Billionaire Elon Musk is doubling down on his decision to abandon the Twitter name and its well-known blue bird logo, arguing the brand is no longer an accurate representation of the company.
Musk explained that he bought Twitter for $44 billion last year “both to ensure freedom of speech and as an accelerant for X, the everything app.”
The screed surfaced as Musk faced sharp criticism for abandoning Twitter’s 17-year-old logo and the associated brand value.
“This is not simply a company renaming itself, but doing the same thing,” Musk wrote Monday. “The Twitter name made sense when it was just 140 character messages going back and forth – like birds tweeting – but now you can post almost anything, including several hours of video.”
“In the months to come, we will add comprehensive communications and the ability to conduct your entire financial world,” he added. “The Twitter name does not make sense in that context, so we must bid adieu to the bird.
The explanation was in line with Musk’s long-held desire to use Twitter as the starting point for a “super app,” similar to China’s WeChat, that functions as a one-stop shop for a variety of online services. Musk has described his Twitter acquisition as an “accelerant” for that concept several times over the last year.
Still, experts have warned that Musk risked a marketing blunder by changing the name – with Wedbush analyst Dan Ives telling The Post that it was “taking a page out of the ‘New Coke’ branding” in a reference to The Coca-Cola Company’s infamous recipe change in the 1980s.
Gary Black, the Future Fund co-founder and prominent Musk supporter, said he was “struggling with rebranding Twitter to X and losing the little blue bird’s brand equity.”
Musk’s name change wiped out anywhere from $4 billion to $20 billion in brand value associated with Twitter, according to estimates from analysts and brand agencies cited by Bloomberg.
The X leadership team has yet to address some questions about the rebrand, such as whether individual posts will still be called “tweets.”
“X is the future state of unlimited interactivity – centered in audio, video, messaging, payments/banking – creating a global marketplace for ideas, goods, services, and opportunities,”CEO Linda Yaccarino said in a post earlier this week.
As part of the name change, the “X.com” web address now redirects to Twitter.
The simplistic black-and-white “X” logo is prominently displayed on Twitter’s home page.
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