Purple Is a Business Risk

Nobody mentioned purple.

Yesterday, my CPO informed me that purple would not resonate with our enterprise audience.

This was surprising. We had spoken to our enterprise audience. They wanted clearer pricing, better permissions and a way to export their data without contacting someone called Nathan.

Nobody mentioned purple.

David did.

I should clarify that David is our Chief Product Officer. He is also, apparently, our largest customer segment.

He has very specific needs.

How a preference becomes a strategy

The meeting started well. We presented the work, explained the decisions and shared the research.

David nodded throughout. This is something leadership training should address. A senior executive nodding does not necessarily mean agreement. Sometimes it means they are waiting for you to finish so they can discuss the colour.

Then he leaned back.

“I just wonder whether purple sends the right signal.”

Notice the construction. He didn’t dislike it. He was wondering. About signals.

You can disagree with a preference. A signal requires a workshop.

Within minutes, we were discussing brand positioning, market expectations and enterprise credibility. The research was still on the screen, but nobody was looking at it anymore.

I watched one man’s opinion acquire a business vocabulary and become everyone else’s problem.

I asked for evidence

“What would we need to learn,” I asked, “to feel confident keeping purple?”

David considered this carefully.

“Could we see it in blue?”

An excellent question, provided the question was “What colour does David prefer?”

I began reviewing the available evidence.

His LinkedIn banner: blue.

His presentation template: blue.

His car: blue.

Three independent sources. I have seen product launches approved on less.

And yet, when I raised the car, I was told I was “making it personal.”

David had just assigned his favourite colour an enterprise sales target. I felt the car was relevant.

The cost of exploring

We agreed to “quickly explore” blue.

Quickly is an interesting word in a leadership meeting. It takes half a second to say and three designers to implement.

There would be new screens. New comparisons. Another review. Someone would ask whether the blue was accessible. Someone else would suggest a slightly different blue.

Eventually, we would present six shades of David.

And the meeting notes would say: “Strong cross-functional alignment.”

I decided to intervene.

Defending the integrity of the work

I explained that purple was essential to our brand equity. That changing it would compromise distinctiveness and weaken the visual identity we had worked so hard to establish.

David asked whether we had measured that.

I said brand equity was difficult to capture in a single metric.

He asked whether customers recognised us because of the purple.

I said we needed to take a longer-term view.

He asked whether this was, perhaps, a personal preference.

I found that reductive.

There is a considerable difference between a CPO choosing a colour because he likes it and a design leader defending one because he understands its strategic importance.

I can explain that difference.

I have a presentation.

The important thing is that we kept purple.

And before anyone asks: yes, the project will eventually appear in my portfolio.

The blue would have looked terrible next to my other work.