After accompanying users for 17 years with its iconic blue bird, billionaire Elon Musk has renamed Twitter to X and introduced a new logo, marking the company's focus on creating an "American version of WeChat."
On Monday, a white X on a black background became the new symbol on Twitter's website, though the mobile application still shows the blue bird.
Since taking over Twitter last October, Musk has expressed his vision to develop an app that offers various services beyond social media, such as peer-to-peer payments, akin to the widely popular WeChat app in China.
Tom Morton, Global Chief Strategy Officer at advertising agency R/GA, said this change seems more about Musk leaving his mark on the company. He stated, "Twitter's renaming and rebranding have nothing to do with users, advertisers, or market issues. It's a symbol, indication that Twitter is now Elon Musk's personal property."
"He has conquered this castle, and now he's flying his own flag."
The new logo has elicited mixed reactions from users, leading to confusion about what tweets should now be called, while marketing and branding experts suggest that rebranding could lose years of Twitter's brand recognition.
Matt Rhodes, Strategy Director at creative agency House 337, noted, "Only a few brands become verbs, or are as frequently mentioned by global media as Twitter." The agency has worked with British telecommunications company Sky.
He commented, "Anything that makes it harder for users to open the app could potentially hurt usage rates."
Fernando Machado, who has been Chief Marketing Officer at Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ: ATVI), Restaurant Brands International (NYSE: QSR), and Burger King, mentioned that rebranding usually takes time to resonate deeply, although "as a user of Twitter, I must admit I already miss the little bird."
"Personally, I find the new approach a bit impersonal and cold," he said.
On Monday, outside Twitter's old headquarters, police stopped workers from removing the Twitter sign, as witnessed by Reuters reporters. Only the blue bird and the letters "er" remained on one side of the building.
On Monday, "#GoodbyeTwitter" became a trending topic on the platform, involving the old logo, with some users criticizing the new logo.
Musk tweeted on Saturday: "We'll soon say goodbye to the Twitter brand and gradually say goodbye to all the birds."
When asked what tweets would now be called under X, Musk replied: "x's".
"The ultimate app"
Musk has consistently used the letter X in his companies. He co-founded an online bank named x.com in 1999, which later developed into PayPal (NASDAQ: PYPL). He bought back the domain from PayPal in 2017, citing "sentimental value."
Now, the domain x.com redirects to Twitter.
Lisa Jakarino, former advertising director at NBC Universal Studios, became Twitter's CEO on June 5th, telling employees in a memo on Monday, X "will further transform the global town square."
As seen by Reuters, the memo claims the company will focus on developing new features such as audio, video, messaging, payments, and banking.
The platform faces the challenge of rebuilding its business.
Since Musk's takeover, the company has undergone a tumultuous period, including layoffs, a significant reduction in advertisers, and the rise of Threads.
Legally, Musk's decision to rebrand Twitter to X could become more complicated: X is widely used for trademarks, and companies, including Meta and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), already own intellectual property for the same letter.
Nicholas Meyer, Marketing Professor at Salzmann University, said that rebranding signifies Musk's abandonment of "reviving Twitter as a powerful, independent social network, just considering the $44 billion spent on the network as a cost already sunk."
Drew Benvie, CEO of social media consultancy Battenhall, remarked, "This is not about reinventing Twitter as much as it is about branding around Elon Musk's empire, including SpaceX, where the X brand is more closely linked."
