Instead of sending a traditional holiday card, Los Angeles creative agency, R&R partners, built an AI called Nick Jolly that you can chat with. Brought to life through a carefully crafted backstory, a custom-trained system prompt, and a blend of text-to-speech, generative AI, and R&R-built digital design, he’s part holiday greeting, part interactive experience, and part living case study for where AI-enhanced brand experiences are headed, showing how AI can enhance brand expression when guided by thoughtful people and purposeful design.
Nick has launched with a full takeover of the R&R partners website, a dedicated microsite, and an email sent to clients, prospects, and community partners. A fun addition to the festive mood, the project is also an introduction to R&R’s upcoming AI offering, officially launching in 2026. Nick is a living case study for where the agency believes AI-enhanced brand experiences are heading. He’s also meant to serve as an introduction to clients, prospects, and industry peers about R&R’s new proprietary AI offering, officially launching in 2026.
Nick has his own AI personality, with real-time visual representation and zero delay in speech response time.
The R&R team created Nick from scratch, starting with mapping out in detail his purpose and intent. From there, they built his cognitive data, defining his values, giving him a personality and interests, and building a complex empathy map. The final result is a holiday brand ambassador like none before. He’s tattooed, can benchpress 450lbs (525 if he’s just had some holiday ham), and owns nine motorcycles (8 are black and one is red). To make him fully interactive, the R&R team had to, quite literally, build a mind of their own. To do that, they fused a state-of-the-art text-to-speech engine with a uniquely crafted narrative and system prompt, giving him a voice and an animated, visual presence that truly matches his charming, unconventional spirit. This included everything from developing the original character concept to translating that personality into a deeply specific AI prompt. The team crafted both to balance sincerity, depth, and a refreshing alternative to traditional holiday cliches.
R&R’s digital experience team also built a landing page home for Nick to live, and an interactive environment that brings everything together in a smooth, story-led interface.
“AI is evolving fast, and we want our clients to see the possibilities firsthand,” stated Matt Mason, chief strategy officer and partner of R&R partners. “Nick Jolly is a friendly introduction to what we’ve been building behind the scenes. We set out to build this thing to show our clients what is possible firsthand but even we were surprised by the AI personality that we were able to bring through.”
“Nick Jolly started as a playful idea for a holiday character with personality, story, and quirks, but quickly became a testbed for how we can harness AI creatively,” added Garrett Griffith, director of AI and automation at R&R partners. “Every single detail was built intentionally. We’re showing clients how AI can take on a brand’s personality, history, and humor in a way that feels intentional, not automated.”
Credits:
Agency: R&R partners
Director of AI & Automation
VP, Marketing: Kari Jaspersohn
Design Director: Destin Cox
Junior Copywriter: Luke Strong
Junior Art Director: Macey Carson
Experiential Design Director: Ryan Lord
Director, Digital Development: Dan Freeman
Digital Operations Manager: Ashlyn Hadaway
VP, Experiential Design: Jeremy Fishman
VP, Brand & Culture: Jacqueline Meason
Senior Project Manager: Danielle Jones
Marketing Coordinator: Rylee McIver
Chief Strategy Officer: Matt Mason
