What possesses someone to spend 12 straight hours hiking 20 miles through The Narrows, carrying a backpack, climbing over slippery boulders, wading through cold water, through one of the world's most spectacular slot canyons?

In this episode, Joanne Z. Tan shares the unforgettable story of hiking solo through The Narrows in Zion National Park, one of the most challenging and breathtaking wilderness adventures in America.

From breathtaking canyon scenery to moments of exhaustion, wonder, and quiet reflection, this journey is about far more than completing a difficult hike. It is a story of perseverance, courage, humility, and discovering beauty where few are willing to venture.

- Read the full adventure story with photos

- Watch the 35-minute video with photos

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In this episode, you'll discover:

• What it is like to hike 20 miles through The Narrows in Zion National Park.
• Why this iconic wilderness adventure challenges both physical endurance and mental resilience.
• The unexpected lessons nature teaches about perseverance, preparation, and courage.
• How solitude in the wilderness can renew perspective and deepen gratitude.
• Why the greatest adventures often transform us long after the journey ends.

Whether you're an experienced backpacker, an aspiring adventurer, or someone who simply loves stories of exploration, this episode invites you to experience one of America's most extraordinary wilderness landscapes through Joanne's eyes.

About Joanne Z. Tan

Joanne Z. Tan is the founder and CEO of 10 Plus Brand, Inc., a corporate brand strategy, executive branding, and thought leadership agency. She is also an award-winning photographic artist, wilderness backpacker, writer, speaker, and host of Interviews of Notables and Influencers. Through her travels and outdoor adventures, she shares stories of resilience, nature, creativity, and the human spirit.

© 2026 Joanne Z. Tan. All rights reserved.

Three of America's founding fathers die on the 4th of July - is it merely an extraordinary coincidence, or is it a divine invitation for us to reflect more deeply on the meaning of Independence Day and the future of the American republic?

In this episode, Joanne Z. Tan reflects on one of the most remarkable historical coincidences in American history: three founding fathers, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and James Monroe, all died on July 4th, the anniversary of American independence.

She explores the significance of the 4th of July, the founding ideals of the United States, and the timeless words of Benjamin Franklin following the Constitutional Convention:

"A republic, if you can keep it."

- Read the 1-min article

- Watch the 3-min video

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In this episode, you'll discover:

• Why the deaths of three founding fathers on July 4th continue to fascinate historians and Americans alike.
• The historical context behind Independence Day and the birth of the United States.
• Benjamin Franklin's enduring caution: "A republic, if you can keep it."
• Why America's founding ideals remain relevant 250 years later.
• A personal reflection on liberty, democracy, and America's enduring promise.

As America celebrates its 250th anniversary, Joanne invites listeners to consider whether the nation has remained faithful to the principles of liberty, democracy, the rule of law, and the values that inspired its founding.

Drawing from her own journey as an immigrant from China who came to America in pursuit of freedom and opportunity, she offers a personal reflection on why the American experiment continues to matter, and why preserving it remains the responsibility of every person and every generation.

About Joanne Z. Tan

Joanne Z. Tan is the founder and CEO of 10 Plus Brand, Inc., a corporate brand strategy, executive branding, and thought leadership agency. She is a brand strategist, thought leadership coach, writer, speaker, and host of Interviews of Notables and Influencers, where she explores leadership, branding, AI, innovation, and ideas that shape organizations and society.

© 2026 Joanne Z. Tan. All rights reserved.

Is performance marketing enough to grow a business in the AI age? Or does long-term success require a stronger branding strategy built on trust, differentiation, and customer experience?

In this episode, Joanne Z. Tan explores why branding strategy and performance marketing are not competing approaches—they are complementary forces. While performance marketing has traditionally measured ROI through clicks, likes, and conversions, these metrics become increasingly inadequate as Agentic AI transforms the customer buying journey. Sustainable business growth depends on brand building, brand positioning, brand trust, and brand equity that influence customer decisions both immediately and over the long term in an AI-driven marketplace.

- Read the full article

- Watch this as a 12-min video

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As AI increasingly shapes search, discovery, and purchase decisions, organizations must rethink their digital marketing strategy. Winning brands invest not only in measurable performance but also in authentic storytelling, memorable customer experiences, and meaningful differentiation that both AI systems and human customers recognize and trust.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• What is performance marketing, and where it fits into modern business growth
• Why branding strategy is essential for long-term competitive advantage
• How brand building strengthens customer loyalty beyond paid advertising
• The relationship between brand equity, customer experience, and business value
• Why brand trust is becoming one of the most valuable assets in the AI era
• How effective brand positioning helps your business stand out in crowded markets
• How to integrate performance marketing and brand-building KPIs into a comprehensive digital marketing strategy
• Why brands that balance short-term performance with long-term branding outperform those focused only on immediate ROI

Today's AI-powered marketplace rewards organizations that create lasting trust—more than clicks and likes. The companies that thrive will combine data-driven marketing with authentic human connection, building brands that customers remember, recommend, and return to.

- Read the full article:
https://10plusbrand.com/2026/06/28/performance-marketing-and-brand-building-in-ai-age-joanne-z-tan/

- Subscribe to our FREE Newsletter

for more insights on AI, branding, executive influence, and thought leadership.

- Visit:

10PlusBrand.com

AIXD.world

10PlusProfile.com

About the Author

Joanne Z. Tan is a globally recognized brand strategist, thought leadership coach, branding expert, and Founder & CEO of 10 Plus Brand, Inc. She helps founders, CEOs, executives, entrepreneurs, and organizations build influential brands through strategic brand positioning, authentic storytelling, AI Experience Design (AIXD™), and long-term brand building. Her work bridges branding strategy, digital transformation, executive visibility, and customer experience to help organizations earn lasting brand trust and brand equity in the AI age.

Copyright © 2026 Joanne Z. Tan, 10 Plus Brand, Inc. All rights reserved.

AI in Branding, Part 2: How to Stand Out, Create Content, and Build a Future-Proof Brand

Welcome back to Part 2 of our FAQ series! If you missed Part 1 (FAQ #1–#6), be sure to listen first — we covered where branding starts, brand DNA decoding, ROI, and more.

In this episode, we tackle FAQ #7–#12. Joanne dives deeper into the most pressing questions about AI in branding and what it truly takes to build an enduring, human-centered brand in the AI Age.

🎙️ Hosted by Joanne Z. Tan, founder and CEO of 10 Plus Brand — with 16+ years of experience helping brands decode their DNA, tell their stories, and lead in their fields.

🔗 Read the full FAQs

🎬 Watch Part 2 as a 9-min video

- Subscribe to our free Newsletter

 

You will learn:

• How to combine human intelligence with AI in brand building — and what makes a brand stand out when AI levels the playing field
• Budget constraints? Discover the low-hanging fruits to start with — including LinkedIn profiles and website content — that deliver the most bang for your buck
• Why content frequency matters: how often to publish blogs, videos, and podcasts to be recognized by your target audience and AI search tools like ChatGPT and Claude
• Original content vs. AI-generated slop — how to create authentic, thought-leading content in your own brand voice without giving away your "secret sauce"

From AI Experience Design (AIXD™) to content strategy, brand visibility, and protecting your proprietary insights, this episode is packed with actionable guidance for business brands and leadership personal brands alike.

Whether you're a founder, CEO, executive, or B2B service provider, this conversation is your roadmap to thriving with — not being replaced by — AI in branding.

Please contact us for a customized assessment tailored to your unique situation, whether it is a company brand, a leadership personal brand, or a professional brand.  We at 10 Plus Brand have a proprietary process for brand DNA decoding, the foundation upon which content strategy, content creation, video production, website and social media marketing with AEO, GEO, SEO, and SOM are delivered.

- Subscribe to our free newsletter, for more thought leadership on AI, branding, executive influence, and the future of customer experience.

About Joanne Z. Tan

Joanne Z. Tan is a global brand strategist, thought leadership coach, and founder of 10 Plus Brand, Inc. and AIXD.world. She helps founders, CEOs, executives, and organizations build influential, future-ready brands through strategic positioning, AI Experience Design, and authentic storytelling.

© Joanne Z. Tan, 2026. All rights reserved.

 

 

Here are 12 FAQs (frequently asked questions) about the process of brand building and brand marketing by 10 Plus Brand, Inc. Part 1 of 2 answers the first six questions listed below. In Part 2, the last six.

To watch Pt 1 as a video

To read the FAQs

- Subscribe to our free Newsletter Please contact us for a customized assessment tailored to your unique situation, whether it is a company brand, a leadership personal brand, or a professional brand.  We at 10 Plus Brand have a proprietary process for brand DNA decoding, the foundation upon which content strategy, content creation, video production, website and social media marketing with AEO, GEO, SEO, and SOM are delivered. 1). Where and how to start? 2). Do You Use AI? What can you do that AI cannot? 3). Do you specialize in business branding or personal branding? or Both? 4). What are the measurable outcomes in terms of ROI? 5). How long does brand DNA decoding take? 6). Why is decoding brand DNA necessary? Will it lead to better quality deliverables? Will it lead to cost savings later?

In Pt. 2, we will continue with the remaining 6 frequently asked questions and answers:

7). How do you combine human intelligence with AI in brand building? What makes a brand stand out in the AI Age? 8). If my budget does not allow me to go the "whole 10+ yards” of branding, what are the low hanging fruits to start with? 9). How frequently do I need to produce content in order to be recognized by AI and my target audience? 10). How do I generate original, unique content that is different from AI generated slop? Do I need to share all my “secret sauce”? 11). What are the most common misconceptions about becoming a brand? 12). Is brand building for the top players only?

- Watch Pt. 2 as a 9-min video

- Listen to Pt. 2 as a podcast

- Subscribe to our free newsletter, for more thought leadership on AI, branding, executive influence, and the future of customer experience.

About Joanne Z. Tan

Joanne Z. Tan is a global brand strategist, thought leadership coach, and founder of 10 Plus Brand, Inc. and AIXD.world. She helps founders, CEOs, executives, and organizations build influential, future-ready brands through strategic positioning, AI Experience Design, and authentic storytelling.

© Joanne Z. Tan, 2026. All rights reserved.

 

 

In the age of AI, your greatest competitive advantage may no longer be technology—it may be brand trust. As AI-generated content floods the internet with what many now call AI slop, business leaders face a defining challenge: How do you build a brand that customers actually trust?

In this episode, Joanne Z. Tan explores why trust, authenticity, and human judgment are becoming the ultimate brand moat in the AI era, against low-quality, mass-produced, and often inaccurate information, a/k/a AI slop. Brand trust is the goal, shield, and bottom line against endangerment of data privacy, transparency, and the erosion of authentic human connection.

- To read it as a blog

- To watch it as a video

Drawing on her work in AI Experience Design (AIXD) and strategic brand building, Joanne explains why companies that rely solely on automation risk commoditizing themselves, exploiting customer data, and losing brand trust while those that combine AI with human intelligence and human EQ can create lasting competitive advantage.

In this episode, you'll discover:

• Why brand trust is becoming more valuable as AI-generated content proliferates.

• What AI slop is, and how it threatens credibility, reputation, and customer loyalty.

• How data privacy concerns are reshaping customer expectations.

• Why authentic, human to human customer service remains a powerful differentiator in an AI-first economy.

• Why trust, not technology alone, will determine the winners of the next decade.

• How leaders can build transparent, human-centered brands that thrive during AI transformation.

As AI increasingly mediates search, discovery, and buying decisions, organizations must ask themselves a critical question: Are we building systems that simply generate more content, or are we building trust?

- Subscribe to our free newsletter, for more thought leadership on AI, branding, executive influence, and the future of customer experience.

About Joanne Z. Tan

Joanne Z. Tan is a global brand strategist, thought leadership coach, and founder of 10 Plus Brand, Inc. and AIXD.world. She helps founders, CEOs, executives, and organizations build influential, future-ready brands through strategic positioning, AI Experience Design, and authentic storytelling.

© Joanne Z. Tan, 2026. All rights reserved.

AI search is rewriting who shapes the brand journey. Learn how to create brand journey as a collaborative co-creation among CEOs, customers, outside brand strategists, and internal marketing teams to win in the AI age.

👉 Watch this as a 13-min YouTube video

📖 Read the full article

📬 Subscribe to our free Newsletter: https://10plusbrand.com/newsletter-subscription/

 

To create brand journey in the AI age, you have to learn to share the road.

One-third of all web traffic now comes from AI chatbots and agents. AI search is growing 150% month-over-month. And 87% of AI-assisted traffic comes from ChatGPT alone. The brand journey your customers experience is no longer yours to control — it is a co-create collaboration among your CEO, your internal marketing team, your customers, and outside brand strategists who can "read the label of the jar you're in", per Joanne Z. Tan.

Brand memories and brand equity are not built through paid media alone. Research from Kantar shows that 75% of brand equity comes from the direct brand experience customers have with your brand — not from advertising. That means the brand experiences you design, the brand stories your content creators and your customers tell, and the signals you send to AI search tools all shape how your brand is perceived, recommended, and remembered.

Nike, Apple, Diet Coke — iconic brands did not lose their identity when their audiences took the wheel. These brands co-create with their communities of customers, influencers, internal and external branding and marketing experts, and top leaders.  That's why they pivoted quickly, and turned cultural moments into brand equity. That is the playbook for the AI age.

Joanne Z. Tan argues that CEOs must be personally involved — the way Steve Jobs was hands-on with font style, the rounded corner of iPhone design, even the color of the floor in an Apple Store. To win in the AI age, to create brand journey is to embrace collaborative co-creation among CEOs, customers, outside brand experts, and internal marketing departments.

What you will learn in this episode:

• What a brand journey is and why AI search is reshaping it
• Why 75% of brand equity comes from brand experience, not paid media
• How Nike, Apple, and Diet Coke co-created their brand journeys with their audiences without losing their core identities
• Why CEOs must be personally involved in building the brand journey
• How to engage both internal and external brand experts to win in the AI age

 

📬 Subscribe to our free Newsletter

🌐 www.10plusbrand.com 🌐 www.aixd.world 🌐 www.10plusprofile.com

  About Joanne Z. Tan

Joanne Z. Tan is a global brand strategist, thought leadership coach, and founder of 10 Plus Brand, Inc. and its subsidiary AIXD.world. She advises executives, founders, and organizations on building influential, differentiated brands that drive visibility, credibility, and revenue growth. Her work integrates strategic positioning, AI-era brand architecture, and executive thought leadership to help leaders become recognized authorities in their industries.

© Joanne Z. Tan, 2026. All rights reserved.

Copyright 2026, Joanne Z. Tan, 10 Plus Brand, Inc. All rights reserved.

Sparking joy is the new driver of brand equity and emotional connection in creating human brand experience in the AI Age of "digital fatigue".

- Read as a blog
- Watch as a 8-min video

-Subscribe to our FREE Newsletter for thought leadership insights on AI, branding, and human-centered innovation.

In today’s AI-driven landscape of digital fatigue, sparking joy is a strategic imperative for building lasting brand equity. Brands that prioritize human-centered brand experience create meaningful emotional connection, and inspire long-term loyalty.

This episode explores how organizations can move beyond transactional interactions to design brand experiences that genuinely resonate. By focusing on authenticity, intentional storytelling, and creating "sparking joy" moment for emotional connection with customers, brands can fill the needs of today's customers who long for human connection in the AI era of "digital fatigue".

We examine how emotional connection fuels brand equity, why brand community plays a critical role in sustaining customer relationships and brand growth, and how to counter digital fatigue with human centered brand experience.

You’ll learn how to:

• • Build brand equity through emotionally resonant brand experience
  • Spark joy across key customer touch points
  • Create authentic emotional connection that drives trust and loyalty
  • Develop a thriving brand community that amplifies engagement and advocacy
  • Overcome digital fatigue with human-centered, meaningful human engagement & interaction
  • 
    

    Explore brand strategy and AI experience design by visiting our websites:

    • 10plusbrand.com
    • aixd.world
    • 10plusprofile.com

Contact us

-Subscribe to our FREE Newsletter for thought leadership insights on AI, branding, and human-centered innovation.

About Joanne Z. Tan

Joanne Z. Tan is a global brand strategist, thought leadership coach, and founder of 10 Plus Brand, Inc. and its subsidiary AIXD.world. She advises executives, founders, and organizations on building influential, differentiated brands that drive visibility, credibility, and revenue growth. Her work integrates strategic positioning, AI-era brand architecture, and executive thought leadership to help leaders become recognized authorities in their industries.

© Joanne Z. Tan, 2026. All rights reserved.

I tracked my sleep and weight for 4 Years—then quit. What happened after was better quality of life - a personal story about reclaiming control and breaking free from digital dependency that led to more freedom and happiness.

What if the very tools designed to improve your life are quietly diminishing your quality of life?

In this episode, Joanne Z. Tan shares a deeply personal and thought-provoking story about her four-year journey living a data-driven lifestyle, and why she ultimately chose to walk away from it.

Like many professionals striving for optimization, she adopted habit forming technologies to track sleep, weight, and daily health metrics. What began as a pursuit of better health and performance gradually evolved into something more complex: digital manipulation. Each data point—sleep scores, body metrics, daily fluctuations—became part of a feedback loop that subtly influenced mood, behavior, and self-perception.

These “data yo-yos” created an invisible dependency.

Over time, the convenience of tracking came at a cost: autonomy, privacy, and a sense of inner balance. The realization came abruptly when access to her own personal data was restricted unless she agreed to share it—leaving her with no real choice but to comply.

Or walk away.

She chose to quit cold turkey: disconnecting from the app, the device, and the entire system that had quietly shaped her daily habits.

What happened next was unexpected.

Instead of loss, she found relief. Instead of uncertainty, she experienced clarity. Without being digitally naked, constantly measured, tracked, and evaluated, her quality of life improved. Sleep got better. Stress decreased. Intuition strengthened. Life felt more grounded, more human.

This episode explores the deeper implications of living in a data-saturated world:

- How habit forming technologies can create long-term behavioral dependency
- How digital manipulation operates subtly through everyday tools
- Why being “digitally naked” may compromise more than just privacy
- How “data yo-yos” can impact mental well-being and self-worth
- Why reclaiming control over your data and your life can lead to a higher quality of life

In an age where data is often equated with control and intelligence, this conversation challenges a critical assumption: more data does not always mean a better life.

Sometimes, less data leads to more simplicity. More autonomy. And ultimately, a better quality of life.

- Read as a blog
- Watch as a 5-min video

-Subscribe to our FREE Newsletter for thought leadership insights on AI, branding, and human-centered innovation

Explore brand strategy and AI experience design by visiting our websites:

• 10plusbrand.com
• aixd.world
• 10plusprofile.com

Contact us

About Joanne Z. Tan

Joanne Z. Tan is a global brand strategist, thought leadership coach, and founder of 10 Plus Brand, Inc. and its subsidiary AIXD.world. She advises executives, founders, and organizations on building influential, differentiated brands that drive visibility, credibility, and revenue growth. Her work integrates strategic positioning, AI-era brand architecture, and executive thought leadership to help leaders become recognized authorities in their industries.

© Joanne Z. Tan, 2026. All rights reserved.

User data land grab is costing companies far more than they realize — in diminishing data value and in the brand trust they are quietly destroying, while racing to seize consumer data without consent or compensation. The Real Price of the Data Land Grab — and Why It Will Backfire

Across industries, companies are spending hundreds of millions to lock in first-party data assets through mergers, acquisitions, and platform capture — treating data as the "new oil."

But NVIDIA's Jensen Huang has noted that AI technology's cost drops 100,000 times every ten years, and that within a decade, AI-generated synthetic data will dwarf human-generated data.

Joanne Z. Tan points out here that the companies acquiring today's data at premium prices are, in many cases, paying real diamond prices for what will soon be worth far less.

Scholars Ulises Mejias and Nick Couldry, in their book "Data Grab: The New Colonialism of Big Tech", frame this extraction as a power imbalance in which personal data becomes raw material for corporate profit — without the knowledge or consent of the people generating it. During colonialism, at least, those dispossessed knew what was being taken. Today, most consumers have no way of knowing.

AI Is Getting Smarter — and It Rewards Trust, Not Extraction

AI search systems are beginning to synthesize trust indicators — customer reviews, media sentiment, authoritative publications, and executive reputation — into signals that may soon function as "trust scores" determining brand visibility and recommendation outcomes.

Authentic authority, built through consistent thought leadership, is now the currency AI systems trust most.

Joanne Z. Tan illustrates with a case study of The Ivy Group to show how a brand with few Google reviews, built on genuine thought leadership, was ranked #1 by ChatGPT among fierce competitors — proof that AI is already outsmarting unethical data players.

The most valuable data asset any company can hold is not what it seized — it is the trust that causes customers to willingly share their data, advocate for the brand, and create the authentic content ecosystem that AI systems reward.

Read the full article

Watch it as a 13-min video

Explore brand strategy and AI experience design by visiting our websites:

• 10plusbrand.com
• aixd.world
• 10plusprofile.com

Contact us
Subscribe to our FREE Newsletter

About the Author, Joanne Z. Tan

Joanne Z. Tan is the Founder and CEO of 10 Plus Brand, Inc. and the creator of AIXD.world — AI Experience Design. A globally recognized brand strategist, thought leadership coach, and startup mentor based in Silicon Valley, Joanne works with founders, CEOs, and C-suite executives to build brands that lead markets, command premium positioning, and endure. She is known for this principle: "User experience is brand experience, and brand experience determines enterprise destiny."

© Joanne Z. Tan, 2026. All rights reserved.

In a world flooded with AI Slop, where misinformation, low-quality content, and synthetic noise overwhelm human judgment, what truly differentiates enduring brands from disposable ones? The answer lies in brand equity—the intangible yet powerful force built on trust, authenticity, and meaningful human connection.

In this episode, Joanne Tan of 10PlusBrand and AIXD explores the growing crisis of credibility in the AI age and reveals why brand equity is no longer a marketing luxury—it is a survival strategy. As consumers increasingly question what is real, brands must step into a new role: not just providers of products or services, but anchors of truth and clarity.

- To read it as a blog

- To watch is as a 11-min video

 

Drawing from global research and real-world brand strategy, this conversation unpacks:

• Why AI Slop is eroding trust at scale—and what that means for your business

• How brand equity functions as a defense system against misinformation

• The critical role of values, identity, and consistency in building trust

• Why AI-driven experiences can either strengthen or destroy your brand

• How AIXD™ (AI Experience Design) reframes AI as a human-centered brand experience tool

• The hidden risk of “AI over-enthusiasm” and how to avoid building expensive, ineffective systems

• What it takes for a brand to become the “automatic choice” in a saturated, AI-driven market

 

At its core, this episode challenges leaders, founders, and decision-makers to rethink a fundamental question:

Are you designing AI systems—or are you designing human experiences powered by AI?

 

Because in the age of AI Slop, every interaction either compounds or corrodes your brand equity.

The brands that win will not be the loudest, fastest, or most automated—
They will be the most trusted, consistent, and human-centered.

📌 Learn more about building brand equity in the AI age: https://10plusbrand.com/
📌 Explore AIXD™ (AI Experience Design) frameworks for human-centered AI strategy: https://aixd.world/

👉 Contact us to design human-centered AI strategy and user experience: https://aixd.world/contact/

👉 Subscribe to our FREE Newsletter for more insights: https://10plusbrand.com/newsletter-subscription/

About AIXD™

AIXD™ (AI Experience Design) is a strategic framework for designing AI-powered interactions that are human-centric, trustworthy, and aligned with authentic customer expectations. We help organizations bridge AI capability with human experience to drive meaningful, sustainable business outcomes.

About the Author Joanne Z. Tan

Joanne Z. Tan is a globally recognized brand strategist, thought leadership coach, and startup mentor in Silicon Valley. She specializes in customer experience and human-centric AI experience design, helping organizations define AI strategies that align with business goals and human expectations. With over 15 years of experience, she has authored numerous insights on AI, brand strategy, and digital transformation across AIXD.world and 10PlusBrand.com.

Copyright © Joanne Z. Tan. All rights reserved.

#AISlop #brandequity #AItrust #misinformation #AIXD #digitaltransformation