Hello! I’m Jane Mao,
founder of Fulcrum, a brand and reputation consultancy.

I help brands earn attention, and keep their good name as they grow.

Work with Fulcrum
60+
brands advised
1,500+
earned media placements
CES · IFA · CEDIA
global launches led
Gold Award
Dandelion Awards 2024, for the Sylvox campaign

selected work

about

I founded Fulcrum to give growing brands what large agencies charge for: a clear identity, a strong public voice, and a plan for when things go wrong.

A brand is a promise made in public. Design decides how it is first seen, communication decides how it is retold, and risk decides whether it holds when the story turns. Most companies hand these to three different teams. I treat them as one problem, because a reputation is only as strong as the point it rests on.

I trained as a designer at SVA and am completing an M.S. in Enterprise Risk Management at Columbia. Fulcrum is where the two meet.

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Case · AI product · 2023

COMPASS

An AI-powered platform that monitors how brands are talked about across social, news and official media, and flags reputational risk before it spreads.

Role
Product lead, UI/UX
Year
2023
Scope
Product strategy, risk logic, UI/UX, data visualization
COMPASS Industry Insight dashboard comparing ten EV brands
Hover to take a closer look.

the idea

Brand teams were tracking their reputation by hand, across dozens of platforms, countries and languages. COMPASS brings those signals into one place, reads sentiment with AI, and warns the team when a story starts to turn. I led the product end to end: I defined what it should monitor, set the logic for scoring sentiment and triggering alerts, and designed every screen, chart and alert flow.

inside the platform

Brand monitoring

Social

Reporting

Industry Insight screen

Scrolls on its own. Drag or scroll to take over.

early warning

The crisis module turns monitoring into action. A team sets its rules once, and COMPASS alerts the right people the moment something crosses the line.

Monitoring setup with keyword rules

Clear rules

Keywords combine with AND / OR logic, and exclusion words cut out the noise.

Alert setup with exposure threshold

Set thresholds

An alert fires when exposure passes a set level, filtered by channel, country, brand and sentiment.

Adding an alert recipient by webhook

Straight to the team

Alerts reach DingTalk or email through a webhook, tested before they go live.

one suite

COMPASS is one of three tools in WeBranding’s adtarg decision platform, next to product insight and operations. They share one visual language and one sign-in, so a client moves between them without relearning anything.

Three product tiles: adtarg for product insight, COMPASS for brand monitoring, and operations management
Sign-in screen Sign-in screen, privacy slide Sign-in screen, AI slide
Sign in
Sign-up screen
Sign up
Account settings screen
Account settings

what it delivers

11modules, from monitoring to crisis alerts
9source types, from news to TikTok
6industries set up, from EVs to energy storage
  • BeforeManual checks across platforms, after the fact.
  • AfterOne daily view, with alerts when a story starts to turn.

in use

  1. Eureka · Midea Group

    A launch at IFA

    Tracked coverage and sentiment around Eureka’s launch at IFA, the world’s largest consumer electronics show. The campaign drew more than 30 media outlets.

  2. Tencent

    Midjourney on QQ

    Followed news and social reaction to the Chinese beta of Midjourney in real time, and flagged key events and negative stories early.

  3. Tencent

    PUBG in India

    When India banned Battlegrounds Mobile India, tracked reaction at home and abroad to show where attention and sentiment were heading.

  4. Five industries

    Daily briefs

    Morning briefs for EVs, TVs, gaming, laser TVs and energy storage, so brands start each day with the news that matters to them.

Work together

Have a project like this? Let’s talk
Next projectSylvox Outdoor TV Campaign
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Brand identity · 2022

Summerdew

A herbal tea brand rooted in the seal, the brush and the old apothecary.

Herbal tea has cooled Chinese summers for a thousand years. Summerdew brings classical Chinese aesthetics back to it, in paper packaging that feels as pure as the drink.

Role
Brand identity designer
Year
2022
Scope
Naming, logo, color, pattern, packaging

The name

销夏汤

In Chinese, xiao xia means to see summer out. Herbal tea began in Guangdong as a way to clear summer heat and damp. The name lets summer run its course, rather than wishing it away.

Dew forms when the night cools the ground. Chinese medicine calls it sweet and cooling, able to clear heat and calm the body. Summer dew is how a cup of herbal tea should feel.

Gather the autumn dew from the tips of a hundred herbs before it dries. It eases a hundred ills, quenches thirst, and leaves the body light and the skin glowing.
Li Shizhen, Compendium of Materia Medica, 1578

百草头上秋露未晞时收取愈百病止消渴令人身轻不饥肌肉悦泽

The mark

Brush-textured letters echo the seal, like titles on old book covers.

The xianzhang, or leisure seal, often names the mood of a painting or a line of calligraphy.

Press the seal

In a Chinese painting, the seal comes last. It is pressed into a corner in cinnabar paste to sign the work. Try it on the paper.

Click to press

Color

The red of a seal’s ink pad, the black of brush ink, the warm white of rice paper. Click a color to copy it.

Pattern

Every herb is drawn by hand in a single line weight, in the manner of old Chinese medical books.

Tone of voice

Funny
Serious
Formal
Casual
Modern
Classical
Matter of fact
Enthusiastic

Applications

01 / 06

Business cards on fresh herbs
Business cards
Gift box with two tea boxes and a cup
Gift box
Ceramic cup printed with calligraphy
Cup
Red tote bag with the herb pattern
Tote bag
Paper tea tubes wrapped in the herb pattern
Paper tubes
Illustrated scroll of herbal tea being made
Scroll

Work together

Have a project like this? Let’s talk
Next projectSelected Brand Websites
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Web design · 2024

SelectedBrand Websites

Launch websites for two consumer tech brands entering the US market: a laser TV maker and an AI hearing aid company.

Role
Web designer, UI/UX
Year
2024
Scope
Landing and about pages, brand story deck
Status
Launched
AWOL Vision website on a laptop

AWOL Vision

Laser TV · US launch

AWOL Vision makes ultra-short-throw laser TVs that turn a wall into a cinema screen. The site had to sell a premium home theater to buyers who had never heard of the brand.

  • Dark by defaultBlack pages let the product imagery glow, the way a screen does in a dark room.
  • Proof up frontPress logos and video reviews sit high on the page, so trust builds before the price appears.
  • Clear tiersA Value, Performance and Flagship comparison helps buyers pick a model in seconds.
AWOL Vision landing page
Landing page
AWOL Vision about page
About page

Pages scroll on their own. Drag or scroll to take over.Pages scroll on their own. Swipe to take over.

ELEHEAR website on a laptop

ELEHEAR

AI hearing aids · US launch

ELEHEAR makes AI-powered, over-the-counter hearing aids. The brand needed to feel like consumer tech, not a medical device, and speak to people who had put off getting help.

  • Tech, not clinicClean product renders and a calm grey palette borrow from consumer electronics.
  • Real momentsPhotos of people with family and friends show what better hearing gives back.
  • One accentA single orange marks every action, from Shop Now to the online hearing check.
ELEHEAR landing page
Landing page
ELEHEAR about page
About page

Pages scroll on their own. Drag or scroll to take over.Pages scroll on their own. Swipe to take over.

Brand story deck

I laid out the 18-page brand story that set the voice for the site, from the positioning and the slogan, “The OS for Your Ears”, to core values and photography.

Brand story contents page Slogan page: The OS for Your Ears Core values page Photography page

Work together

Have a project like this? Let’s talk
Next project
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PR campaign · 2024

Sylvox Outdoor TV Campaign

GoldDandelion Awards 2024China Innovation Communication Awards

Two live watch parties, in Munich and New York, that turned an outdoor TV brand into the screen sports fans gathered around, and into the press.

Role
Campaign strategy, client lead, PR
Year
2024
Scope
Positioning, event concept, media relations
Team
Led with my team
Sylvox key visual: Enjoy the big moment, best outdoor TV for watching sports
525
international media stories, including CNET, ABC News and CBS
2.2B
total media impressions across both events
85M
target fans reached
4.1×
share of voice versus the year before

the idea

Outdoor TVs are hard to sell from a spec sheet. The proof is a crowd watching a big game in daylight. So instead of buying ads, we put Sylvox screens where fans already gather and let the moment do the selling. I shaped the strategy, led the client relationship and ran the press work. My team brought it to life on the ground.

01

UEFA Euro 2024

Max Emanuel Brauerei, Munich · June 14 to July 14

A month of match screenings in one of Munich’s best-loved beer gardens, partnered with a local football influencer. Sylvox screens ran in full sun, with table cards that turned every pint into a product demo.

Euro 2024 watch party in a Munich beer gardenEuro 2024 watch party in a Munich beer gardenEuro 2024 watch party in a Munich beer gardenEuro 2024 watch party in a Munich beer gardenEuro 2024 watch party in a Munich beer gardenEuro 2024 watch party in a Munich beer garden

02

Super Bowl LVIII

The Empire Rooftop, New York · with NYSN

A rooftop watch party with New York Sports Nation, the city’s largest sports fan community. Their Facebook, Meetup and email channels filled the room and carried the night online.

Super Bowl watch party on a New York rooftopSuper Bowl watch party on a New York rooftopSuper Bowl watch party on a New York rooftopSuper Bowl watch party on a New York rooftopSuper Bowl watch party on a New York rooftopSuper Bowl watch party on a New York rooftop

in the press

Work together

Have a project like this? Let’s talk
Next project

Let’s Talk

I’d love to solve real world problems for people.

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Jane Mao