Why Elon Musks's 'X' Twitter rebrand is failing

The rebrand of Twitter to X isn’t just a headline; it’s a costly misstep for the company. The decline in the fortunes of Twitter / X (its market value is estimated to have fallen by over 70% since it was acquired, as reported in The Guardian) has a lot to do with perceptions of Elon Musk. 

But it is also linked to the change in brand too.  Critically, the change to “X” has simply failed to gain traction, with almost every reference to “X” being qualified by the mention of “formerly Twitter”. 

So, all the equity that was previously held by Twitter, which was considerable, has been needlessly thrown away on a whim.

The rebrand to X has involved more than just a name change. Perceptions of the social media platform are evolving – arguably for the worse – in line with changed rules of engagement. For example, moves to relax content moderation in line with Musk’s free speech principles are having an adverse effect on advertiser retention (as reported by the Financial Times), and in return impacting X’s reputation and revenue.

It can be argued that rather than changing the brand from “Twitter” to “X”, the brand has actually changed to “Elon Musk”.  And this is the change that has – rightly or wrongly - caused the decline in corporate value, the fleeing of users from the platform, and the reluctance of advertisers to spend their money.

The focus on Elon Musk as the leader of X has not allowed X to truly establish itself in its own right. Too much of the brand’s equity to a personality means it is vulnerable to fluctuations according to the latest media interview or personal reputation changes. For X to truly stand on its own and grow there needs to be a separation from Elon and the brand.

Musk has a proven talent for turning the seemingly impossible business ideas into reality. However, X’s problems are not really a business problem – they're a brand problem.

By championing electric vehicles and space travel, Musk was playing into the narrative of those key consumer segments most likely to be attracted to these markets. With X, however, Musk has managed to alienate the key consumer segments that are most likely to use X. This has caused fundamental shifts in user trust, brand perceptions and brand equity.

Twitter, through its pioneering approach and years of market dominance, forged a strong emotional connection with users. Can such a powerful emotional bond be restored after it’s been lost? X wouldn’t be the first brand to recover from turbulent times.

X should consider whether leaning into “Brand Musk” is beneficial or detrimental. Musk’s persona and profile overshadow the platform's brand. If X becomes too closely associated with Musk’s personal brand, it risks becoming a vehicle for his personal views rather than developing a distinct proposition.

It’s just possible that Musk can pull off another one of his trademark minor miracles, but that would involve not only reinventing X’s proposition, it would probably involve gaining a largely new audience. My view? To rebuild trust and achieve long-term competitive advantage, X must establish a clear and independent brand which focuses on re-establishing its relevance and differentiation.