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Billionaire Elon Musk took to Twitter, the micro-blogging platform he owns, to announce that he is changing the iconic Twitter bird logo. The Tesla CEO also shared the design of the new Twitter logo on its social media platform and named it ‘X’.
“Now, X.com now points to Twitter.com,” Musk tweeted.
The identity change is a precursor to even bigger changes on the platform. Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino clearly states that the platform “X” will be “centered in audio, video, messaging, payments/banking – creating a global marketplace for ideas, goods, services, and opportunities.”
Storyboard18 reached out to design and advertising experts to understand the possible impact of the sudden identity change of the platform. The experts seem divided on the brand revamp and whether it could breathe new life into Twitter, which remains way behind its competitors, such as Meta, in terms of user base and advertising revenue.
Brand refresh is essential
Ashwini Deshpande, co-founder and director of Elephant Design, says that sometimes, a logo change can evoke controversy and non-acceptance if there is no apparent reason for the change or if there is no alignment of thought with the users. The infamous GAP rebranding, which had to be reversed, is a case in point. The UK’s Royal Mail rebranded to Consignia and was reversed within two years as it seemed meaningless to its user base.
“However, we are in a different era now. Change can spread really fast. The new name, no matter how pointless or ridiculous it may sound right now, can be made to stick. By and large, the loyal Twitter users will not leave the platform because of this reason. They may wait and watch,” she notes.
Deshpande also feels that the rebranding could attract GenZ or Gen Alpha who are not even considering Twitter at the moment (preferring Instagram).
“If X is going to offer much more, like a super app, maybe payments and other services, then this rebranding may just be the beginning of Twitter’s second life,” she adds.
Prashanth Challapalli, founder & CEO of Gravity Integrated, shares that Elon Musk made no bones about him wanting it to be some sort of a super app.
“I think Twitter needed a makeover. The big advantage Musk has here is a huge captive audience, and even if half of them leave, I bet there will be a whole lot of new users who will come in. Plus, ad monetization might actually be better with a more curated audience,” he says.
Will it acquire younger users?
Meenakshi Menon, ad veteran, entrepreneur, and founder of Spatial Access minces no words in stating that Musk has done so much damage to the platform that rebranding is the least of his problems.
“Quite fascinating to see a man who claimed that advertising and branding were a waste of money resort to the oldest trick in the Ad playbook. Change the label and maybe people don’t look under the hood. I, for one, think Mr. Musk may dump the Bird, but the Bird has certainly dimmed his light,” she adds.
Prasanna Sankhe, co-founder and creative head of Hyphenbrands, thinks that even though this brand identity is a response to the recently launched Threads app from Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk and his team must not lose sight of the fact that Twitter has a hardcore following, and the app should stay true to its point of view and loyalists.
“The bird being dropped only makes sense if the app interface changes drastically, and the team now starts referring to the posts as something else other than tweets. But it kind of seems counterintuitive. Why such a knee jerk reaction to a competitive launch? Identity refresh great. But dropping the bird, not,” he points out.
Sankhe feels that a lot will depend entirely on how the new version is built.
“I don’t think this is just a change in logo or the name. If the end goal is to turn it into a revenue-generating global super app, then definitely it will attract new and different types of users,” he notes.
Devaiah Bopanna, co-founder of Moonshot, also argues that unless Musk has plans that will take the company in an entirely different direction, it doesn’t make any sense to change the name of a brand that has found such an iconic place in pop culture.
“As a user, I will surely miss the bird. It’s been constant in the last decade where everything else changed at an astounding pace. It’s practically where my generation (millennials) grew up. Twitter is where culture is created. It’s where governments are brought down. It’s where coups are live-streamed. It’s the dream of every brand to become a verb, and if you’re giving up on that privilege, you must have some damn good reasoning for it. The only one I can think of is that Twitter will not just be a social media app anymore,” he says.
Lloyd Mathias, a business strategist, investor, and independent director, thinks that there is no denying that Twitter’s credibility has been affected. Recently, Musk announced that 50 percent of Twitter’s ad revenue is down.
“While there is some attachment and familiarity with the Twitter bird, it could be worthwhile to bring some visual refresh for the platform. That really isn’t the problem here. What users and advertisers would want to know is whether the change will improve the features, user experience, transparency, etc. Musk did have plans to create Twitter into a super app, where users could do a number of things from socializing to transacting. Unless there is logic and thought, this could only backfire on him,” he opines.
Mathias believes that advertisers always look for consistency and bang for their money.
“They are also looking for safe environments to engage; what I mean is that they want to be on a platform where there isn’t too much negativity. Advertisers are cautious because they can’t see any results and fixes for them to be investing to be on the app,” he argues.
Karthik Srinivasan, a communications strategy consultant, thinks that Musk wants to get rid of the previous ‘Twitter’ baggage, even if it meant wiping the slate clean and starting afresh.
“So we’d have something that felt like Twitter previously. I’m guessing Musk and Yaccarino (Twitter CEO) want the same for advertisers as all – something that only feels like Twitter but is an entirely new entity and a new set of people and rules to deal with, afresh,” he says.
But unlike Vistara folding into the previously existing Air India brand (with prior baggage in terms of perception), Srinivasan points out that Musk and Yaccarino have to build perceptions afresh, from the ground up.
“That’s going to involve a lot of heavy-lifting, I presume, besides fresh marketing pitches to advertisers, and a fresh pitch to the users themselves, along with creators, a set that once called Twitter is now actively pursuing,” he adds.
Sanket Audhi, creative & founding member at Talented thinks that with ad revenues lower than ever, Twitter needs to see a surge of users and user-confidence for brands to even reconsider Twitter as a serious advertising platform due to Musk’s volatile nature.
“That being said, if things improve, this (rebranding) could serve as a fresh start for brands, for it could give them an opportunity to reach a wider audience and integrate new features and services that Musk plans to offer,” he concludes.
