Twitter Unveils rebranding As ‘X’. Will the rebrand help Twitter soar to new heights?

Twitter has officially rebranded to “X” after owner Elon Musk changed its iconic bird logo, marking the latest major shift since his takeover of the social media platform.

Musk shared a brief video of the flickering “X” to announce the logo’s change. During a Twitter Spaces audio chat, when asked about the logo modification, Musk confirmed that the transformation was taking place, humorously remarking, “We’re cutting the Twitter logo off the building with blow torches.”

Early Monday, Musk further demonstrated the transition by posting an image of the X branding prominently displayed across Twitter’s headquarters.

Musk tweeted on Sunday that the idea of changing the logo to “X” was to “embody the imperfections in us all that make us unique…and soon we shall bid adieu to the Twitter brand and, gradually, all the birds,” he wrote. By Sunday afternoon, the web address x.com was already redirecting to what was once Twitter.

Elon Musk’s tweet “the bird is freed” when he acquired Twitter last year was believed to signify his intention to liberate the platform from its figurative constraints. Now, he has taken an even more significant step by rebranding Twitter as ‘X’, the everything app.

While Twitter’s original purchase price was $44 billion in October, the decision to do away with the well-established brand name and iconic avian logo might affect its value even further (Musk hinted that it’s time to bid farewell to the Twitter brand and gradually phase out the bird imagery). Nevertheless, the X brand has made a significant impact, making a loud and attention-grabbing debut.

What will X be?

According to Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino, Twitter, errr, X, will be “powered by AI” and connect people in ways that “we’re just beginning to imagine.” “Twitter made one massive impression and changed the way we communicate. Now, X will go further, transforming the global town square,” she wrote on Twitter.

Yaccarino tweeted that it would be “centred in audio, video, messaging, payments/banking”. Twitter has started the regulatory process of becoming a payments processor and Musk, who in 1999 co-founded online bank x.com, which later became PayPal, has raised the prospect of Twitter offering debit cards and loans.

What would posts on X be called? In the words of Elon Musk, they would be called “x’s” This is a scary shift for people who’ve religiously used Twitter and enjoy its text-centric vision and simple-to-use direct features.

The success of Musk’s vision hinges on Twitter’s massive user base. Intending to turn the platform into an all-encompassing hub akin to China’s WeChat, Musk plans to offer messaging, payments, and streaming services alongside social media features. While the vision sounds grand, skeptics question whether users will embrace such a radical shift.

“You basically live on WeChat in China. If we can re-create that with Twitter, we’ll be a great success,” he reportedly told Twitter staff last year. The idea of X has been hanging over the business for a while. Twitter as a company has already been folded into a corporate entity called X Corp, whose parent is X Holdings Corp.

Will the rebrand help Twitter to soar high?

However, this transformation has not been without its challenges. On the first day of rebranding, workers at Twitter’s headquarters faced setbacks when the police intervened due to a lack of proper permits. Moreover, the letter “X” is already protected by intellectual property rights held by various companies, such as Meta and Microsoft, adding further complexity to the endeavour.

Shortly before the X announcement, Elon Musk also acknowledged that Twitter was still experiencing negative cash flow, spending more on operations than it generates in revenue. He emphasised the necessity of achieving positive cash flow before considering other endeavours.

This financial situation poses a challenging backdrop for implementing a complete overhaul of the platform’s business model, even under the ownership of the world’s wealthiest individual, who has already sold a significant number of Tesla shares to fund the takeover.

Critics argue that the transformation appears to be more focused on Musk’s personal brand and ventures rather than a true revamp for Twitter’s user base. With the rebranding of Twitter as “X,” Musk seems to be shifting the attention away from the platform’s challenges and controversies and towards his ambitious vision.

One analyst said Twitter, or X, does not have the time, money, or employees to pull off such a transformation. The company is heavily indebted due to a $13bn debt burden it was saddled with in the wake of Musk’s takeover, while most of the workforce has been made redundant and Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta has launched a copycat “Twitter killer” product called Threads.

“While Musk’s vision is to turn X into an ‘everything app’, this takes time, money, and people – three things that the company no longer has,” says Mike Proulx, research director at the analysis firm Forrester. “Disenfranchised Twitter users will increasingly turn to Threads, while Musk’s company continues to lose money. Simply put, X’s runway is coming to an end.”

Farhad Divecha, the Managing Director of Accuracast, a UK digital marketing agency, expressed that merely changing the logo would not attract advertisers back to the platform. However, he believes that creating a feasible “everything app” could be the key to success. Divecha notes that the logo change signifies the beginning of the transition towards Musk’s vision of “X.” While he advises advertisers to proceed with caution, he closely monitors the developments in this space.

As the transformation unfolds, the tech industry awaits the outcome with great anticipation. Twitter now belongs to Musk as his personal domain, and he is determined to leave his mark, despite the associated risks. Whether Musk’s X-vision will soar to new heights or encounter challenges akin to a flightless bird remains uncertain, and only time will tell.