“X” Marks the Not of Twitter

Rewriting the rules of branding is for the birds

A product’s brand identity is how it engages with the world: its color palette, design, and logo.

A good brand identity captures the product’s essence, and differentiates it within the minds of consumers.

A great brand identity is also central to a product’s success in the market, and fosters growth.

That’s why when products falter, they are tempted to tweak the brand identity, hoping that will improve sales.

Bad idea, since all that results will be customer confusion and destruction of the equity already created.

Musk’s decision to rebrand Twitter as “X” is foolish, and could be the final nail in that company’s coffin.

Even more than most brands, Twitter’s “bird” identity is iconic, and has become part of our culture.

The very action of posting is called “tweeting,” ruined with a pointless and stupid name change.

Companies evolve, sometimes transformatively. Consider Netflix. Remember those DVD mailers?

But they’re still “Netflix,” and for good reason. The equity they built was priceless mindshare momentum.