"Intelligent communication is solution communication".

ExpodataRolf Gruber, do you work from home and how does that work? 

Rolf Gruber: I've always done home office. To avoid traffic or when I need to be extra focused for a task. I set my office hours accordingly. So I still go to the office every day, now I just get there faster. But of course, there's video conferencing in the office, too. I'm not a technofreak, but I am a "happy user".

And how is the customer dialog going?

I also meet with customers, with the necessary precautions. We conduct workshops with the necessary social distancing precautions. Both in the workshops and at lunch. Very restrictive hygiene measures are followed, respect distances are maintained, we attach great importance to this.

By the way: Many of our customers are also not afraid and do not remain in a state of shock. This is a mutual attitude, that one moves without fear, but with respect - not uncontrolled. Here proves a kind of basic attitude in life: Do I want to focus on a state of fear or on the near future?

What do you think of messages, for example on social networks, like "work at home now"? Is there a better option? 

There are better options. In fact, the best way to communicate is not to discuss Corona at all. We hold joint target discussions with our customers, which we would have held even without Corona; we don't want to be held up by the virus. This is nothing other than day-to-day business. A good entrepreneur always thinks about the future and shapes it.

Is it urgent to announce that a company is now doing home office? Doesn't that go without saying?

Better than dramatizing problems would be to present solutions. I have seen a few examples. Intelligent communication is solution communication.

Is it intelligent to communicate at all during this situation? 

You get what you focus your attention on. If you only discuss Corona, you don't solve the problem. You get what you focus on. That doesn't mean negating Corona, but you can't let yourself get confused by too many contradictory messages. This is of no use to anyone.

McDonalds has been attracting attention lately with its campaign featuring the famous "M" as a stretched social distancing "M". What do you think of this advertising?

I don't know enough about the origin of this advertisement. Was an outsider creative? Then it's acceptable. Did it come from McDonalds? Then the campaign is completely unnecessary. Because this is not solution communication. Everyone knows McDonalds and its "M," so there's no need for special advertising at the moment. It would be better if McDonalds in the USA took concrete action to improve living conditions.

In your book "100 + 1 Tips - Brand Power for Companies," you say that any 'dearly held' ballast must be rigorously cut. But after Corona, are companies really ready to do that? Aren't we all glad to see a return to the 'good old days'?

Here, we have to distinguish between three levels: The average SME in Switzerland is in most cases well positioned, innovation-driven. It can also hold its own in the world markets. They do an excellent job. They also have good opportunities now - under pressure from Corona - to improve things.

The situation is different for micro-enterprises such as restaurants, which now quickly find themselves in financial straits and have to fight for their existence. Listed companies like banks and insurance companies, on the other hand, will learn nothing. They are the ones who would like nothing better than to carry on as before. And they are the winners at the moment because they are already making money when the government lends, that is, when we are doing badly. They won't learn anything. The financial sector has not learned anything from the financial crisis and has simply carried on as before.

Large banks have little capacity to learn, because they define their raison d'être not so much in terms of their customer base, but primarily in terms of their shareholders. Listed companies have to generate dividends for their shareholders. That is their goal, their task. This game will continue in exactly the same way.