I almost didn’t write this because I feel like everyone in the branding space has already said something about how unbelievably stupid it is to rebrand Twitter as X.
Piling Onto A Dumpster Fire Of Outrage
Rebranding Twitter as a new brand named X. When I first heard about it I actually stopped for a split second to ask myself if it was April Fool’s Day.
On top of all of the capricious squandering of Twitter equity that Elon Musk has already perpetrated, jettisoning the blasted name seems beyond the pale. What can I add to the dumpster fire of brand stewardship outrage already blazing quite high? Perhaps it would be interesting to view this travesty through the lens of the discipline of naming.
That name was one of Twitter’s greatest assets. So universally recognized! So beautifully captured by a friendly, iconic logo! Having its own user vocabulary of “tweets” and “tweeps!” How many brands have achieved such a seamless integration of name with sonic branding?? Their iconic little chirp was so friendly and recognizable. What will it be now? Cymbals crashing? A fart sound like Tesla cars make?
So instead of all this rich, semiotic goodness, the name is now reduced to a single letter, and the brand’s logo is not exactly ownable or inviting. It’s just an X!! What else could it be?
The only thing differentiating the X brand’s name is the owner’s adolescent giggling, or maybe I should say tittering because he blew something up and made it naughty.
This commentary originally appeared in LinkedIn
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