Twitter’s blue bird took flight when Musk said the X logo here is One America News Network
Written by Supanta Mukherjee, Martin Coulter and Sheila Dang
(Reuters) – After 17 years of using the iconic blue bird as a symbol of broadcasting ideas to the world, billionaire Elon Musk has renamed Twitter X and unveiled a new logo, marking his focus on creating an “app for everything”.
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On Monday, a stylized white X on a black background became the new logo on Twitter’s website, although the blue bird was still seen on the mobile app.
Since joining Twitter in October, Musk has said he envisions an app that could offer a variety of services to users beyond social media, such as peer-to-peer payments, an idea that mirrors China’s widely popular WeChat app.
The transformation is an easier way for Musk to leave his mark on the company, said Tom Morton, director of global strategy at ad agency R/GA. “Twitter’s name and logo change has nothing to do with user, advertiser or market issues. This is a symbol that Twitter is the personal property of Elon Musk.
“He conquered the castle, now he flies his own flag.”
The new logo drew mixed reactions from users and caused confusion over what the tweets would now be called, while marketing and branding experts said the rebrand risked losing years of Twitter name recognition.
“Few brands have become a household word or seen mentioned in global news outlets as often as Twitter,” said Matt Rhodes, head of strategy at creative agency House 337, which has worked with UK telco Sky.
“Anything that makes it difficult to find or open an app on cluttered phone screens risks hurting the experience,” he said.
Fernando Machado, who previously served as chief marketing officer at Activision Blizzard, Restaurant Brands International and Burger King, said rebranding usually takes time to get the hang of, though “as a Twitter user, I admit I miss the birdie already.”
“Personally, I think the new approach seems a bit cold and impersonal,” he said.
Outside Twitter’s headquarters in San Francisco on Monday, police prevented construction workers from removing a Twitter sign, witnessed by a Reuters reporter. On one side of the building, only the blue bird and the letters “er” remain.
On Monday, “#GoodbyeTwitter” trended on the platform in reference to the old logo as some users criticized the new one.
On Saturday, Musk tweeted that “soon we will say goodbye to the Twitter brand and, gradually, to all the little birds.”
In response to a tweet asking what the tweets would be called under X, Musk replied “x.”
“ALL APP”
Musk has repeatedly used the letter X in his campaigns. In 1999, he co-founded the online bank x.com, which later became PayPal. He bought the domain back from PayPal in 2017, saying it had “sentimental value.”
The x.com domain now redirects to Twitter.
Linda Iacarino, a former chief advertising officer at NBCUniversal who took over as CEO of Twitter on June 5, told employees in a memo on Monday that X “will go even further to transform the global city square.”
The company will work on new features in audio, video, messaging, payments and banking services, according to a memo seen by Reuters.
The platform will face challenges to redefine its business.
Since Musk’s takeover, the company has faced tumultuous periods with layoffs, drastic cuts to advertisers and the meteoric rise of Threads, Meta’s answer to Twitter.
The rebranding shows that Musk has abandoned any plans to “revive Twitter as a powerful standalone social network and simply considers the $44 billion spent on the network a waste of money,” said Niklas Meer, a marketing professor at Chapman University.
“It’s been a tumultuous past few months for Twitter, and I don’t think a new brand is going to solve everything,” said Drew Benvie, CEO of social media consultancy Battenhall.
“It’s not about reinventing Twitter, it’s more about building a brand around Elon Musk’s empire, including SpaceX, where the X brand really connects a little more tightly.”
(Reporting by Supanta Mukherjee in Stockholm, Martin Coulter and Aiden Nulty in London, Bharat Govind Gautam and Samrita A in Bangalore; Sheila Dang in Dallas and Carlos Baria in San Francisco; Editing by Barbara Lewis and Jonathan Oatis)
