Twitter to X Rebrand: Lessons To Learn for Users & Companies

It’s not even a year after Twitter got bought by Elon Musk and now Twitter, at least the name, is no more. 

After 17 years being one of the most recognizable brands with its blue color, bird logo, and jargons that have entered our vocabulary, Elon Musk replaced the brand name with a single “X” as you’ve seen in your phone.

And this rebrand might be the biggest and controversial rebrand at the same time.

While companies rebrand all the time, like what Facebook (now Meta) did before Twitter, what does it mean for us? Or a business owner? How can you learn from it?.

Why Company Rebrand

Various type of logo branding

In general, there are a few common reasons why companies, big or small, change their branding over time.

1. First, if your company logo, name, or aesthetic doesn’t reflect your company values, services, or operations for the past years.
2. Second, if you’re expanding your business scope or entering a new market.
3. And lastly, if your current brand is just simply not “unique” enough and not doing a good job in the market.

Now for Twitter to X rebrand, if you’re only looking at second part of the list, the rebrand makes sense as Twitter will change from a simple social media into “…centred in audio, video, messaging, payments/banking…“, as tweeted here by Linda Yaccarino, CEO of Twitter, days before the rebrand actually happened.

But should they have done it? Well, that is what makes it controversial.

Lessons to Learn

Being a programmer outsourcing company/software house, rebranding is not an unfamiliar task. Companies often wanted to redesign their websites/apps, or sometimes build their own from the ground, which sometimes involved a rebrand.

While Twitter is not just some company, and as controversial as it is, this rebrand gave us insights about what to do and not to do when rebranding a company, for users and of course company. 

Lessons for Company

As of writing this article, the noticeable rebrand are: the app name, URL, and icons, now using the ‘X’ brand, and also the tagline which is now “Blaze your glory”. 

But the criticism and complaints are already everywhere, providing us with a few learning points.

1. Ask the users first
   The most common question we’ve seen around this rebrand is “why?”, why the logo changes, why it was so sudden, or why Elon Musk did it?.

   If those are the questions you received after a rebrand, congratulations! You have confused your users.

   Based on a recent small survey done by YouGov, it shows that two third of the respondent have negative reaction to the rebrand:
   With its huge presence and millions of users, Twitter may be able to tank the negative reaction for a while, but for any business out there that’s nowhere near the size of Twitter and also wants a rebrand, always think about your users first.

   Conduct a survey before and after rebrand, confirm the assumptions, and always listen to the users feedback.

2. Plan and communicate carefully
   Before Elon Musk bought Twitter, it’s been obvious that he wanted to change it into something, and that something is X, as he even tweeted months ago.

   

   Then a few weeks ago, during the actual rebrand the changes were gradual. From a design rebranding viewpoint, the “Twitter” elements and wording like “tweeting” or “retweet” are still everywhere in the app and website.

   From a legal viewpoint, back in April Elon Musk officially changed the name of Twitter’s parent company to X Corp which could complicate and delay the rebranding for months to come.

   But, if we overlook the design stuff, there are many new features that Twitter has released since he bought Twitter. On August 2nd, Linda Yaccarino, the CEO, posted this blog.

   For the lessons, well, it is obvious with this one. Plan ahead of time, create a backup plan, don’t rush things, and communicate with the team to stakeholders carefully. 

    

3. Rebrand doesn’t always have positive outcome
   Lastly, while the actual outcome from this Twitter to X rebrand is still unknown, looking at the current situation it’s not far from the imagination that sometimes rebranding can do more harm than good. 

   That is if you’re ignoring our first two pieces of advice.

   Remember, rebranding is a big decision that costs a lot of effort and money. If you don’t put in the effort and money it would just become a gamble.

Lesson for Everyday Users

While this transformation and rebrand may primarily be a business move, never underestimate the power and influence of many people like us, the users. After all, without users, what purpose would a platform serve?.

1. Don’t get too attached into one platform
   Whether you’re a regular user, creator, or influencer, remember that a platform can change whatever and whenever it likes, such as now.If possible, diversify your online presence. Do not limit your experience or communities in just one box.

   Prepare for that eventual change from the platform or even yourself. 

   
   

Closing

Rebranding is a long and tedious process that if done correctly might be the one thing that takes your company ahead of the competitions, along with its users.

The users’ trust is what makes a platform successful, and Elon Musk still has time to convince the users once again to make X become a successful super app.

And in the meantime let’s learn what we can from this ongoing rebrand that will take who knows how long.

Want to talk more about rebranding your website or mobile apps? Or want to develop your website and mobile apps branding from the ground? Let’s talk about how we can solve your software development problems right here.