The marketing industry is experiencing a reckoning right now, driven not only by AI but also by the sheer oversaturation of brands competing for public attention and the ever-shortening attention spans of those they’re trying to reach.
Many marketers and brands have thrown up their hands and accepted what feels like an inevitable new normal.
Not everyone, though. Some creative pros have resisted the slide toward mediocrity. Slowly but surely, they’re turning the focus back where it should have been: on unique brands with a story to tell.
Amber Asay, Founder and CEO of the Creative Design Agency Nice People, knows this all too well. “In an AI world, and a world that has more brands than ever before, the only brands that stay are the ones that connect with people, that feel like real people are behind them, and that are emotionally driven.” Asay is determined to stand out in the marketplace with this people-first mindset.
Of course, Asay wants the brands Nice People works with to “stay.” But that’s just part of her vision for a more just, equitable, productive landscape for her clients and their end-users. Nice People is committed to building up brands that make a real difference in the world, supporting underrepresented founders, and ensuring that anyone, anywhere, can build a durable business that resonates with the broader public.
Here’s what they’re doing — and how.
A Different Approach to Building Brands
Nice People believes a logo is just the beginning of a brand. That’s why they act as strategic and creative partners, guiding clients through every step of the brand journey. Their expertise encompasses all touchpoints, from packaging to websites, ensuring everything aligns with their client’s vision and business goals. Ultimately, they translate inspiration into simple, powerful visuals that create lasting memories.
This is already more than most brand agencies do for their clients. So far, so good. But it’s not just its scope of work that sets Nice People apart in a world oversaturated with brand messages that — let’s face it — more often than not resemble echoes of the competition.
What really differentiates Nice People is its tight-knit team’s advocacy for the brands they represent. Asay and Nice People are a hub for a growing community of founders and teams building brands that stand for something. The relationships they’ve built to date — and those they’ll undoubtedly develop in the future — offer powerful network effects for current and future clients.
Nice People also stands apart for its commitment to ethical, sustainable brands from underrepresented leaders. Its clients care deeply about the world around them, both as it is today and as it could and should be tomorrow. They’re creating unique products that advance this mission. Asay, for her part, makes it her mission to share them with the world.
She and Nice People tell the story of those products and the brands behind them, not just their “differentiators” or “KSPs.” That’s Nice People’s secret sauce: powerful, brand-centric stories that highlight their founders’ and teams’ personalities. These stories humanize Nice People’s client brands, forging powerful emotional connections with their audiences. There’s nothing transactional about it.
Credibility
Don’t take our word for it; read on to see what other professionals are saying about this unique company:
“It was an incredibly meaningful experience to work with a group of people who believed in what I wanted to create from the get-go and were committed to seeing my vision through. Amber and the Nice People team took my initial concept and turned it into something tangible. The team was able to turn even my wildest ideas into a reality. Working with Nice People was a great collaborative and supportive process. I couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful design outcome and experience to make it happen.”
—Hadleigh Swarts, the Unwash, Former Client
“Collaborating with Nice People on our branding and packaging suite was both an inspiring and energetic process. We not only walked away with incredible brand collateral, but a deeper understanding of our ethos and aesthetic. We cannot wait to continue the creative process with future projects as we grow.”
—Nikki Reed, Atelier Saucier, Former Client
“People-centric businesses are more likely to be ethical, socially conscious, and environmentally friendly. These values lie at the heart of organizations like Nice People.”
—Forbes, 2024
Boosting Brands of All Shapes and Sizes
While Nice People offers a highly personalized, bespoke design approach, they understand that not all businesses have the resources for a full-scale project. That’s why they created a unique solution to meet the needs of smaller businesses and startups.
Nice People’s new Twice as Nice offering is the perfect showcase for its unique, client-centric style. Starting this summer, Nice People will give brands the opportunity to “double your brand’s potential while cutting the cost, timeline, and decision-making drama in half,” Asay says.
Twice as Nice is ideal for the founder with a clear vision for their brand but isn’t sure how it should vibe. The idea, Asay says, is to help founders overcome this common stumbling block—one that holds many brands back from living up to their full potential.
Twice as Nice helps clients be “twice as confident, twice as inspired, twice as relieved, twice as ready,” she says. And to make it easier for founders to take the leap, Twice as Nice plans to offer targeted, high-impact “mini packages” — “Choose your nice,” Asay says — for participating brands’ logos, identity development, and packaging. (Or all three.)
Getting the Word Out
It should come as no surprise that word is quickly getting out about Nice People. In an oversaturated information environment dominated by mediocre messaging and nonsensical appeals, a better approach to brand-building draws plenty of adherents.
Then again, it’s an oversaturated information environment dominated by mediocre messaging and nonsensical appeals. Even the best messages sometimes struggle to break through.
Asay knows the score, and she isn’t complaining. But she and her team aren’t waiting around to be “found.” Nice People is meeting its audience — and future clients — where they are.
For starters, there’s the new Women Designers You Should Know podcast, a Nice People original available on Apple, Spotify, and other podcast platforms. The podcast showcases women designers and their contributions to graphic design, architecture, fashion, and more.
Nice People is also breaking ground on the packaging front. The team recently designed an out-of-the-box — in more ways than one — engagement ring unboxing experience and just learned this spring they’d be honored with a Dieline award, one of the industry’s highest honors.
Yet, for all the moves Asay and her team are making and for all the legitimate and welcome differences between Nice People and most of its competitors, Nice People remains committed to doing what it does best: designing and delivering bespoke storytelling for world-changing brands big and small.
