In his second week in school, we had a conversation about writing influences and at the time, obsessed with detective and mystery novels, I excitedly told him how much I was learning about pain, ambition and betrayal and how these books helped transport me to an alternate reality. He looked at me with a knowing smile and said “Yes. But, can you truly relate with those stories?” and then proceeded to lend me three of his favorite books, one of which was Chimamanda Adichie’s “Purple Hibiscus.”

The personal brand’s guide to surviving a PR crisis in Nigeria

Posted on September 8, 2020September 9, 2020 by Terver

Over the weekend, Erica, one of the most talked about housemates on the Big Brother Nigeria show had an alcohol fuelled outburst that culminated in her disqualification from the house.

While I think of myself as a passive watcher of the reality TV show, as a fan of human and consumer behaviour I was keen to see two things:

How she would handle the fallout of the nights incidents the morning after
How her team of social media handlers would control or at least contain the narrative.

The events that unfolded the morning after included an in-person apology to the housemates and a (now deleted) post on Instagram that was in equal parts apologetic and defensive.

Do I think Erica should have apologised? Yes and No.

18 THINGS NO ONE TELLS YOU ABOUT BEING A FIRST-TIME MANAGER

Posted on August 24, 2020August 24, 2020 by Terver

Every once in a while, I have life changing epiphanies.

Here’s my most recent one: after years of struggle, I have finally figured out how to eat cookies in bed without making a mess.

The trick? Break the crumbs into bite-sized pieces while they’re still in the box. Then and only then should you pop the biscuits into your mouth- allowing you a regret free snack in bed.

Like regret free cookies in bed, I break down the “Things no one tells you about being a first-time Manager” into 18 bite-sized pieces in this blogpost.

Can an advert be so bad, it’s good?

Posted on August 10, 2020August 11, 2020 by Terver

Last week, there was a viral tweet about the “poor” quality of ads airing on Big Brother Nigeria. According to the poster, with all the money spent buying media placement, the brands would have done well to invest in better quality advertising.

As a marketing person with an advertising agency background, my first instinct was to strongly agree. As a conscious “anti-hearder”, my next instinct was to think “but an ad can be so bad that it becomes a cult classic and ends up actually being really good!”