Company Overview
Nichols is a beverage manufacturing company, best known for Vimto, producing concentrates, cordials and ready-to-drink beverages. It employs around 310 people and operates from its headquarters in Lancashire, alongside a number of manufacturing and distribution sites.
Situation Overview
Nichols, like many organisations, had built its day-to-day communications around Workplace from Meta. It was familiar, widely used and embedded into everyday working life. When Meta announced the platform's end of life, Nichols needed to find a replacement while maintaining the engagement and participation it had worked hard to establish.
Workvivo was selected as the new employee experience platform, but choosing the technology was only one part of the project. Nichols also needed a clear migration plan, a launch approach that would encourage adoption, and ongoing support to ensure the platform delivered long-term value.
Cocentric worked alongside Nichols throughout that journey.
Replacing an established communications platform is never just a technical project. For Nichols, the challenge was maintaining engagement across a distributed workforce while introducing a completely new platform.
A platform sunset with no obvious successor
When Meta announced the closure of Workplace, organisations around the world were faced with the same challenge: finding an alternative platform and managing the transition successfully.
For Nichols, Workplace had become a key part of internal communications. Employees were familiar with how it worked, and many communication habits had developed around it. Moving away from the platform meant introducing something new without disrupting the engagement that had already been built.
A distributed workforce that needed more than an email announcement
Nichols operates across multiple sites, with many employees away from a desk for much of the day. In environments like this, a poorly managed platform transition can create communication gaps and make adoption difficult.
Any replacement needed to be easy to access, mobile-friendly and relevant to employees from the moment it launched.
Sustaining momentum beyond launch
Getting employees onto a new platform was only the first step. Nichols also wanted to understand how people were using Workvivo over time, which content was resonating most, and how engagement could continue to grow after launch.
This required ongoing support, regular analysis and a clear communications strategy.
What Nichols needed was a partner that could bring together platform expertise, communications strategy and data-driven insight throughout the entire process.
Cocentric supported Nichols from platform selection through to post-launch optimisation, helping the organisation establish a digital workplace that employees could easily adopt and engage with.
Platform assessment and selection
Before any migration work began, Cocentric worked with Nichols to review the available options and evaluate which platform would best support its workforce.
Workvivo was identified as the strongest fit for a multi-site organisation with a mixed-role workforce. Its mobile-first design, intuitive user experience and engagement features made it well suited to Nichols' requirements, giving the organisation confidence in its decision.
Migration planning and risk management
Cocentric managed the move from Workplace to Workvivo with continuity as a priority.
This included reviewing existing content and structures, identifying what needed to be retained, and creating a migration plan that minimised disruption. Experience across both platforms helped ensure potential challenges were identified and addressed early in the process.
Platform structure and configuration
Ahead of launch, Cocentric worked with Nichols to design a platform structure that felt clear and intuitive from the first login.
This included deciding how content would be organised, how different employee groups would be supported and how users would navigate the platform.
Nichols initially launched with a small number of spaces before growing to 18 communities. Some spaces were aligned to locations and teams, while others focused on employee interests and engagement, including groups such as Nichols Pawsome Pets.
Launch communications strategy
Cocentric supported Nichols in planning how Workvivo would be introduced across the business.
The focus was on creating awareness, encouraging participation and helping employees become familiar with the platform from the outset. Communications were carefully planned before and after launch to build momentum and encourage employees to make Workvivo part of their everyday routine.
Analytics-led engagement and optimisation
Following launch, Cocentric continued working with Nichols to understand how employees were using the platform.
Regular reporting and analytics helped identify which content was performing well, where engagement was strongest and where additional support was needed. These insights informed ongoing improvements and helped maintain strong adoption levels beyond the initial launch period.
“Workvivo has enabled more frequent, meaningful updates without overwhelming our people, and Cocentric's guidance has been invaluable in bringing this to life. Our early engagement levels speak for themselves! We're looking forward to continuing this journey with Cocentric and Workvivo."
Sam Blunt, Internal Comms Manager @ Nichols
Three months after launch, Nichols had exceeded every adoption target it had set.
The results reflect a successful migration from Workplace to Workvivo and strong engagement across the organisation from the outset.
For Internal Communications Teams
The migration from Workplace to Workvivo was delivered end-to-end with no disruption to communications.
Cocentric planned and supported launch communications, reducing pressure on the internal team during a busy transition period.
87% of employees were onboarded within the first three months, creating a strong active audience from day one.
88% monthly active users demonstrated sustained engagement beyond the launch period.
Communications expanded to include leadership videos, site updates, employee recognition posts and more informal content that encouraged interaction and participation.
GIFs became a popular part of day-to-day communication, helping add personality and creating a more engaging experience.
Employee feedback highlighted that communications felt more immediate, accessible and relevant, particularly for frontline colleagues.
Nichols established a more structured and consistent communications approach, with clearly defined spaces, regular content rhythms and a greater focus on two-way engagement.
For HR and People Teams
A more consistent onboarding experience now exists across all sites.
Adoption and engagement can be measured and tracked, giving the People team greater visibility across the workforce.
Cocentric's ongoing support ensures the platform continues to develop and deliver value over time.
For the Business
Nichols successfully transitioned from Workplace to Workvivo while maintaining employee engagement throughout the process.
By combining platform expertise, launch support and ongoing optimisation, Cocentric helped the organisation achieve strong adoption levels and establish Workvivo as a central part of its communications strategy.
Today, employees across Nichols' sites have access to a shared platform that supports communication, recognition and connection, helping create a more informed and engaged workforce.
Platforms: Workvivo by Zoom