Founded in 2017, Swiss-based venture builder Tanovis AG operates at the forefront of the biobased economy. Using the overlooked natural resource lignin as a platform, they build ventures that do not only respond to change, but actually shape it. We have collaborated with Tanovis to create a new brand strategy and build a framework for growth.
The co-founders of Tanovis, Charles J. Walser and Stephan Müller, bring extensive experience from the finance industry and from building successful international businesses. Tanovis was born from a desire to use this expertise to build companies that deliver impact beyond their own bottom line. And since the team at Tanovis had been focusing on building a business model and technical platform, we were asked to help shape a brand strategy for the group and transform the ventures into meaningful and attractive brands that drive growth and build new value.
Taking the role of a future brand.
The overarching brand strategy for Tanovis and its ventures is for them to take on the role of future brands – brands that lead by example, proving that performance and impact can coexist. And because Tanovis builds its ventures from the same innovation and production platform, but for different purposes, we proposed developing the brands from a “House of Brands” perspective. This approach allows each venture to have its own brand foundation, identity, and go-to-market strategy, while enabling the mother brand Tanovis to act as a catalyst for change across industries and markets through a portfolio of strong, individual brands.
A group of brands born from the same vision.
Tanovis envisions a future in which lignin has become a commodity, a preferred standard in the post-petrochemical world. Today, this vision is embodied in a portfolio of distinctive brands, each delivering unique experiences and biobased solutions that disrupt their respective industries. Yet, being born from the same platform, the brands also share key traits, like openness, collaboration and forward-looking, which are reflected in their purpose, values, and personality.
A versatile but unified design foundation.
To create stronger synergies across the brands, we developed a versatile design system where each brand shares a few core design pillars that can be executed in different ways. This enables each venture to fully build its own identity while establishing a strong, unified foundation for existing and future brands within the Tanovis group.
