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Branding is both the vehicle and driver that chauffeurs your business to success. But how you approach your branding (or rebranding) can determine whether you ride in style to a red-carpet event or end up stranded on the side of the road.
Twitter says farewell to its iconic branding
Which destination the social media platform formerly known as Twitter will reach remains to be seen. In late July, new owner Elon Musk announced that the platform would be rebranding from Twitter and its iconic blue bird logo to simply, X.
The change comes after Musk purchased the platform in late 2022 for a neat $44 billion. Since then, the business has seen many shake-ups including massive layoffs of more than half its staff, the introduction of paid checkmark subscriptions, lawsuits and more.
In the face of such adversity, and as the platform evolves farther and farther from the original short-form posts, reinventing the brand was certainly in the cards.
As Musk said himself, “The Twitter name made sense when it was just 140 character messages going back and forth – like birds tweeting – but now you can post almost anything, including several hours of video.”
Though X has yet to release any new features, CEO Linda Yaccarino assures users that many new and exciting updates are in the works.
While we wait for the next announcement or for new features to drop, let’s take a look at everything we know about the rebrand so far and how it might help—or hinder—the platform in the future.
The building blocks of a bullet-proof brand
The best branding quickly and easily answers these questions: Who are you? And what do you do?
Let’s take the old Twitter branding for example:
Brand Name: Twitter
Logo:
Have you ever been awoken early on the weekends to birds excitedly tweeting at each other as they scavenge for their breakfast? (If you don’t have a tree outside your bedroom window, let us assure you—it’s loud!) The name and imagery of Twitter’s original branding easily supports its short-form blogging features as well as its “water cooler” style community. Just as birds tweet to communicate, Tweets were a short, informal way to share thoughts with the bigger Twitter community online.
Now let’s look at X’s branding: Who is X, and what do they do?
Brand Name: X
Logo:
While the X logo may not say much about itself, the letter X has been used in such a variety of ways that the meaning of this new branding and logo could be almost limitless.
First of all, X is commonly used to indicate an unknown value or property for which you have to solve. (Apologies to everyone for the flashback to high school algebra class!) When used in this way, the X branding can showcase both precision and an unidentifiable quantity that sets it apart from the rest.
X’s users may also connect its branding with the extreme (or X-treme…yeah, we went there), including daring, danger and death. We’d say it’s unlikely the intention behind this rebrand is to invoke thoughts of death—though it may be fitting as Twitter-now-X users have long accused the changes within the platform over the past year of killing the social media site. But it’s possible that this decision could highlight some of the daring and, as some may say, extreme new ideas and changes that X will be implementing into the platform in the near future.
Meanwhile, naysayers of the rebranding are also equating the X branding with adult themes—especially with the X.com website that now redirects to Twitter which, as of posting, can still be found at twitter.com.
Or, maybe, owner Elon Musk is simply fascinated by the letter X. Afterall, Twitter-now-X is not his first or even second company to include an “X” in its moniker. First there was X.com (then a banking site, though it was later bought out by eBay), and now SpaceX and xAI. Musk’s son with Canadian music artist Grimes even bears the first name X.
Whatever the intention behind the new branding, one thing is clear: Platform users and advertising partners aren’t sure what to think of the new branding, or what it says about changes within the company. Similar to the beginning of an algebra problem, the value of X remains a mystery.
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it
You may have heard this old adage a few times in your life. But what you probably haven’t considered is how it applies to branding.
With a revenue of $5.08 billion in 2021, Twitter’s instantly recognizable brand was certainly working to drive profits. That’s why some professionals consider the move to X branding as undoing and scrapping the positive consumer response to the Twitter brand.
Twitter was one of the very few brands that reach the pinnacle of marketing—being so recognizable that they become part of our language.
Think about it: How many times today alone have you told someone “Google it?”
Since the inception of Twitter in 2006, the concept of “tweeting” or “retweeting” have become common terms that people use day to day. Though these generic trademarks, as they are called, can sometimes be counteractive for brands (think: influencers speaking out about the negative psychological effects of “photoshopping”), Twitter invoked largely positive responses. As a household name, Twitter’s incredible amount of brand recognition benefited both the platform and its advertising partners.
“A rose by any other name would smell as sweet”—or would it?
The famous line from Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet suggests that names have no impact on what something is intrinsically. While this may be true for people, we can’t—and shouldn’t—apply it to branding. (But don’t worry, Shakespeare. We’ll let this one slide since you wrote it several centuries before modern-day branding or social media.)
The truth is—names and imagery really do have an impact on how consumers interact with your brand.
The Twitter name and branding is going to be hard for X to shake.
Overall, the removal of the Twitter branding is confusing for platform users—especially because the new branding was rolled out before the site could implement changes to its URL and posting features. Before Musk could even publish this Tweet, he had to click a blue button that said “Tweet.” If someone wanted to repost Musk’s Tweet, they would have to click the “Retweet” option. And, as you can see, we’re still calling it a Tweet because…well, what are we supposed to call it now?
And that is perhaps the biggest takeaway from this rebrand so far.
Final thoughts
It was time for a change.
Despite the success of the Twitter brand, Musk was right about the platform outgrowing its name. The introduction of multiple long-form sharing features no longer invokes the image of birds tweeting. Perhaps something still could have been salvaged from the iconic branding to fit today’s platform, but we’ll never know.
Incomplete change creates more confusion than intrigue.
Whether or not the X branding will be better for the company in the long run, the incomplete roll-out of its objectives and the remaining Twitter-branded features that haven’t yet been axed are hindering the buy-in from X’s lifeblood—its users, advertising partners and consumers.
Launching the rebrand before the new features that would make the platform uniquely “X” are also creating confusion for users. As CEO Linda Yaccarino said, Twitter has long been known as an online watering hole. Without any new features available now, the lines between the old and new are blurred.
What does it mean to be an X user? Will the traditional Twitter features and functions still be available?
Rebranding takes a lot of time and effort to pull off.
Big changes for your business can be exciting! But if you’re chomping at the bit to launch your newest creations, take a deep breath and take a step back to look at the whole picture.
Your business, partners and audience will all benefit from a holistic roll-out of any new branding. Allowing your customers to see the new branding in action makes all the puzzle pieces fit together.
Not to mention, if you pull the trigger before everything is ready, you take the risk of looking underprepared and disorganized to the public. Take the flashing X logo on the former Twitter building for example. Complaints from locals and passersby about its blinding flash—paired with a police visit to the headquarters and the eventual removal of the sign for not having the right permits—wasn’t a great look for X as it kicked off its new branding. It’s much better to wait and make sure you have all your ducks in a row (and permits in place!) so your brand launch goes off without a hitch.
This is an exciting time for X.
Big things are happening for the social media giant. We’re looking forward to the reveal of X’s new features and to learning how they’ll enhance the user experience within the platform. We wish X the best of luck as they continue the rebranding process for their business!
How do you rebrand successfully?
If you’re evaluating your brand or are already knee-deep in a rebrand, it’s important to make sure you’re working towards a brand that is going to resonate with your audience and showcase your company in the best light.
Thankfully, you can get the process off to a great start with our Toolkit for Better Branding!
Inside you’ll find helpful tips and tricks for building a bullet-proof brand as well as detailed worksheets for you to identify the strengths and weaknesses of your brand.
If you have a specific needs or questions, don’t hesitate to reach out to the branding experts at GBS BrandConnect! You can reach us at marketing@gbscorp.com or online 24/7 at www.gbsbrandconnect.com.
Sources:
Chan, K., & Ortutay, B. (2023, July 25). Elon Musk reveals new “X” logo to replace Twitter’s Blue Bird. AP News. https://apnews.com/article/twitter-x-logo-blue-bird-musk-0689e9a5c3a217afc2fbefeaf0e6d8a8
Ivanova, I. (2023, July 31). Twitter is now X. here’s what that means. CBS News. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/twitter-rebrand-x-name-change-elon-musk-what-it-means/
Mac, R., & Hsu, T. (2023, July 24). From Twitter to X: Elon Musk begins erasing an iconic internet brand. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/24/technology/twitter-x-elon-musk.html
McCallum, S. (2023, July 24). Elon Musk: Twitter rebrands as X and kills off Blue Bird Logo. BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/business-66284304
Ortutay, B. (2023, July 27). Elon Musk wants to turn tweets into “x’s”. but changing language is not quite so simple. AP News. https://apnews.com/article/twitter-tweet-elon-musk-x-c1c3871e9bef60aa0a4c1a40129c155a
Seltzer, L. F. (2023, July 24). What’s so fascinating about the letter X? Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/evolution-of-the-self/201603/whats-so-fascinating-about-the-letter-x