Goodbye Twitter, hello ... X? 

On Sunday, July 23, tech billionaire Elon Musk – who bought Twitter for $44 billion last year – boasted, “Soon we shall bid adieu to the Twitter brand and, gradually, all the birds.” Upon waking up the following Monday, the familiar light-blue branding, along with the synonymous Twitter bird, was gone, replaced by a black letter X. No explanation why or what the X might stand for. No further information regarding a rebranding. Just a mysterious letter replacing the iconic Twitter name and logo. 

More than a week later, and the mystery continues. And for those who use the social network regularly for business, the murky rebrand has them wondering what the future might hold for the network formerly known as Twitter.

I reached out to several promo industry users of Twitter, I mean X, regarding the rebrand, and here is what they had to say:

Stacey Gluchman, Warwick Publishing (asi/95280)

“I don’t like it, I don’t hate it. But the question that keeps nagging at me is why? The amount of PR we saw was akin to slightly changing a logo’s typeface. Alphabet became the parent company of Google, but Google remains Google. X, Twitter’s parent company, wants to be more than just Twitter. So be X, but let Twitter be Twitter. Everyone knew Twitter. The branding was solid.

Changing it from Twitter to X changes the flavor. It’s a fun platform. The bird logo fit. The name ‘Twitter’ fit because it gave a fleeting feeling, like the abbreviated thoughts in a Tweet. What is X, and how does it represent what the platform is or will be? The branding (or lack thereof) so far feels boring and lacks intent.”

Joelly Goodson, Genumark (asi/204588)

“I don’t think it’s a great move from a branding perspective, because just changing the logo isn’t rebranding. To truly rebrand is to change the story, and the new brand identity is just part of that story. I think he (Musk) has an affinity for the letter X (Space X, his son’s name is X). It reminds me of ‘The artist formerly known as Prince.’ I think most people will still refer to it as Twitter and tweeting, so in that respect it’s a bit of a rebrand fail.”

Vic Berggren, Printing Studio (asi/789642)

“I think the rebrand came off as a bit unplanned, maybe even forced. Elon is entitled to make the change; he paid a lot of money to acquire Twitter, so it’s his decision and I don’t underestimate him. He’s disrupted the automobile and space industry when people told him he was crazy, so I’m sure we’ll have those same thoughts in the future regarding the Twitter rebrand. Elon has stated that he wanted Twitter to be the ‘everything app,’ and I think he missed the opportunity during the rebrand to describe his mission a bit more (e.g., Where town square, commerce, speech, etc... intersect.) This lines up nicely with the lines of the ‘X’ crossing over (in the new logo).”

Mike Freestone, The Promo Agency, Powered by Proforma (asi/490055)

“I’m not sure how it will impact Twitter as a company, but I haven’t conversed with anyone who thinks it will be a positive change. I’m still delighted that my phone hasn’t updated to the X yet. It might go down as a debacle like new Coke versus classic Coke. I just hope we can still say we are tweeting our thoughts and not being known as X-ing our thoughts!”

Mandi Rudd, Brand Energy Marketing (asi/145223)

“My immediate reaction was it reminded me of the ETS Express logo! Having gone through a rebrand in 2017 with a new company name and logo, a rebrand can signify growth and change. A refresh can signify a positive change, as it did in that instance. However, in this instance, I interpret it as trying to get away from the disaster that was created after Elon Musk took over Twitter.”

Eric Pehrson, Cutter & Buck (asi/47965)

“I am not a fan of the “X” rebrand of Twitter. As a longtime user when I heard about ‘X’ I asked myself Y? When a brand changes, I think it’s natural for there to be pushback. People associate a product or service with a brand. When that brand does a 180, as it did in this case, it leaves people confused and wipes away invaluable brand equity. In this case I think ‘X’ is particularly vague and is already associated with so many other things. Twitter was a globally recognized brand. Even if you didn’t use Twitter, you probably knew what it was, you knew what a “tweet” was, you may have even recognized the Twitter bird. It seems many, myself included, are confused with the purpose of the rebrand. Are tweets now called X’s? Retweets are now referred to as reposts, however their new competition, Threads, already uses the term ‘reposts.’ In the short time since the app changed from the Twitter bird to an ‘X,’ I find myself using it less. Perhaps I’ll grow use to it but I’m still a person who calls the Willis Tower the Sears Tower and still finds myself saying Bic instead of Koozie Group.” 

Danny Rosin, Brand Fuel (asi/145025)

“Twitter needs to implement an entire strategic rebrand versus a logo change in order to improve engagement. As far as the “X” goes, Bill Petrie said it best: When I think of an ‘x,’ I click out of a platform.”

Scott A. Nussinow, Artwork Services USA (AWS, asi/820124)

“In most cases, rebrands provide an opportunity to refresh and reinvigorate a brand, to shed the stale, and to jettison any baggage. In this case, the rebrand actually seems to add baggage. And in the case of X, it distances itself from the verb that became a part of our daily social lexicon: ‘Tweet.’ IMHO, the change was a defiant move by a petulant and arrogant genius and diminishes the product’s cachet.”

Madalyn Sklar, Digital Marketer and
Social Media Influencer

“Twitter’s bold switch to ‘X’ sweeps in a wave of change that’s got the Twitterverse buzzing. As someone who guides entrepreneurs through the ebbs and flows of social media transformations, I understand why some users view this change warily. It seems the familiar has been traded for the unknown – a gamble that could impact Twitter’s identity. The key here will be how Twitter weaves ‘X’ into its core narrative and maintains the user-friendly experience it’s loved for. As we ride this wave of change, remember that, like all things in the digital world, it’s about adapting and evolving. So let’s buckle in and see where this ride takes us.”

Suzy Huber, Marketing Strategist

“Personally, the nostalgia of Twitter will probably keep me referring to it as such for some time. From a business perspective, since Elon purchased Twitter and plans to make more considerable changes in the direction of the app, it makes sense to rebrand. Will it cost users? Likely. We will have to wait and see if he’s able to make Twitter cash flow positive with the changes he’s making in branding and product features.”