Since Elon Musk acquired Twitter in October of final yr for a modest $44 billion, he has terminated roughly 80% of its workers and launched controversial adjustments to the platform, resulting in frustration amongst customers.
In 2022, we compiled a few of these adjustments and introduced a retrospective on Twitter’s controversial yr.
A couple of month in the past, he introduced limitations on the variety of posts and DMs inside the platform, primarily focusing on customers with out the blue verification mark.
Nonetheless, this time, after a mysterious sequence of tweets on Sunday night time, Musk revealed on his personal social community that Twitter is rebranding as “X.” He then unveiled the brand new brand, that includes a black and white “X” as a substitute of the previous “blue chicken.
Causes And Motivations Behind Twitter’s Rebranding
Elon Musk has been speaking about his intention to create what he calls an “all the things app” for fairly a while now. When he acquired Twitter, he tweeted (can we nonetheless say “tweeted” for that point interval?) from his account: “Shopping for Twitter is an accelerant to creating X, the all the things app.”
He was proposing one thing just like the Chinese language WeChat, the place customers can’t solely discover leisure but in addition make purchases and conduct different monetary transactions.
In keeping with Walter Isaacson, who has been writing Elon Musk’s biography even earlier than the Twitter acquisition, Musk texted him, saying, “I’m very enthusiastic about lastly implementing X.com because it ought to have been completed, utilizing Twitter as an accelerant!”
However why substitute the model title? Why take away the chicken brand?
Isaacson additionally recalled that within the early 2000s, Musk had already supposed to make use of the “X.com” model for what later turned PayPal, however he didn’t persuade his buyers at the moment.
Nonetheless, Musk strengthened his mysterious need to make use of the letter “X” in one in every of his manufacturers. In 2002, he named his aerospace firm SpaceX.
As ordinary, Musk clarified this to Twitter customers (now already referred to as “X”):
“Twitter was acquired by X Corp each to make sure freedom of speech and as an accelerant for X, the all the things app. This isn’t merely an organization renaming itself, however doing the identical factor.
The Twitter title made sense when it was simply 140 character messages going backwards and forwards – like birds tweeting – however now you possibly can put up nearly something, together with a number of hours of video.
Within the months to return, we are going to add complete communications and the power to conduct your whole monetary world. The Twitter title doesn’t make sense in that context, so we should bid adieu to the chicken.”
Linda Yaccarino, the not too long ago employed CEO of Twitter (now X), additional added, “X is the long run state of limitless interactivity – centered on audio, video, messaging, funds/banking – creating a worldwide market for concepts, items, companies, and alternatives. Powered by AI, X will join us all in methods we’re simply starting to think about.”
What Are Consultants Saying About Twitter Rebranding?
Since Musk introduced the rebranding, many advertising and marketing specialists have criticized the choice. A few of them are adamant that the transfer can be an enormous mistake. Let’s check out a few of these opinions:
- Becci Salmon, design director at IPG-owned advert company FCB London: In keeping with The Drum, Salmon says “There’s loads to be stated for model fairness – Twitter’s popularity and recognizability weren’t created in a single day,” and. “Twitter, tweets, tweeting – it’s all a part of the vernacular, a familiarity that’s been constructed up over 17 years. [Musk is] ripping down a model that’s been a cornerstone of social media … my intestine response was that that is one thing solely a billionaire on an ego journey would do.”
- Mike Proulx, analysis director and VP of Forrester: “Whereas Musk’s imaginative and prescient is to show ‘X’ into an ‘all the things app,’ this takes time, cash, and folks -— three issues that the corporate now not has,” and in addition added Musk “can have singlehandedly worn out over fifteen years of a model title that has secured its place in our cultural lexicon,”
- Richard Michie, CEO and founding father of The Advertising Optimist: Michie known as the rebrand “absolute advertising and marketing suicide” and stated that “Elon Musk has been giving a masterclass in learn how to kill a model with demise by a thousand cuts.”
- Mark Ritson, Ph.D. in Advertising and former professor in MBA packages of main enterprise colleges together with London Enterprise Faculty and MIT: Ritson wrote an article for MarketingWeek itemizing “12 explanation why Twitter’s rebrand to X is a mistake” and stated “He’s making these selections alone. Working bare via the night time. Fuelled by ego and a trenchant need to make his mistaken acquisition a hit.”
What Does This Rebranding Imply To Entrepreneurs And Firms?
Just a little over two weeks in the past, Musk himself tweeted, “We’re nonetheless destructive money movement, as a result of ~50% drop in promoting income plus heavy debt load. Want to succeed in optimistic money movement earlier than we’ve got the posh of anything,” responding to customers’ recapitalization solutions.
However what might be inflicting this uncertainty amongst advertisers?
A survey by the Pew Analysis Heart, printed in Might, offers some information on the habits of American customers on the platform that considerations advertising and marketing professionals concerning the platform’s potential. It’s value noting that the United States ranks #1 within the variety of customers on Twitter.
The Pew Analysis Heart survey highlights two details:
- Those that used Twitter within the final yr reported taking a break from the platform throughout that point.
- 1 / 4 says they don’t seem to be very or in no way prone to be on Twitter a yr from now.
The very fact is that with folks contemplating leaving the platform, corporations are hesitant to spend money on promoting on Twitter. In an try to handle this, it looks as if billionaire Musk’s social community has been taking some fast actions.
For instance, shortly earlier than the rebranding announcement, Musk posted {that a} monetization plan might be accessible to anybody who joins the verified account.
Because of this customers can have an opportunity to earn cash from advertisements on their profiles, so long as they pay for having a verified account.
X.com’s Unsure Future
It appears to me that now X.com remains to be making a determined try and preserve the “two birds within the hand.”
With this, the corporate assumes a place of attracting each customers of verified (paid) accounts, making membership extra enticing, particularly for content material creators, and, consequently, extra funding by advertisers within the platform.
Within the midst of all this, different social networks could profit from the second and acquire the eye of advertisers, together with the not too long ago launched Threads.
After experiencing a big drop in energetic customers not too long ago, the rival app created by Meta and built-in with Instagram has a terrific likelihood of rising once more amid the disaster skilled by what’s now referred to as “X”.
In a nutshell, the street forward for X.com stays unsure. The alternatives they make within the coming months will resolve if they will maintain their floor within the cutthroat social media world, or if their rivals will seize the second and acquire an edge. So, keep tuned to see how this all performs out!
