Twitter Gets a New Name

Another week, another shakeup at Twitter. Er, make that “X.”

Twitter head honcho Elon Musk once again made waves when he announced that the Twitter brand was shifting to X.

The rebrand to X represents Musk and company’s desire to position Twitter as an “everything app.”

The company has outgrown Twitter and its iconic bird, Musk said, and X is designed to make it easier to add new products and capabilities to its offering.

For Twitter users, the move offers a bit of intrigue and a great excuse to weigh in on the rebrand with … whatever a tweet will be called soon. But ultimately, it doesn’t warrant any strategic marketing actions beyond maintaining a wait-and-see approach.

X Marks the Spot

But from a rebrand perspective, the move offers some takeaways for organizations.

Organizations that outgrow their initial offerings are common across industries, especially in the growth-driven tech world. Facebook needed its Meta, Google its Alphabet.

While there’s plenty to debate about the effectiveness of those particular branding shifts, it’s safe to say Twitter’s transition to X has been far more haphazard. There are plenty of lingering references to Twitter and tweeting across mobile and desktop, and it’s not immediately clear what new structure or offerings will be part of X.

In a way, the hasty rebrand is fitting for a platform positioned around real-time updates and chiming in on shared experiences. But from a marketing perspective, it’s hard not to see opportunities to improve and streamline the messaging and execution in the path from Twitter to X — and lament the loss of a decade of brand equity.

One thing Twitter/X has done right is to balance some of its messaging. While Musk continues with the off-the-cuff and meme-infused messaging he’s become known for, Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino is providing more conventional messaging and industry context for the rebrand.