Entrepreneurship is one of the pillars of our society - also in the canton of Bern. It creates jobs and apprenticeships, drives innovation and sustainability, and generates a significant financial contribution to education, social security, health, infrastructure and culture through tax revenues. The five most important business associations in Bern, which have been working together for years in the Parliamentary Group for the Economy (PGW), are bringing this fact to the attention of the general public with the "BEstouz" campaign.

Label for communication offensive

The label "BEstouz", created for the communication offensive, allows a wide use. "The abbreviation of our canton BE allows for a charming gimmick: It invites the readership to be proud of the achievements of entrepreneurship, but at the same time establishes a link to the canton itself," says Adrian Haas, Director of Trade and Industry Association of the Canton of Bern. It is applied on various channels, where by means of testimonials, videos and high-profile placement in the digital and analog space.

The organizers are currently developing a joint multi-year plan for media presence. This will primarily use the reach of the existing association media as well as social media, and will also involve members.

"BEstouz" is not intended to be a self-dramatization of Bernese entrepreneurs. The campaign focuses on the employees whose work makes the 70,000 or so SMEs and 10,000 or so farms in the canton of Berne successful and possible in the first place. They should be proud of their own work, but also of their employers and the entire business community. "BEstouz" is intended as an invitation to see pride as a unifying element - as a puzzle piece in a larger mosaic that promotes social and economic prosperity in the Canton of Bern. This collective pride should not only reach the workplace, but should permeate the entire canton as a culture of togetherness and shared values.

The world's most innovative top corporations are investing more heavily in their future: The research and development budgets of the 500 companies with the highest R&D spending worldwide increased by 14 percent year-on-year to the equivalent of 889 billion euros in 2022. 475 billion euros were invested by the 164 corporations headquartered in the United States - an increase of 16 percent compared with the previous year. They are followed - at a considerable distance - by companies from Japan and Germany. These are the findings of a study by the audit and consulting firm EY, for which the 500 listed companies worldwide with the largest R&D budgets were examined.

Switzerland ranks 5th worldwide

R&D spending by the top 14 Swiss investors ranked climbed 5 percent in 2022 to 33 billion euros. In terms of spending in absolute amounts, Switzerland ranks 5th in the world, with only ventures from the U.S., Japan, China and Germany investing more. "In principle, this is a positive sign for Switzerland as a business location. The framework conditions for investments in research and development are still considered attractive," says Stefan Rösch-Rütsche, Country Managing Partner of EY in Switzerland.

R&D investments are investments in the future, he said, and this makes him confident about the prospects for Switzerland as a business location. "At the same time, however, it must be noted that investments in Switzerland have increased by 5 percent, which is significantly less than the investments of the Top 500, which have increased by 14 percent. What's more, these investments focus too one-sidedly on the health sciences sector," says Rösch-Rütsche. In other promising sectors - especially in the technology sector - Switzerland is not among the leaders.

Top 500: One third based in the USA - 14 companies in Switzerland

164 of the 500 companies analyzed come from the USA, followed by companies from Japan (98) and China (38). This means that a third of the companies with the highest R&D spending worldwide are based in the United States. Switzerland ranks 9th with 14 corporations. The following Swiss companies made it into the top 500 with their respective R&D investments:

• Roche Holding AG (rank 8 with 16 billion euros)
• Novartis AG (rank 14 with 9.5 billion)
• STMicroelectronics N.V. (rank 103 with 1.8 billion)
• Nestlé S.A. (rank 113 with 1.7 billion)
• ABB Ltd (ranked 160 with 1.1 billion)
• TE Connectivity Ltd. (ranked 219 with €683 million)
• Alcon Inc. (ranked 221 with 668 million)
• Givaudan SA (ranked 261 with 520 million)
• The Swatch Group Ltd (rank 391 with 245 million)
• Swisscom AG (ranked 400 with 236 million)
• Sika AG (ranked 403 with 231 million)
• Holcim Ltd (ranked 408 with 228 million)
• Schindler Holding AG (ranked 420 with 207 million)
• Clariant Ltd (rank 454 with 159 million)

The global top ten - with a company from Switzerland

Seven companies in the global top ten with the highest innovation spending are based in the United States, and six of them are digital groups. Amazon had the largest innovation budget in 2022, followed by Google parent Alphabet, Meta Platforms, Apple, Microsoft, Samsung Electronics and Intel.

Two European companies also occupy positions in the top ten: Roche is in eighth place and Volkswagen in ninth. Behind them comes the US pharmaceutical group Johnson&Johnson - the only company in the top ten where innovation spending fell.

Following a 0.2 percent increase in the third quarter, the growth rate of real gross domestic product (GDP) flattened to 0.0 percent in the period from October to December, the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (Seco) announced on Tuesday. This previous quarter's figure was slightly below estimates: Economists surveyed by AWP had expected GDP growth of between +0.1 to +0.3 percent.

However, things look relatively good for 2022 as a whole. According to initial estimates by Seco, GDP growth was 2.1%. This clearly prevented the recession still expected after the start of the war, even if growth was halved compared with 2021 (+4.2%).

However, the year was somewhat divided. While economic development in the first half of the year and especially in the first quarter was still characterized by the ongoing recovery from the Corona crisis, the Russian war of aggression on Ukraine and the tense energy situation in Europe weighed on further development.

This is impressively demonstrated by the GDP figures compared with the corresponding period of the previous year: GDP grew by 4.4 percent in the first quarter, for example, but then by only 2.4 percent in the second quarter and by 0.8 percent in each of the third and fourth quarters. Industry, for example, already showed a negative trend from the second quarter onwards.

Hospitality industry still lagging behind

Corona catch-up effects were still seen above all in the hospitality industry: value added in this sector rose by 52.4 percent. However, the arts, entertainment and recreation sector (+23.7%) and the transport and communications sector (+6.8%) also still grew relatively strongly. Overall, according to Seco, around 1.3 percentage points of GDP growth in 2022 is attributable to these three sectors. It is interesting to note, however, that the pre-crisis level of value added has not yet been reached again in either the hospitality or entertainment sectors.

In principle, however, no further major Corona catch-up effects are to be expected, Eric Scheidegger, head of the Economic Policy Directorate, said at a video conference. This can also be seen from the fact that the level of Swiss GDP is currently 2.7 percent above the level of the fourth quarter of 2019 - i.e. the last quarter before Corona - again.

In an international comparison, Switzerland has thus recovered very well. Only in the USA is the figure significantly higher, at +5.1 percent. Some countries, such as Spain and the UK, are still below the pre-Corona level.

Turning point reached?

Despite the stagnation in the last quarter, Seco is reasonably optimistic about the further course of the economy. Sentiment indicators, for example, have recently stabilized after a sharp decline and could indicate that the economy has reached the turning point towards more growth, said Scheidegger.

The indicator for economic activity in Switzerland, which is calculated weekly by Seco, is also currently showing year-on-year growth of 1.3 percent. And the purchasing managers' indices in most other countries are also above 50 points and therefore point to growth.

The main reason for this is certainly that there has not been an energy shortage this winter, as had been feared. According to Seco officials, there is unlikely to be a supply crisis. The mild winter so far has certainly contributed to this. Although a scenario similar to that which has now failed to materialize for this winter is also looming next winter. "From today's perspective, however, I would rule out a recession for this year," Scheidegger said. (sda)

The agency is also responsible for developing and maintaining the new Web platform. On the platform, stories from the areas of business, housing, leisure and tourism as well as the core messages of location promotion are conveyed. Social media measures are also used to make the stories accessible to various target groups.

With the motivational brand, the web platform and future accompanying measures such as the partner program for companies designed by Dachcom, the city aims to make its own advantages known to a wide audience in German-speaking Switzerland and neighboring countries.

Responsible at the city of Arbon: Samuel Struhs (Project Manager). Responsible agency: Dachcom Team Rheineck / Winterthur.

Baumann has already been with Radio SRF since 2013, where he worked as economics editor and has been deputy head of the economics editorial team since 2021. In the meantime, Jan Baumann was also producer of "Echo der Zeit" and took on several foreign assignments as deputy correspondent.

Meanwhile, the infotainment series is used in various schools as a supplementary teaching tool and now continues with 'Hanna Ca$h - Season 2'. What is the economic cycle? How is a price created? What influences the economy? Young people in middle school age are rarely interested in such questions. That's because the topic of economics is abstract, and so is often the lesson.

In order to show that the economy is not only something that can be experienced concretely, but also occurs everywhere in life, Hanna Cash brings economic contexts close to the everyday lives of young people and stages them in a varied Youtuber manner with many surprises and intermezzos. This way, the students don't have to cram the abstract subject matter, but can simply consume it.

After the first season about the economic cycle, the state, banks and supply and demand, the second season continues with three episodes. There, Hanna explains import and export with foreign countries, simulates the economy with a self-built machine and shows with her third eye that sustainability is not simple, but triple.

On Hanna Cash's Youtube channel, all episodes are available as a supplementary teaching tool for the classroom. To ensure that students always have the videos in their pockets as a digital 'spick' (or learning aid), Hanna Cash can also be found on Instagram (@hanna_cash_explains) and now also on Tiktok (@hannacashexplains). There, young people can ask the expert questions via comments. Hanna Cash makes all videos in German and French, with English subtitles.

What few know: Hanna Cash is a fictional Youtuber. The project was created in collaboration between Economiesuisse, Young Enterprise Switzerland (Yes) and the Institute for Business Education at the University of St. Gallen to increase basic economic education in secondary schools. Hanna Cash was created as an artificial character by Film Tannery and is played by actress Isabela de Moraes Evangelista.

Responsible at Economiesuisse: Florence Mauli (Project Manager General Economic Policy & Education), Tatja Vojnovic (Communications & Campaigns). Responsible at Young Enterprise Switzerland: Johanna Aebi (Head of Marketing & Communications) and Markus Simon (Business Management). Responsible at the University of St. Gallen: Roman Capaul (Head of Assessment Year). Responsible at the film tannery: Flavio Gerber (Director, Executive Producer), Balz Chen (Concept, Screenplay, Director), Susanne Bucher (Producer, Equipment), Silvio Gerber (DOP), Urs Westermann (Edit, VFX), Lea Filadoro (Edit), Pamela Polanco (Costume), Tereza Caballero Hernandéz (Equipment); Julian Joseph (Sound, Mix); Valentin Altdorfer (Mechanical Engineering); Denise Dedich (Hair & Make-up).

Brugg Cables describes itself as an innovative Swiss cable and fittings manufacturer with an extensive range of services in power transmission and distribution.

The company was founded over 120 years ago by Gottlieb Suhner and has developed into a global supplier at the top level. The company has around 400 employees and, in addition to its headquarters in Brugg, operates subsidiaries in six countries and a production facility in China. Since the beginning of 2020, the Swiss company has been part of the Italian energy supplier Terna.

Now that Brugg Kabel is organizationally prepared for the future, brand and communication are to take this step as well. To this end, the management of the Swiss cable manufacturer has joined forces with Yellow. Using the agency's own brand principle, the status quo of the industry is to be analyzed and a differentiating positioning derived from it. On this basis, the brand will be sharpened and communication realigned. The entire renewal process concludes with the relaunch of the brand and its appearance both internally and externally. The first results of the collaboration between Brugg Cables and Yellow will be announced for spring 2022.

Responsible at Brugg Kabel AG: Samuel Ansorge (CEO), Simona Wirth, Irene Stumpo (Marketing & Communications). Responsible agency: Yellow.

With the playful motto "Unfun Facts", the posts of the campaign are supposed to arouse the curiosity of the users in order to confront them directly with selected hard facts of the survey results.

The campaign is primarily intended to drive traffic to the Landing page where the public can engage with the collected "Unfun Facts" and give their own opinion. In this way, Solidar Suisse wants to encourage the public to stand up for more justice, both in Switzerland and abroad.

The Swiss development organization Solidar Suisse fights worldwide for fair work, social justice, democratic co-determination and against extreme inequality.

Responsible at Solidar Suisse: Benjamin Gross (Head of Marketing + Communications), Katja Schurter (Publications), Lionel Frei (Media Spokesperson Romandie), Fabienne Widmer (Campaigns and Online Communications), Simone Wasmann (Campaigns). Responsible at Spina's Civil Voices: Lorenz Spinas, Stephan Huwiler (CD), Nicolas Stark (AD), Beat Egger (text), Andrea Oertle (consulting). Images: Shutterstock.

This is reflected, for example, in the significant loss of confidence in the two largest economies, the USA and China. The governments of the USA and China are viewed with great distrust by respondents in 26 other markets surveyed worldwide. Only 40 percent (USA) and 30 percent (China) of respondents said they had confidence in the leadership of the two superpowers.

Most notable, however, is the decline in confidence among its own citizens: the U.S., already in the lowest quartile of the confidence scale, has seen a further 5-point drop since the November 2020 presidential election, while in China, confidence has fallen 18 points since May 2020.

Crisis of leadership, infodemia and loss of trust

This development of the crisis of confidence over the course of the last year is evident in governments worldwide: they were temporarily the most trusted institution in May 2020, when people trusted them to fight Covid-19 and bring about an economic recovery. However, they failed the test in the eyes of the respondents and gambled away the "leap of faith" again. Governments are therefore the institution that lost the most ground in the Edelman Trust Barometer 2020 in the second half of 2020 (minus 8 points worldwide).

In the face of declining trust, people are looking for leadership and solutions, while rejecting personalities they don't find credible. In fact, none of the social leaders Edelman studied - government officials, CEOs, journalists or religious leaders - are trusted to do the right thing. Trust scores for all of them are dropping.

Without trust in reliable sources of information, "infodemia," the chaotic flood of disinformation, false claims and rumors, is rampant. This global phenomenon has driven trust in all news sources to all-time lows, with social media (35 percent) and owned media (41 percent) receiving the lowest trust ratings. Traditional media (53 percent) saw the biggest drop in trust globally, down eight points.

Misinformation also hinders the fight against the pandemic, as mistrust of vaccines remains high. In fact, the survey shows that among those practicing poor information hygiene (not verifying sources and/or not ensuring that credible, factual information is shared), willingness to vaccinate within one year of availability is significantly lower (59 %) than among those with good information hygiene (70 %).

Pandemic fears also make it difficult to return to work. 58 percent of employees who opted to work from home did so in 2020 out of fear of infection.

Great opportunity with high commitment to the economy

Hope for a recovery in trust comes from the business community. The Trust Barometer 2021 shows that it is not only the most trusted of the four institutions surveyed (61 %; NGO: 57; governments: 53; media: 51), but also the only entity that is seen as both ethical and competent.

So when there is a trust gap around governments, people expect business to step in and fill the gap. This high expectation for business to address and solve current challenges has never been more evident.

Along with the increased expectations of business comes the demand for CEOs to focus with equal determination, prudence and energy on the social engagement with which companies pursue their own business success.

But not only have expectations of business increased, new requirements are also emerging. For example, the most important trust-building measure for companies is ensuring the quality of information so that reliable and trustworthy information is passed on to employees and thus also to society.

In fact, more than half of respondents (53 percent) believe companies even have a responsibility to fill the information gap created by mistrust in news media.

Roman Geiser, Managing Partner of Farner Consulting AG, which represents Edelman in Switzerland as the exclusive Swiss affiliate of the world's largest agency network, explains the relevance of the data: "Trust remains the most important currency for lasting relationships between the four institutions studied by Edelman and their various stakeholders. Especially in times of turbulence and volatility, trust is what holds society together and where growth rebuilds and recovers."

On the importance of communication, he adds, "Business must embrace its expanded mandate and corresponding expectations, with CEOs taking the lead on a number of unfamiliar issues. The important thing is to take meaningful action first, then communicate about it. Leadership ambition must be accompanied by empathy. It takes courage to speak plainly. But people's fears must also be reflected."

"In Switzerland, we are in the fortunate situation of having generally stable institutions, a robust economy and still functioning social compensation systems. But even here, weaknesses in the system are becoming apparent and there is a need for reform. Swiss entrepreneurial personalities now have a great opportunity to position themselves and their companies sustainably on central social or political issues and thus show people a way out of the crisis of confidence."

Steve Heywood, EMEA Head of Affiliates at Edelman, adds, "In the 21 years of the Edelman Trust Barometer, 2020 trust has arguably been tested as never before. While people expect their leaders to provide answers and solutions to unprecedented social, political and health challenges, the Trust Barometer results show that leadership is failing to meet these demands."