#577: How Almost Nothing Changes Everything in Your Brand Storytelling, With Ryan Kohn

What makes a brand story powerful enough to move millions of people on the world's most complex issue? Not more data. Not louder messaging. Not a bigger ask. The answer, according to serial entrepreneur Ryan Kohn, is radical simplicity — and a single theme that makes your audience feel the truth of your idea before they ever think about it.

Ryan Kohn is the founder of Point One, a global business initiative that asks companies to commit just 0.1% of their revenue to accelerate the clean energy transition. That is one dollar for every thousand in revenue. A rounding error for most businesses. But pooled together, it is enough to fully fund clean energy access for the entire world within 15 years.

In this episode of the Business of Story, Park Howell sits down with Ryan to unpack how he turned one of the most fatigued conversations in modern business — climate change — into one of the most compelling brand stories in the world. And what every brand builder can steal from it.

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN IN THIS EPISODE

How to find the single brand theme that compresses your biggest idea into your most powerful message. Ryan and his team distilled an impossibly complex global challenge into four words — almost nothing changes everything — and built an entire movement around it.

Why leading with your cause is killing your message. Ryan explains why Point One never leads with sustainability, climate, or clean energy — and why that counterintuitive decision is the reason the brand resonates where others have failed.

How to meet your audience inside the cultural moments they already love. Point One builds brand awareness through sport, music, art, and film rather than issue-led campaigns, reducing friction and expanding reach without alienating anyone.

Why simplicity is not a shortcut in brand storytelling — it is the destination. Ryan's rule is simple: if it is not simple, it does not land. This episode shows you exactly how to apply that principle to your own brand story.

How a 0.1% corporate commitment could change everything. Park runs Point One through the StoryCycle Genie live on air, surfacing the brand's core positioning statement and unique value proposition — and revealing just how precisely Ryan's team has already nailed their story.

ABOUT RYAN KOHN

Ryan Kohn is the co-founder of PROPER Snacks, the UK's leading premium snack brand and one of the first B Corps in the sector. From a kitchen-table idea to a global company selling over eight million snack