The Youth Lab

THE BACKGROUND TO X

Welcome to X.com, as Musk says “the everything app called X, which would encompass not only social networking but also banking and shopping.” Whether you think the move is genius, a dystopian platform nightmare, or something in the grey-space-between, the change has already begun.

No more Larry the blue bird icon, now replaced by a black and white stylized letter ‘X’.
No more tweets or retweets, now only ‘X’s’.
No more Twitter, one of the most recognisable digital assets of the modern age.

As the new platform launches, it has many challenges to face - not least, the inherited negative cash flow into the business (50% drop in advertising revenue YOY and heavy debt loads from the acquisition deal.) Then there’s the ‘x’-tremely larger than life leader, Elon Musk; whose controversial takes on free speech, employee relations and platform competitors have made him an infamous, divisive figure in the world of big tech - and beyond.

SIX HOT TAKES

1.A MISSTEP FOR BRAND DISTINCTIVENESS

“It’s a mistake because you need your distinctive assets – your bird, your name, your blue colour – so that you can stand out and claim a share of screen. The average iPhone user has 40 apps spread across three or more screens. That makes app usage just as visually competitive as any grocery store shelf and just as dependent on established, distinctive identity for usage.” Mark Ritson, Twitter/X

“It’s brand suicide.” Jenn Takahashi, Takahashi PR, Fast Company

2. A SECOND CHANCE

“It’s an exceptionally rare thing – in life or in business – that you get a second chance to make another big impression. Twitter made one massive impression and changed the way we communicate. Now, X will go further, transforming the global town square.” Linda Yaccarino, newly appointed ‘X’ CEO

3. THIS ISN’T A REBRAND - IT’S A LONG TERM VISION & NEW KIND OF COMPANY

“I’ve been reading about X emulating WeChat in terms of a business ecosystem that facilitates buying, selling, chat, entertainment... It's not a rebrand, it is a complete reimagination and re-visioning.” Claire Hyland, Head of The Youth Lab, THINKHOUSE

“Clearly this is the most poorly executed rebrand since GAP. If an agency had been responsible for it they’d be fired already. The CX failures, the inconsistent branding on different platforms. What a mess. But this short term stuff misses the point. Musk deals in multi-decade strategic visions, and he tends to get these right. A significant proportion of Tesla’s value is rooted into the way Musk has described a new reality for mobility – the way he can help teams and investors glimpse beyond the curtain of existing structures and see a whole new way of doing things. With both Tesla and SpaceX, these visions quickly become a new kinds of company, vertically integrated in a way no others even dreamed of. In other words, this isn’t a twitter rebrand. This is the birth of a whole new company. One that will blend hardware, software and ‘brain hacking’ in unprecedented ways to provide us with a completely unique way of communicating. RIP twitter, but I suspect X might just change the world…” Ben Essen, CSO, Iris via LinkedIn

4: MEANINGLESS & IRRELEVANT

5. A REBRAND IS TOUGHER THAN YOU THINK

“People still call our streaming service 4OD so good luck [with the name change]”. Channel 4, Twitter/X

“I think it's a silly and very hasty rebrand. I think "X" / Twitter has amassed such a user base that people will continue to use it out of habit regardless of what happens, but I'm personally dismayed at what Elon Musk has done to the platform.” Jade, 29, The Love Network

6. VANITY

When asked if he had an opinion on the rebrand, advertising icon Dave Trott replied “Yeah, I said to Elon ‘Forget all that spaceship crap.’ ” Dave Trott, Twitter/X

BRAND TAKEOUTS

Platform Change Happens Really Fast: Barely a day after the Musk announcement tweet had gone viral, the old Twitter signage was changed and swapped over for new X branding. Agility in channel planning is essential for brands, as is the mindset of capturing fast, proactive content opportunities. Brands, always be ready!

Sometimes Confusing Things Get People Talking: Yes it feels unlikely that people will be referring to sharing ‘Xs’ in the near future. Yet despite the obvious failures on the branding side of things, people can’t get enough of talking about this move by Musk. When complexity comes with vision and larger than life characters, stories can captivate audiences far and wide.