NiCO | Operador Central
2024
The everyday companion for Arca Continental’s Workforce
Arca Continental, one of the world’s largest Coca-Cola bottlers, approached us to support the rollout of their new sales workflow, the challenge wasn’t just technological — it was human. With over 10,000 salespeople across Latin America accustomed to a traditional work methodology, the shift toward automation and data-driven tools required more than implementation; it demanded alignment, empathy, and storytelling. Our task was to build the brand behind the system — and craft NiCO, its humanized ambassador — to ensure this transformation felt intuitive, empowering, and grounded in the needs of the people it was designed for.
Digital Transformation Meets Human Reality
Arca Continental's exponential growth had created a paradox of success. Their 10,000+ field representatives across Latin America had evolved from simply being order-takers into strategic retail consultants, managing complex in-store experiences across expanding product portfolios while maintaining the personal relationships that drive market dominance. But cognitive load was becoming the enemy of excellence—time constraints and task complexity were limiting their ability to maximize each store visit.. While Arca's leadership envisioned a digital tool to support their workforce with intelligent recommendations and data-driven guidance, the ultimate challenge wasn't technological—it was human. How do you introduce artificial intelligence to a workforce whose success has been built on intuition and relationships? How do you design a tool that feels like empowerment rather than replacement in markets where trust and personal connection are the foundation of commerce?
"Arctic Fever immersed themselves in our company culture from day one, and by working closely with us for several months, they ensured the project was very well received by our workforce."
Liz Aguilera, Advanced Analytics at Arca Continental
Creating NiCO: Data meets human-centered design.
Arca Continental's initial hypothesis centered on avatar-driven adoption—the belief that a humanized digital representative would accelerate workforce acceptance. Our strategic approach challenged this assumption through comprehensive research across five Latin American markets, combining ethnographic focus groups with large-scale digital surveys. The findings revealed a sophisticated user base already integrating digital tools, but uncovered a critical insight: while users humanize consumer AI tools, they rejected digital avatars that mirrored their own physical appearance and professional identity. These sales promoters take profound pride in their expertise and client relationships—they didn't need a digital avatar, they needed an intelligent assistant. This research led us to reject the original avatar hypothesis in favor of a nuanced strategic framework: designing a character that embodies helpful intelligence while maintaining clear hierarchical deference to human expertise. The persona needed to feel distinctly non-human—intelligent enough to be trusted, humble enough to be welcomed, and visually differentiated enough to preserve the workforce's sense of control and professional identity.
Building an Ecosystem
Our research synthesis pointed toward a robotic character—one that could embody intelligence and precision while remaining clearly differentiated from human identity. Working with specialized 3D design teams, we crafted NiCO (Núcleo de Información para la Conexión Operativa), a character that balanced technological sophistication with approachable familiarity. Crucially, we dressed NiCO in Arca Continental's signature uniform, creating visual continuity that expanded organizational pride while maintaining the clear distinction between human expertise and digital assistance. But character design was only the foundation. We recognized that sustainable adoption required a comprehensive ecosystem that could bridge corporate strategy with field reality. This led to the creation of Operador Central—a holistic brand identity that repositioned the entire initiative around a central organizing principle: "The power of our data with the talent of our people." Operador Central became the conceptual hub that aggregates intelligence from every organizational touchpoint, processes it through sophisticated algorithms, and delivers actionable insights to the right people at the right moment. From copywriting frameworks to visual identity systems, we built a brand architecture that resonated with corporate stakeholders while connecting authentically with field teams, ensuring both strategic alignment and grassroots adoption.
Synaptic Intelligence Architecture
The visual design system draws deeply from Arca Continental's master brand identity and their established "Digital Nest" framework, while introducing a sophisticated conceptual layer rooted in synapsis—the neural connections that enable intelligent communication between brain cells. This biological metaphor became our organizing visual principle, generating graphic motifs that appear throughout all brand assets, symbolizing the intelligent connections between data points, insights, and human decision-making. Our approach balanced brand heritage with digital innovation, creating a visual language that honors Arca Continental's established equity while opening new possibilities for digital-native design and UX elements. Every detail underwent rigorous cross-cultural validation, including extensive name testing across different countries to ensure cultural relevance and acceptance. Central to the system is a data-driven hierarchy that gives numbers and analytics prominent visual treatment—recognizing that as an advanced analytics tool, Operador Central must always provide space for quantitative insights to speak with clarity and authority. The result is a comprehensive visual ecosystem that translates complex data relationships into intuitive, actionable visual communications.
"NiCO and Operador Central carry Arca Continental within their very anatomy"
Andrés Velázquez, Strategy Lead at Arctic Fever
