Elon Musk Changes X Logo—And Then Changes It Back Again—As Twitter Rebrand Evolves

Topline

Elon Musk on Tuesday changed X’s logo—and changed it back again—just days after replacing Twitter’s blue bird, as he embarks on the platform’s swift rebrand into an “everything app” that has surprised onlookers with its speed, apparent lack of planning and decision to abandon well-known and valuable assets.

Important Facts

News Peg

Musk first teased the decision to move away from Twitter’s avian roots at the weekend and had done away with many key features—including the logo, name and language used to describe actions on the platform—by Monday, when he installed a new logo, which, unconventionally, Musk had crowdsourced from followers. The transition to X is unsurprising as Musk has been frank about his desire to build an “everything app” like China’s WeChat and repeatedly said he plans to call this superapp X and had already changed the platform’s business name to X Corp. It also fits in with Musk’s other businesses, including xAI and SpaceX. What did come as a surprise to many onlookers was the rapid pace of Twitter’s rebrand to “X” and the decision to completely do away with valuable property linked to the social media brand, most notably its iconic blue bird, Larry, and the name itself.

What to Look Out For

X, having left Twitter behind it must now build its brand. Experts say that this is why Twitter’s rebranding is a contrast with the more conservative and deliberate campaigns of many other companies, as they leave billions worth of brand equity untapped. SME. While it’s true Musk has “walked away from an incredibly valuable intangible asset,” Marisa Mulvihill, global practice lead for brand and activation at growth consultancy Prophet, told SME both Twitter and Musk’s high profiles give X a significant advantage when it comes to building brand value. “‘X’ will be the brand of the company and of the platform, so IF (and this is a big if) the consumer experience is delivered well, X could build equity quite quickly,” Mulvihill said. Sam Ashken, senior strategy director of brand consultancy Interbrand told SME X would need to quickly differentiate itself from Twitter and add “everything app” features or risk becoming a “branding dud.”

The Crucial Quote

The sudden shift away from Twitter, a brand experts believe was worth billions of dollars, has been a key talking point among Musk’s critics. Musk responded to an article claiming that the company’s rebranding had wiped out between $4 billion and 20 billion dollars in value. posted: “X will become the most valuable brand on Earth. Make [sic] my words.”

What We Don’t Know

Twitter has had a huge impact on culture and language. It introduced terms like “tweet” or “tweeting” to our cultural lexicon and it’s not clear what the analogues are now the platform is X.

SME Valuation

$239.9 billion. That’s how much SMEAccording to our live tracker, Musk’s estimated worth is $1 billion. He is leading SME’ list of the world’s richest people, ahead of French luxury goods magnate Bernard Arnault by around $15 billion and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos by around $90 billion, who are in second and third place, respectively. Musk’s wealth largely comes from his stake in electric carmaker Tesla and a cadre of valuable companies he cofounded, including rocket firm SpaceX, brain implant company Neuralink and tunneling enterprise Boring Company. In 2022, he controversially bought Twitter for $44 Billion.

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Elon Musk’s Twitter Rebrand Sets Stage For Everything App ‘X’ To Takeoff, Experts Say—Here’s How (SME)

Twitter Logo: Elon Musk Replaces Bird With ‘X’ In Rebrand (SME)