Lack of social contact, existential fears or the death of a loved one: the current Corona crisis is unsettling many people and can cause lives to become unbalanced. SRG, together with other media houses and several organizations, is supporting the nationwide "Action Day on Mental Health in Times of Corona" proclaimed by the Federal Office of Public Health FOPH for Thursday and is taking an in-depth look at how to deal with mental challenges and ways out of the crisis with thematic focuses on the stations.

For example, SRF will discuss the issue under the title "How are you?" in the program "Treffpunkt" on Radio SRF1 starting at 10 a.m., and SRF info will repeat the program "Sternstunde Philosophie" at 4:15 p.m. and 9 p.m. with the title "Corona and the psyche - about anxiety, stress and loneliness." The daily news formats pick up on the day of action and a dossier with addresses where help is offered for different challenges is made available online.

RTS is also tackling the issue in its various current affairs formats on radio, TV and online platforms, and presenter Jean-Marc Richard will be talking to callers from 10 p.m. on the radio program "La ligne de coeur". Federal Councilor Alain Berset will be a guest on the radio program "La Matinale" from 07:15 on Wednesday morning.

A large broadcast package on the topic also in Italian-speaking Switzerland on RSI: "Uno oggi" tackles the topic of mental health challenges on Radio Rete Uno starting at 9 a.m. and will also focus on and provide information in the daily news formats as well as online.

For the Rhaeto-Romanic audience, RTR will address the topic primarily on the radio with "Nus discutain" from 8 to 9 a.m. as well as online, and Swissinfo.ch will also address the psychological challenges of the Corona crisis on its platform.

If you know who you want to please for Christmas, but not with what, Heidi Herzsprung, Nevin Nervenkitzel and Co. are currently helping. The characters, developed by bookseller Orell Füssli, named by Rosarot and drawn by illustrator Charlotte du Jour, each stand for very specific types of readers, making it easy to find gift ideas for bookworms, gourmets, crime fiction fans, romantics, those with a thirst for knowledge or visionaries.

The ideas are available online at Orellfuessli.ch and in every Orell Füssli bookstore. The Zurich agency Rosarot was responsible for developing the campaign. Their names, the respective type descriptions on the website, and the print and online campaign were created on the basis of the characters. This can currently be seen across the board on posters and social media and, of course, at the POS.

Even though the brand is known worldwide, KFC is not yet present everywhere in the Swiss market, where it currently has eight restaurants. In order to raise awareness of the American company among the local population, Serviceplan Suisse designed and implemented a social media campaign that used Swiss values such as neutrality and discretion and combined these with KFC's brand essence: preserving the secret recipe for famous fried chicken.

The problem with big secrets: they weigh a lot. So it feels all the better when you can share them with someone. Based on this insight, the first campaign phase was launched with the "Switzerland Secrets" social media competition. Swiss people were asked to share their most secret secrets with KFC - in the knowledge that they are in safe hands with KFC. These were then published anonymously on Facebook and the best secrets were voted for by users. The winner - who was kept secret - received a voucher for a year's free food at KFC.

The social media campaign was supported by a collaboration with 20 Minuten.

In the hospitality industry in particular, home office is hardly an option - 86 percent of hospitality businesses with between 4 and 49 employees cannot send any employees to the home office at all. But even in production and manufacturing, almost half of SMEs need all their employees on site.

According to a study, however, the switch to home office is easier in industries such as ICT and marketing or in the service sector. In these sectors, 87 and 83 percent of the managers surveyed said they could have at least some of their staff work from home.

This study, published Tuesday, was commissioned by Digitalswitzerland, the umbrella organization for digital Switzerland, Mobiliar, the federal government's National Cyber Security Center (NCSC), the School of Business at the University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland (FHNW) and the Swiss Academy of Engineering Sciences (SATW).

According to the results of the survey, two-thirds of companies across all industries are in a position to send all or part of their workforce to the home office if necessary.

Fast conversion to home office

According to the study authors, it is also remarkable how quickly companies were able to switch to working from home during the lockdown. "Working from home was possible for the majority of companies without any problems or with simple measures," study author Karin Mändli Lerch of the JRC Zurich research institute told the media. However, it goes without saying that those companies that were already very digitally oriented were at an advantage during the changeover, she said.

During the lockdown, around 40 percent of employees at companies that can switch to home offices actually worked from home. Although this figure fell again after the lockdown, it was still considerably higher at the end of the survey in early October than before the lockdown. Overall, 10 percent of all employees worked from home before the lockdown, and 16 percent afterwards.

The development is particularly striking among companies that are active in ICT or marketing, Mändli Lerch said. "Here, 16 percent of employees previously worked in a home office, now it's 31 percent - so that's a doubling of the number." Whether that increase will be sustained in the longer term, however, is not yet clear, the study authors stressed. However, 29 percent of the companies indicated that they would increasingly allow their employees to work from home in the future. (SDA)

About art, techno, crises, friendship, vintage watches and the big bang - when René Beyer talks to Dieter Meyer, Jean-Claude Biver or Aurel Bacs, they are heartfelt, philosophical rambles. In his podcast, René Beyer and his guests show how exciting it is not to cling to trends, current affairs and hypes, but to let the clocks tick a little differently.

René Beyer's watch business has been around since 1760. Sir Mary is now bringing the history-steeped watch business right into the networked world, for example as a stream on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Along with the newly developed claim "As long as there is time." The agency set out with the goal of bringing the world of the traditional house to life not only in the newly remodeled store on Bahnhofstrasse, but also on digital channels.

At the heart of the customer experience is the completely redesigned website with new content and look-and-feel, reflecting the quality standards that unite Beyer and its customers from around the world. As a feeder, Sir Mary has created four still-life subjects on the themes of history, vintage watches, jewelry and the Beyer Museum. These can be played out as stills or animated on the DOOH and social media channels.

On the initiative of the editor-in-chief, a 17-member Social Responsibility Board has been formed at 20 Minuten in German-speaking Switzerland, consisting of employees from the editor-in-chief, editorial department, picture editorial department and the social media team. The head of the board is Zora Schaad, Head of Story ad interim (picture left). Remo Schraner (right), journalist from the Story department, is the deputy head.

The board's goal is to consistently use politically and socio-politically neutral, non-injurious language across all channels, i.e. in the app and online, in the newspaper, but also in videos, podcasts and on social media. To that end, starting in January 2021, the board plans to gradually roll out a variety of manuals to help editors avoid using hurtful or loaded language. The manuals will cover topics such as anti-Semitism, sexism, racism, homophobia, sexual identity, sexual violence against children and forced marriage.

Support from different sides

20 Minuten is supported by the Swiss Child Protection Foundation, the Pro Mente Sana Foundation, the Foundation against Racism and Anti-Semitism and many other leading Swiss organizations in their respective fields. These organizations and foundations are also brought together to form an external committee that advises the Social Responsibility Board and provides regular feedback on 20 Minuten's reporting.

Systemrelevant in German, coronagraben in French, pandemia in Italian and mascrina in Romansh are the words of the year Switzerland. In second and third place are maskensünder and stosslüften, gestes barrières and luttes, responsabilità and distanza, and extraordinari and positivitad. "These words have shaped the discourse in Switzerland in 2020 - scientifically proven in the text database and confirmed by the choice of the four juries of linguists," explains ZHAW linguist Marlies Whitehouse, head of the German-language jury and coordinator of the Word of the Year Switzerland project, in a statement.

In all four national languages

In 2017, the ZHAW Department of Applied Linguistics took over responsibility for choosing the Word of the Year. Since then, the election has been multilingual, research-based and interactive. In collaboration with the Lia Rumantscha, the Word of the Year Switzerland has also been chosen in Romansh since 2019.

For each language, the choice leads through three levels:

• Researchers analyze the Swiss discourse database corpus Swiss-AL and determine per language the words that were used more frequently or significantly differently in 2020 than in previous years.
• Then a jury of language professionals chooses the three most distinctive words from this list, from audience suggestions, and based on their own experience.
• Finally, the researchers show how these words have developed in language use in Switzerland in 2020 and what social changes they represent.

The four juries each consist of around ten linguists from German-, French-, Italian- and Romansh-speaking Switzerland. The Department of Applied Linguistics at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences ZHAW in Winterthur is responsible for the database and project management.

Rank 1: systemically relevant

Applause and overwork, strike thoughts and demarcation issues - unrest enters the system with the Federal Council's classification of which sectors are indispensable for the well-being of society and the functioning of the economy. Excessive working hours on the one hand, short-time work and increasing bankruptcies on the other hand lead to various demands: higher basic wages, more recognition and financial compensation for corona-related losses. And at the same time, the question preoccupies: aren't we all relevant in this system?

Rank 2: Mask Sinner

Anyone traveling without a face mask is called a mask sinner. This is because masks are compulsory throughout Switzerland, without ifs and buts, unmissable, inaudible. In order to protect each other, we are supposed to wear hygiene masks, industrially manufactured textile masks or medical face masks that cover the mouth and nose. While some see the mask as a key measure in combating the pandemic, others see it as an infringement of their personal freedom. Either way, those who go topless will be fined.

3rd place: shock ventilation

There's a draft through the rooms and corridors, an icy wind whistles through our hair - we're shock-ventilating. What was previously propagated by landlords in the cold season to save on heating costs is taking on a new meaning in the corona crisis. Especially in schools, rooms must be ventilated more frequently to reduce the risk of infection. The children learn en passant that it is also easier to think with fresh air. And so many of those who are now sitting behind their masks in the draft, shivering slightly, are probably thinking how nice it will be to be back in normality.

At the center of the joint work is the development of a 360-degree communication strategy for the campaign "Our Swiss cheese. Because it contains everything that makes us special". The new, unconventional appearance of Schweizer Käse deliberately aims to appeal primarily to young families and young adults (first household) and show them that Swiss cheese contains exactly the same values that are important to them in various areas of their lives - naturalness, authenticity, passion, craftsmanship, quality, sustainability and conviviality.

Using existing tools, the focus is increasingly on digital communication - website, display, programmatic and dedicated social media - as well as POS activities.

Within a tight timeframe, all the building blocks had to be assembled and ready at the right time. The sophisticated redesign with new components, a new content hub with rich story formats around mobility, sustainability and the environment and the numerous project participants were successfully brought to a common denominator through an agile setup. The new website went live at the same time as the launch of the new campaign.

The human being in the center

The well thought-out and widely distributed campaign was launched on all channels (Werbewoche.ch reported). The new website easily keeps up with the fresh and young image concept and conveys Mobility's "Let go!" message. The project focuses not on the product, but on people, and aims to shake things up, raise awareness, and encourage a rethink. As with the design, people are also central to the user-friendliness. The menu navigation has been fundamentally revised so that individual areas, such as private customers, business customers and the magazine, are clearly distinguished from one another.

New content hub with magazine

With its new content hub and magazine, Mobility offers content on the topics of mobility, sustainability, the future, and lifestyle. The articles can be commented on, rated and shared. Articles can be sorted by content and popularity through categorization, keywording and reading metrics.

The two agencies have developed the new concept of Denkanmich.ch in an iterative process together with the foundation. Kargo already developed a new corporate design for the foundation in the spring. Based on this, the agency designed various page layouts and content components for the modular CMS. This should enable the foundation Denk an mich to be as flexible as possible in the presentation of its various contents. The web design is completed with a matching image concept, the visual appearance comes across as fresh and playful.

The individualizable CMS Statamic supports the foundation not only in communicating its activities, but also, for example, in managing experience reports, the accessible playgrounds and the donation forms.

The federal law on tobacco products is under a better star than four years ago, when the conservative majority in both chambers of parliament had sent the bill back to the Federal Council. The advertising bans in particular angered the liberal forces in parliament at the time.

Two years ago, the Federal Council proposed a law without advertising bans. It did not want to unnecessarily jeopardize the protection of minors. It has long been virtually undisputed that the sale of tobacco products to minors should be banned.

Initiative in the neck

However, the new law was too toothless for the Council of States. Last fall, it additionally anchored comprehensive advertising bans for tobacco products in the law. The National Council now partially approved these on Tuesday.

There are two main reasons for the change of mood in the National Council: First, the large chamber was reconstituted after the federal elections a year ago. The SVP and FDP, who are still critical of advertising bans, no longer have a majority.

Secondly, Parliament is under pressure. It is discussing the Tobacco Products Act against the backdrop of a pending popular initiative. The initiative calls for a complete ban on tobacco advertising that reaches children or young people. In effect, this would ban cigarette advertising on billboards in public spaces.

No advertising in public space

The majority of the centrist parliamentary group, which often tips the scales on controversial bills, therefore joined the SP, Green and GLP parliamentary groups in the National Council in a debate that lasted more than five hours and called for feasible advertising restrictions.

"If we do not accommodate the initiators on several points, the petition for a referendum will probably have a good chance," Ruth Humbel (CVP/AG) said. Several cantons already had strict regulations regarding tobacco advertising.

The proposals put forward by the Health Committee (SGK-N) were almost universally accepted in the large chamber. In concrete terms, this means that advertising in the press and on the Internet should not be banned in principle. The ban should only apply to press products and Internet sites intended for minors. However, advertising in cinemas and in public spaces is to be largely banned, as is billboard advertising that can be seen from public spaces.

Freedom versus prevention

Both motions for more restrictive bans from the left and for less severe advertising restrictions from the right failed. It was a matter of "finding the famous compromise between effective protection of minors and a proportionate intervention in the free market economy," said Lorenz Hess (BDP/BE), spokesman for the responsible health committee.

It is true that an addiction-free society is an illusion, said Katharina Prelicz-Huber (Grüne/ZH). Nevertheless, everything must be done to prevent young people from smoking with preventive measures. Regine Sauter (FDP/ZH), on the other hand, warned against a disproportionate encroachment on economic freedom. (SDA)

Pro Infirmis has been supporting people with disabilities for 100 years. The organization advises, accompanies and supports people with physical, cognitive and mental disabilities throughout the country.

However, Pro Infirmis relies on donations in order to be there for others. That's why the specialist organization is holding a Christmas collection campaign this year under the motto "Every feather helps". The focus is on the animatic with the little angel Emelie. With Emelie, who has two different sized wings and therefore cannot fly, Pro Infirmis symbolically shows how difficult it is for people with disabilities to participate in everyday life.

The Spinas Civil Voices campaign will be rolled out from the middle of the week.