Twitter to X rebrand: a brand strategy perspective

Posted on 27 July 2023

With my specialist area being Tech and SaaS, I’ve been intrigued to find out more about the Twitter rebrand, which is the biggest since Facebook Inc. changed to Meta in 2021 (and even then Zuckerberg still kept the Facebook brand on the platform as we all know it!).

I’ve read so many different opinions on the twitter/X rebrand, it really has split the globe on whether it’s a good or bad move by Musk, but the media is mostly negative (surprise surprise!).

I can’t say I’d like to be in his shoes having so much negative attention on a rebrand. His confidence as a person and businessman must be very high to not only completely do away with all aspects of the Twitter identity, but to change the name too? It’s brave to say the least.

He’s approached this with a like it or lump it attitude perhaps? Doing away with everything twitter has stood for and leaving not a crumb of the old brand behind leaves no familiarity for the millions of users to anchor to.

I’d be interested to see what happens to twitter user numbers now that it’s been rebranded to X (I could’t find any info on researching this) and even more interested to see what happens when it transforms into an “everything app”… Time will tell.

No matter what my opinion is I’d like to dissect this from a strategic branding perspective:

Audience

Thinking about the pain points of the users, are they still being met? Yes, currently nothing has changed with the actual tech. The platform still does what it always has, so the customers pains are still being catered for.

Competition

I think we can safely say that Zuckerberg and Musk are going head to head in the Threads/X battle. So with the competition as fierce as it is in the tech world and things moving as fast as they do, I think it’s a good move to quickly diversify.

Difference

Musk has been faced with the ‘differentiate or die’ dilemma, knowing that Zuckerberg is hot on his tail, he needs to pivot in a big way and create something that’s very different to Threads. Which is probably why he’s created a lot of hype first of all with the complete overhaul of the brand and is changing the app to become much more than what Twitter had to offer.

I’ll be very interested to watch how the rest of the brand strategy pans out in terms of brand persona and Brand DNA. I have a feeling it might be quite like Apple in the approach, with a cutting edge feel for the brave and the bold.

For now we will have to wait for more… and I for one will be glued, holding the popcorn!

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About the Author

Gemma Johnson is a Brand Strategist & Designer and founder of Emotion Brands, bringing strategic thinking and purposeful design together so brands don't just look good, they mean something. With 24 years in creative roles, and brand strategy woven in over the last six, she works primarily with B2B SaaS companies to improve brand performance.

Through PersonaPro™, her brand strategy and identity system, and Brantegra®, the intelligent brand audit platform, she helps SaaS brands get clear on where they stand and build from solid foundations.

Connect with Gemma on LinkedIn or get in touch.

To explore case studies, visit emotionbrands.co.uk/brand-stories