Moreno Cavaliere has worked in the media industry for many years. Today as director at the Gruppo Corriere del Ticino in Lugano. Cavaliere is a married family man with sporting ambitions and wants to move up a little further in the senior rankings of any competition every year.

Werbewoche.ch: How long have you been in a home office?

Moreno Cavaliere: Ultimately since March 16, but actually two weeks earlier, because Ticino is definitely ahead of us on this topic. I don't mean that in a judgmental way. It is simply a sad fact.

Is your entire business located in a home office?

Wherever possible, yes. But we print various daily and weekly newspapers and have a TV and a radio station. So, of course, a total switch to home office is not possible. But we really do try to do what we can.

Did you face any technical issues while setting up your workstation?

No. Our IT staff and, of course, the network providers are helping to ensure that we really can switch over very smartly. On the contrary, you're amazed at what was possible in a very short time.

Where have you set up?

In our home. But I have to admit that my wife and I have been "part-time home office" experienced for a few years now and have already built up a small infrastructure, which has now simply been upgraded a bit.

Home office with back relief.

What all do you need to be able to do your job?

Well. Laptop, screen, B&O-boobs for the music, headphones, iPhone, iPad, pencil, fountain pen, coffee or tea cup, fast lines (thanks Swisscom!) and off we go!

Is it difficult to separate yourself enough when the children are at home?

We have three boys, but only the youngest is still directly affected. At 14 in a great phase of life. At least for himself... But he does it very neatly and we as parents have little stress with him in this regard.

Based on previous experience: Which processes are difficult compared to normal everyday work?

We have a few video calls per week, in which up to 15 people participate. It's not always easy. But the only thing that's really difficult is the lack of physical interaction with the people you normally meet in everyday life. At the end of the day, a lot of emotionality is missing.

Which jobs go smoothly?

Actually, a lot of things worked out surprisingly smoothly. And that's why - perhaps one of the very few positive aspects of this time - something should stick for the future. Less commuting time, fewer meetings with travel times, less hectic rush hours. Who knows what else will develop for the better.

Should the home office phase last longer: What do they do to prevent the ceiling from falling on your head?

As long as we do not catch a curfew does not happen. Daily jogging or cycling or other outdoor exercise - it's a wonderful spring. Alone or maximum in twos. There is no blanket falling down...

"Asics. Anima sana in corpore sano": Cavaliere during the lunch break.

What do you miss most about the physical workday?

Clearly the encounters with people.

Are you confident that your company will come through the crisis unscathed?

We will survive the crisis. Without a doubt. But certainly not unscathed. The damage to the landscape will be enormous. And the reconstruction will take a long time. Unfortunately. That's why I hope for an early "relaxation" of the restrictions.

"Physical Employee Review in the Age of COVID. So you don't get out of practice."

As we all know, everything has its positive sides. What is it in your current home office situation?

We spend a lot of time having good conversations in the family and we spend a lot less money. Otherwise, unfortunately, I can't find anything positive about the situation.

What would you like to give your colleagues in the industry to take with them through the crisis?

To take up a bon mot from Vladimir Petkovic, our national coach: "We have to stay positive. It takes a lot of positivity". One of his favorite words. Fitting right now, isn't it?

"7 a.m., daily report with myself while jogging. Daily planning and budget adjustment included."

Originally the BZ Bernese Newspaper planned to run a continuation of its "Always the region first" reader campaign on the new neo-advertising billboards at the beginning of April. But with the Corona pandemic overshadowing everything, the idea was developed together with Komet to use these billboards, most of which are located in pedestrian areas, for an appeal to the population instead of conventional advertising.

Unfortunately, not everyone still adheres to the rules of conduct of the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) and stays at home as recommended. Especially when the weather is good, many people can still be seen outside in the squares and alleyways. This is why posters are now hanging all over the capital, directly addressing all passers-by and urging them to act in solidarity with the FOPH. And no medium carries this message more appropriately at the moment than the good old poster.

"This poster is completely in line with the solidarity that is now in demand," said Simon Bärtschi, editor-in-chief of the BZ Bernese Newspaper. "For once, we're making the case for staying home. But our readers don't have to miss a thing - we keep them up to date on our digital channels and with our newspaper."

The Native Ad Manager is an extension to Adconsole, an interactive portal and booking tool for online advertising, and allows advertisers to independently enter performance campaigns for the first time and switch them live within minutes. As the NZZ writes in a statement on Monday, users can register for this on the newly launched Businessclick.ch website and create their campaign with various subjects. Through direct access to the real-time dashboard of the Adconsole, he can view its performance at any time. This means that campaigns can be continuously adjusted to the desired KPIs - these can be click rates, generated leads or conversions.

The advertiser chooses the click price to be paid and thus controls the delivery of the campaign. In this way, campaigns run via the Native Ad Manager should remain easily calculable and cost-efficient, which, according to the NZZ, could be of particular interest to SMEs.

Various targeting options

The native campaigns are delivered within the Audienzz business click network, which comprises150 premium websites and apps throughout Switzerland. The advertising media adapt dynamically to the environment of the website on which they are played. Different targeting options are available to the user for the various positions - for example, targeted playout according to geographical or linguistic criteria. In addition to the Adconsole with integrated Native Ad Manager, Audienzz provides advertisers with a service offering with an integrated support function.

The Audienzz business click network was launched in 2014 and has been growing steadily ever since. The network currently includes 150 partner websites such as Nzz.ch, Bellevue.nzz.ch, Cdt.ch, Finanzen.ch, Laliberte.ch, Lenouvelliste.ch or Watson.ch. This is intended to offer advertisers the opportunity to place their native ads within a high-quality environment and address the desired target group with a precisely tailored message.

"With the two new members of the management board, our steadily growing agency has four more hands on the wheel, who contribute, think critically and share the tasks of operational management," says Philipp Wenzler, co-owner and CEO of Kommpass, who is delighted with the addition. "In addition to the increase in expertise at management level, the many years of trusting cooperation also contributed to the decision."

It was important to the agency to make the choice in light of the coronavirus pandemic. "Difficult times in particular require the best personnel on the bridge," says Philipp Wenzler.

The agency has created a world that can be brought to life quickly and without restriction on all communication channels. The house number "50" was made into a signboard. With the addition of "Föfzg. Fifty. Fifty." a communication element is created on which the entire campaign is built, namely the use of dialect, German and English.

"It was very important to us to develop an approachable appearance and to respond to regional characteristics," says Andrea Zanzerl, Senior Brand & Design Strategist at Die Werbekanzlei. "Therefore, the use of Swiss German is an important part of the branding and hopefully provides a wink or two."

The shopping center opened its doors as early as March 26, 2020. However, not quite as planned. Instead of the planned three-day event with various attractions, a quick rethink was necessary due to COVID-19. So the advertising agency, together with Radio Lozärn, set up a live stream concert. The musician Pablo Nouvelle performed live from the "50". The show was broadcast on social media and radio and reached over 15,000 people.

In addition, a branding wall adorned the building's scaffolding until the opening and drew attention to what was to come. Printed gym bags filled with goodies were ready to take away every morning. The bags were sold out every morning within a short time and thus not only the tenants could be presented in a sympathetic way, but also the people could be made happy.

"Creating a connection with the people in Lucerne was an essential factor. Inspiring people with little things, especially in this day and age, is hugely important. Celebrating the little things and identifying with them is our incentive" says Turan Oeznalci, Creative Director.

Within a very short time, a digital campaign was implemented that continues to grow with the products and tenants. A lot of emphasis is placed on social media.

"A modular concept that can be constantly adapted quickly and experienced in both the online and offline world was our aspiration from the very beginning. It is not limited and so there are many play options that are exciting for tenants and customers," says Fabian Meier, Real Estate Asset Manager at Swiss Life.

The new candies are available in three varieties: With caffeine for an energy boost, with lemon for a vitamin kick or with ginger for feel-good power. The campaign visualizes that Haschi Chews help support the immune system in everyday life, at school, during sports or at work.

Currently, the sweets also help with tips for home, be it in the home office or homeschooling.

The winner in the topicality category is Yves Leresche with a series of images of the women's strike in Lausanne, as the Fondation Reinhardt von Graffenried announced on Friday.

In the Everyday Life category, Adrian Moser won with a series of images on lightning tourism in the Bernese Oberland.

In the Swiss Stories category, Eleni Kougionis is in the running for the "Swiss Press Photographer of the Year" award, with the image series "Gassenarbeit, der Schwarze Peter".

Loris von Siebenthal won in the category Sport with the picture series "Tempête sur le Bol d'Or".

The winner in the foreign category is Christian Bobst with "The Gentle Power of Islam". (SDA)

Images: Swiss Press Photo

ABB has caused a stir: The bosses of the technology group announced on Monday that they will voluntarily forego 10 percent of their salaries with immediate effect for the duration of the crisis. Group CEO Björn Rosengren, who took the helm at ABB at the beginning of March, wants to set a "sign of solidarity," as he explained.

"We must stay strong together - for ABB and our company," was Rosengren's message. The money saved through the salary reduction should help cushion the impact of the coronavirus crisis. ABB expects the pandemic to have a significant impact on the first quarter of 2020.

Rosengren can afford the cutbacks. The target value defined by ABB in its annual report on total compensation is just under CHF 6 million for the current year. However, the actual salary paid out may deviate from this target, and the planned salary sacrifice is also not included in this calculation.

A few days before ABB, TX Group announced that its bosses would forego money. The managing directors of the four TX companies Tamedia, Goldbach, 20 Minuten and TX Markets had decided to waive any claim from the "corporate management profit-sharing program" for the current year, it said. In mid-March, the media group had applied for short-time work for the workforce.

Swissport chief halved

After ABB and the TX Group, the heads of other companies are now following suit: The board members and managers of the traditional Schaffhausen-based company Georg Fischer also want to temporarily waive 10 to 20 percent of their fixed compensation out of solidarity. The money thus released is to be paid to employees from countries with poorly developed social security systems.

Georg Fischer has responded to the current poor order situation by temporarily closing some or all of its plants in Europe and introducing short-time working wherever possible. This also affects production facilities in Switzerland, especially those in Ticino.

At solar supplier Meyer Burger, whose business was already sluggish before the Corona crisis, the workforce in Thun and Hauterive in Neuchâtel will be working short-time from next week. The bosses will immediately forego 15 percent of their salaries. And at Zehnder Group, which specializes in indoor climate systems, management salaries will be cut by 10 percent, while at APG the cut will be as much as 20 percent.

The head of airport services provider Swissport, Eric Born, is prepared to make even more significant cuts. Born wants to give up 50 percent of his pay, as he explained in a TV interview. At the airports, the business situation is so critical that Swissport has ordered the layoff of around 60 percent of its staff by the end of April.

Will the big banks follow?

In the coming days, other company bosses are likely to follow ABB's example. While it is still too early to talk about bonuses, said, for example, the new head of the major bank Credit Suisse Thomas Gottstein in the business program Eco of SRF. "But we are certainly thinking along the lines that we also want to show solidarity."

At UBS, CEO Sergio Ermotti, who will step down in November, made it public that he will donate one million francs in his home canton of Ticino. The bank also plans to donate 30 million US dollars to global and local COVID 19 projects.

However, a UBS spokeswoman left it open at AWP's request whether the largest Swiss bank will also waive its bonus: It is still far too early to make statements on the assessment of bonuses for 2020, she said. This would depend on the course of the financial year and market developments. In the last financial year, Ermotti collected a double-digit million salary - as did his counterpart at Credit Suisse at the time, the resigned Tidjane Thiam. (SDA)

The public and the public at large have never needed reliable information journalism so much, according to a statement issued Thursday. But the coronavirus pandemic is driving the Swiss media industry into one of the worst crises in its history. Advertising revenues are collapsing, and the survival of numerous press titles, local radio and television stations, and journalistic websites is at stake.

The organizations are therefore calling on the Federal Council, Parliament and the cantons to take urgent action. They say action must be taken immediately to support an industry that is essential for direct democracy.

The organizations are calling for an aid fund to make delivery even more affordable and ensure the survival of printers, titles, broadcasters, press agencies, journalistic online platforms and websites. In addition, there needs to be a support fund for research and reporting.

The organizations are basically preaching to the choir. The Council plans to provide additional support for the media. Additional discounts for postal delivery, support for online media and contributions to training and agencies are planned. The Federal Council held out the prospect of a package of measures by next summer. In view of the dramatic slump in advertising, it may then be too late for some media. (SDA)

As the effects of COVID-19 continued to be felt in the marketing, creative and media industries, he said, it became clear that priorities had shifted to the need to protect people and ensure the preservation of businesses, society and the economy. The difficult decision was made in consultation with partners and customers, he said.

"The marketing and creative industries - as well as many others - are in turmoil at the moment," Philip Thomas, chairman of Cannes Lions, is quoted as saying. "It's clear that we can do our small part by removing speculation about this year's festival. We tried to make our decision as early as possible, which is why we are communicating this move today."

The organizers had already prepared a Alternative date for the festival originally planned for June 2020, and also shortly thereafter the definite postponement to October communicates. (pd/swi)

Because since mid-March, the world has been a different place. The Federal Council declared a state of emergency for Switzerland and brought public life largely to a standstill. Travel to the country has not been possible since then. And everyone else is urged to stay at home.

Hotels may remain open under special conditions. The Federal Council and the cantons are trying to keep the accommodations free as support for military and nursing staff or light cases from the hospitals.

Others try to rent out their hotel rooms as "temporary home offices. Nevertheless: Many establishments have closed their doors in order to reduce running costs.

Hardly any overview

"It's difficult at the moment to keep track of how many hotels are open," Markus Berger, head of corporate communications at the Switzerland Tourism organization, told AWP news agency on Friday.

According to a survey by Hotelleriesuisse and Switzerland Tourism, 57 percent of establishments were fully closed and 21 percent partially closed at the end of March. According to a directory from Hotelleriesuisse, however, only 400 hotels have currently reported being open despite the current situation.

That's 5 percent of the roughly 8,000 accommodations in Switzerland. "That's certainly not all of them," emphasized Berger, who called on hoteliers with open facilities to sign up for the register.

This would also be in the interest of tourism expert Vincenzo Carelli from the Federal Statistical Office FSO. Because without feedback from the hoteliers, the FSO cannot compile statistics.

How and what data the FSO will publish for the month of March is currently open. "Everything depends on how we get the data and closing periods for the month," Carelli told AWP.

Billions fall away

Swiss tourism has been losing billions since the emergency measures due to the pandemic and the sealing off of borders. According to the survey by Hotelleriesuisse and Switzerland Tourism, Swiss hotels will lose massive amounts of revenue in March (-69%), April (-90%) and May (-73%).

Based on an annual turnover of the Swiss hotel industry of 10.2 billion Swiss francs, a loss in turnover of almost 2 billion Swiss francs is therefore to be expected for the months of March to May alone.

Swiss tourism as a whole would lose 6.4 billion Swiss francs from March to May alone due to the coronavirus. Switzerland Tourism cites a study by the Institute of Tourism at the University of Applied Sciences Western Switzerland HES-SO Valais-Wallis.

In fact, not only hoteliers are affected by the closures, but also restaurateurs, cable cars and other transport companies or landlords of vacation homes and apartments, the so-called parahotellerie.

By way of comparison, total tourism revenues in Switzerland amounted to 44.7 billion Swiss francs in 2017. Tourism therefore plays a significant role in the Swiss economy.

All was well until February

Yet the tourism year had started better than it had for a long time. Tourists were pouring into the country en masse, and with them the money.

Specifically, the number of overnight stays in January and February climbed by 6.3 and 6.4 percent respectively to a total of 6.3 million. Both Swiss and foreign guests slept more frequently in local hotels.

Even the Corona crisis was hardly able to affect the sector at the beginning of the year. Although the number of overnight hotel stays by guests from China fell by almost 62 percent in February, the number of guests from the euro countries (+16%) vacationing in Switzerland was higher than it had been for a long time. They more than made up for the shortfall, especially since February is not a typical travel month for Asian tourists in Switzerland.

So the prospects for Swiss tourism were bright - until the corona virus came along. Or as Switzerland Tourism puts it: a dramatic end after a promising start. (SDA)

OpenSpace Beta

The handbook for organizational transformation in just 90 days. 

• Author: Silke Hermann and Niels Pfläging
• Publisher: Vahlen, 2020
• Pages: 152
• ISBN: 9783800660544

OpenSpace Beta is an approach that enables companies to achieve rapid, thorough change from within. It largely works without external consultants and instead utilizes the potential of employees. This means that no external concept is imposed on them - they help shape the change and eliminate known shortcomings in the process. The authors Silke Hermann and Niels Pfläging promise that employees will also accept the changes better as a result. An approach with great potential and a book recommendation for anyone who wants to change their organization.

Systemic tools for successful project management

Concepts, methods, case studies

• Author: Simone Gehr, Joanne Huang, Michael Boxheimer and Sonja Armatowski
• Publisher: Springer Gabler, 2018
• Pages: 147
• ISBN: 9783658199883

Traditional project management focuses primarily on processes - the human factor is left out. This is where systemic project management comes in: In addition to task lists and schedules, it brings other tools, so-called systemic interventions, into play. The four authors use numerous examples to show what this means in practice. The systemic theory is not neglected either, although this part is a little slow. Nevertheless, a highly recommended book for project managers and all those who want to become one.

Innovation management under extreme uncertainty

New methods for evaluating ideas at the start of the innovation process

• Author: Stefanie Vollmann
• Publisher: Büchner-Verlag, 2018
• Pages: 188
• ISBN: 9783963171192

Failed market launches of innovations are often due to mistakes made at the very beginning of the innovation process. Although it is known how important this phase is, it is often neglected. Author Stefanie Vollmann wants to change this and presents a novel phase model for the evaluation of innovation ideas in her book. The book offers an overview of many evaluation tools, but reads slowly due to the many references. Nevertheless, it is recommended reading for anyone involved in innovation.

The fearless organization

How to create psychological safety in the workplace for more development, learning and innovation. 

• Author: Amy C. Edmondson
• Publisher: Vahlen, 2020
• Pages: 196
• ISBN: 9783800660674

Many people are familiar with this: dangerous mistakes are made in companies, colleagues are silenced or great opportunities are overlooked. And no one protests - for fear of the consequences. Amy C. Edmondson backs up her passionate plea against the culture of silence with impressive case studies: Many fatal accidents in the aviation or nuclear industries could have been prevented, seriously ill people saved and companies saved from bankruptcy if someone had raised the alarm in time. This practical guide helps to create the necessary conditions for this.