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  • Why Twitter’s Rebrand to ‘X’ Might Resemble These 6 Rebranding Fails | Entrepreneur

    Why Twitter’s Rebrand to ‘X’ Might Resemble These 6 Rebranding Fails | Entrepreneur

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Rebranding is an essential marketing strategy businesses often undertake to revitalize their image, stay relevant or expand their customer base. When executed successfully, rebrands can breathe new life into a company and strengthen its position in the market.

    On Sunday, July 23, Elon Musk tweeted (soon to be referred to as xd?) that he intends to replace Twitter’s ten-year-old blue bird logo with a brand-new one that features an “X.” It’s the business tycoon’s most recent attempt to phase out Twitter’s branding, which hundreds of millions of users worldwide have grown accustomed to over the past ten years.

    Related: Twitter Is Now Officially ‘X’: ‘There’s Absolutely No Limit to This Transformation’

    Since purchasing Twitter for $44 billion in October 2022, Musk has made a series of changes in hopes of revitalizing the social media platform, including:

    • Rebuilding Twitter’s verification system by requiring new applicants to purchase a Twitter Blue subscription.
    • Laying off half of Twitter’s workforce.
    • Issuing an ultimatum to employees to commit to “extremely hardcore” work or leave.

    2023 has been nothing short of tumultuous for Twitter.

    As of mid-January, only 180,000 users in the U.S. were paying subscribers (less than 0.2% of active users), and in July, Twitter threatened to sue Meta over its new Threads app (a Twitter competitor) for allegedly “poaching” the employees Musk had laid off and gave the see above ultimatum.

    Related: 5 Signs It’s Time to Rebrand

    Perhaps most revealing of the company’s struggles has been Musk disclosing that Twitter’s ad revenue is down 59% and cash flow is negative, just eight days before the company’s rebrand to X, and a Fidelity asset manager reporting that Twitter’s value is down 66% from the original purchase price. Ad revenue for Twitter makes up 90% of the company’s revenue.

    Musk hopes that X becomes a “super app,” similar to WeChat used in China, where users can send direct messages, stream videos and send or receive payments.

    Sometimes attempts to rebrand can backfire, resulting in disastrous outcomes that leave a lasting negative impact on the brand. In this article, we explore some of the worst rebrands in history that failed to meet their objectives and, in some cases, caused irreversible damage to the brand’s reputation.

    1. New Coke fiasco (1985)

    The Coca-Cola Company’s decision to introduce “New Coke” in 1985 remains one of the most infamous rebranding disasters in history. In an attempt to combat Pepsi’s growing market share, Coca-Cola reformulated its classic beverage, claiming it would be a better-tasting version.

    However, the public’s outrage was overwhelming, with many nostalgic consumers feeling betrayed. After just a few months, the original Coca-Cola, dubbed “Coca-Cola Classic,” returned to the market due to overwhelming demand.

    Related: 5 Epic Product Fails and the Lessons They Can Teach Your Small Business

    2. Ratner’s Group name change (1991)

    In a moment of spectacular misjudgment, Gerald Ratner, the CEO of the British jewelry retailer Ratner’s Group, made a disastrous speech at an Institute of Directors conference in 1991. He referred to his own products as “total crap,” leading to a catastrophic loss of confidence in the brand.

    To distance the company from the incident, Ratner’s Group rebranded as the “Signet Group.” However, the damage was already done, and sales plummeted, leading to store closures and financial struggles.

    Related: 11 marketing blunders that hamper a startup’s growth

    3. Tropicana’s packaging disaster (2009)

    Tropicana, a renowned orange juice brand, made a critical mistake when it decided to redesign its packaging in 2009. The company abandoned its familiar orange with a straw image in favor of a minimalist design that resembled a generic store-brand product. Consumers were bewildered by the sudden change, leading to a sharp decline in sales. Realizing the blunder, Tropicana reverted to its original packaging within two months.

    4. RadioShack’s rebranding confusion (2009)

    RadioShack, a once-popular electronics retailer, attempted to reinvent itself in 2009 by dropping “Radio” from its name, becoming “The Shack.” The company aimed to portray a more modern and trendy image. Still, the move was met with widespread confusion. Customers were left uncertain about the store’s identity, and the rebrand failed to attract a new audience or revitalize sales. The struggling retailer eventually filed for bankruptcy in 2015.

    5. Gap’s logo debacle (2010)

    In 2010, the American clothing retailer Gap decided to update its iconic blue square logo, recognizable for over two decades. The new design featured a bland, generic font and a small blue square in the corner. Fans and customers immediately voiced their disapproval on social media, criticizing the lack of creativity and connection to the brand’s heritage. The backlash was so intense that Gap reverted to its original logo within just one week.

    Related: The Logo Mishaps of Giant Brands

    6. Uber’s unwelcome rebrand (2016)

    Uber, the ride-hailing giant, underwent a significant rebrand in 2016, replacing its iconic “U” logo with a circular design accompanied by the word “Uber.” However, the new logo received a lukewarm reception, with many users expressing their preference for the original logo. The company faced criticism for spending resources on a rebrand when they could have focused on addressing more pressing issues, such as driver benefits and customer safety.

    Related: The Ultimate Rebranding Checklist for Entrepreneurs

    Rebranding is a delicate process that demands careful consideration of a brand’s identity, customer base and market perception. The above examples serve as cautionary tales, reminding businesses that rebranding should never be pursued without understanding the potential consequences.

    Successful rebrands require a deep understanding of consumer sentiment, a clear vision for the future and an unwavering commitment to maintaining the essence of the brand that customers have come to trust and love.

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    Kevin Kaminyar

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  • Elon Musk Is Forcing Twitter Blue Verification on Certain People | Entrepreneur

    Elon Musk Is Forcing Twitter Blue Verification on Certain People | Entrepreneur

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    Twitter‘s legacy verifications were discontinued last week — but CEO Elon Musk is making sure certain users retain their little blue ticks, whether they’re paying for them or not.

    Several high-profile accounts have been re-verified, including those belonging to some dead celebrities, in what may be an as-yet-unconfirmed bid to automatically authenticate users with more than one million followers, The Verge reported.

    Related: Elon Musk Gets Into Twitter Fight With Ex-Employee | Entrepreneur

    But the unveiling hasn’t gone off without a hitch. If you hover over the blue ticks of the accounts of deceased celebrities, the standard message that shows alongside every other verification appears: “They are subscribed to Twitter Blue and verified their phone number.”

    Michael Jackson, Chadwick Boseman, Kobe Bryant, Bob Saget, Kirstie Alley, Barbara Walters, Anthony Bourdain and Paul Walker are among the many deceased public figures whose verifications have been reinstated.

    Musk‘s decision to charge for the honor of the blue tick elicited significant backlash from the start. The division even sparked opposing hashtags #paythe8 and #blocktheblue, and some celebrities alleged they were “punished” with the badge last weekend following their criticism of it, per CNN.

    Now, the little blue tick is mired in more uncertainty than ever before.

    Related: 7 Key Takeaways From Elon Musk’s Twitter Town Hall

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    Amanda Breen

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  • Pundit’s Defense Of Paying For Twitter Blue Gets People Concerned About His Bowels

    Pundit’s Defense Of Paying For Twitter Blue Gets People Concerned About His Bowels

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    One of them is Jason Whitlock, a former ESPN columnist who now works for the conservative outlet The Blaze.

    On Friday, Whitlock tweeted, “I do not understand the reluctance to pay the $8” for the blue check mark, complaining that “entitled” people “always want something for nothing.”

    One person wondered if Whitlock was putting his money where his mouth is, speculating that The Blaze was paying for his blue check mark.

    But things really went down the toilet when Whitlock responded by describing his spending habits:

    “Dude, it’s $8 a month. A Big Mac and fries. Good lord, I probably use $8 a day in toilet paper,” he tweeted.

    That’s when people decided that the state of Whitlock’s colon was at least as upsetting as paying a billionaire $8 a month for what is basically an emoji next to their name.

    Whitlock took a lot of crap for the tweet, but seemed to be OK with the attention.

    He also seemed willing to try to monetize the tweet after this comment.

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  • Musk says he paid to verify LeBron, Stephen King, William Shatner

    Musk says he paid to verify LeBron, Stephen King, William Shatner

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    Twitter’s “legacy” checkmarks finally went away on Thursday, as celebrities, journalists, and other prominent figures lost the small blue badges that confirmed that they were who they said they were.

    The “legacy” checkmarks reflected users who had gone through Twitter’s now-suspended verification process for notable accounts. Now, the only users with a blue checkmark are those who subscribe to Twitter Blue, the social media platform’s paid subscription service, and give a phone number to the platform.

    Yet a handful of celebrities—who had earlier claimed they would never pay for the service—kept their badge. On Thursday evening, Twitter CEO Elon Musk revealed the reason why: He was personally covering their subscriptions.

    On Thursday, The Verge reported that a Twitter employee wrote NBA star Lebron James offering a “complimentary subscription to Twitter Blue for your account, @kingjames, on behalf of Elon Musk.” 

    In response to the article, Musk said he was paying for some subscriptions “personally.” Later, he suggested he was only paying for three: NBA star LeBron James, author Stephen King, and actor William Shatner.

    All three had previously complained about the paid verification plan and suggested they wouldn’t be paying for a subscription.

    On Thursday, King claimed on Twitter that he had neither paid for the service, nor given the company his phone number. (Musk replied with “you’re welcome.”)

    Musk revealing that he personally paid for some Twitter accounts—even if it was an attempt to needle some of his critics—runs counter to some of his earlier statements about why he pushed for paid verification. The Twitter CEO called the system a “lords & peasants” system back in November, soon after taking over the social media company. 

    In March, in response to a complaint from Shatner about the changes to verification, said that paid verification was “about treating everyone equally.”

    “There shouldn’t be a different standard for celebrities,” he wrote at the time.

    Twitter did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The company no longer has a communications department.

    Paid verification stumbles

    Musk’s drive to charge everyone for verification has stumbled at several points since he took over the company six months ago.

    The first attempt to roll out paid verification in November led to a wave of misinformation, as accounts impersonated major brands to tweet fake announcements. Shares in pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly even briefly plunged after an account impersonating the company announced that “insulin is free now.”

    Twitter has since refined its verification plans. The company now offers differently styled checkmarks for organizations and public figures. Organizations can pay $1,000 a month to be verified on the platform, getting a gold checkmark, while affiliated accounts also get verified for an additional fee. Government bodies and officials get a light gray checkmark. 

    Still, there are hiccups in the service’s rollout. The New York Times lost its verified status after the publication said it would not pay Twitter’s fee. (Elon Musk later expressed “delight” at removing the badge in an extended interview with the BBC.)

    The official Twitter account of the New York City government also lost its verified status on Thursday, forcing the account to tweet that it was the “only account” representing the city. (As of publication time, the @nycgov Twitter account now has the verified badge given to government bodies.)

    Twitter’s decision may also have accidentally switched off the platform’s labels for some media accounts, such as its “state-affiliated” or “government-funded” designations. For example, the Twitter account of the Chinese state-run newspaper China Daily no longer has the “China state-affiliated media,” as of publication time. The help page explaining the labels gives a “page not found” error, as of publication time.

    Musk had recently expanded the labels to apply to outlets like the BBC and National Public Radio. Labeled media organizations disputed the designation, and the implication that their governments influenced their reporting, leading some outlets like NPR to quit the platform.

    Other Twitter changes have hindered the platform’s use as a source of trustworthy and speedy information. The company started charging for access to its application programming interface (API), which forced several official accounts that automatically shared up-to-date information on weather or natural disasters to suspend operations. 

    The blue checkmark has become something akin to a political identifier on Twitter. Users who support Musk’s plans for the platform often embrace the badge, while those who disagree with Twitter’s CEO—whether due to his plans for the business or his broader rhetoric—regularly pledge never to pay for Twitter Blue.

    The change meant some still-verified users had to awkwardly admit that they had, in fact, paid for Twitter Blue, citing some of the service’s features like longer video uploads and tweet editing.

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    Nicholas Gordon

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  • Elon Musk wants Twitter users to pay an even higher subscription fee to not see ads

    Elon Musk wants Twitter users to pay an even higher subscription fee to not see ads

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    In tweets posted Saturday, the mercurial billionaire wrote, “Ads are too frequent on Twitter and too big. Taking steps to address both in coming weeks. Also, there will be a higher priced subscription that allows zero ads.”

    A user replied that using Instagram is a “complete garbage experience” because it shows “an ad every 3 pictures,” adding, “If you make ads less intrusive here and offer features that appeal visual communities, there are millions of users over there ready to migrate.”

    Musk replied “That’s the plan!”

    Currently the company sells its Twitter Blue premium offering for $11 per month when users sign up through the iOS or Android app. Otherwise it’s $8 per month, since the commission on in-app purchases doesn’t apply.

    Fewer or no ads on Twitter?

    Seeing fewer ads, as opposed to none, has been a selling point of Twitter Blue. Another has been the ability to get a blue check mark, which before Musk’s takeover indicated Twitter had verified the identity of a prominent user.

    In November, Musk’s company paused Twitter Blue after verified trolls used it to impersonate celebrities and brands like Eli Lilly. The latter appeared to announce, “We are excited to announce insulin is free now,” forcing the drugmaker to release an awkward apology over something it never said.

    It wasn’t the only misstep since Musk too over Twitter for $44 billion in late October. Last month, he admitted in a Twitter Spaces conversation that suspending the account of respected venture capitalist Paul Graham had been “a mistake.” Graham had run afoul of a short-lived policy banning links to competing social networks. 

    Advertiser exodus

    Another misstep might have been alienating advertisers, who left in droves after his takeover, worried about Musk, a self-described “free-speech absolutist,” reducing content moderation. Last month, Musk claimed advertisers were returning.

    But revenue at Twitter, which relies heavily on advertising, was down 35% year-over-year in the fourth quarter, according to a report this week by The Information, and a similar result could be in store for this quarter. 

    In other changes this week, Twitter quietly updated its developer agreement to make clear it was cutting off makers of apps like Tweetbot and Twitterific, as reported by Engadget. That came after such services were abruptly cut off with no warning.

    Twitterrific’s Sean Heber wrote in a blog post on Thursday: “We are sorry to say that the app’s sudden and undignified demise is due to an unannounced and undocumented policy change by an increasingly capricious Twitter.”

    Learn how to navigate and strengthen trust in your business with The Trust Factor, a weekly newsletter examining what leaders need to succeed. Sign up here.

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    Steve Mollman

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  • Twitter is relaunching its Twitter Blue subscription service Monday after a disastrous launch last month

    Twitter is relaunching its Twitter Blue subscription service Monday after a disastrous launch last month

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    Twitter will relaunch its Twitter Blue subscription service on Monday, it said Saturday, providing some details about how the service will work after a disastrous debut last month.

    Twitter Blue got off to a rough start and had to be suspended last month after trolls used the service to impersonate celebrities and companies, including Eli Lilly, Nintendo, and Lockheed Martin. In the case of Eli Lilly, pranksters impersonating the drugmaker declared, “We are excited to announce insulin is free now,” forcing the company into an awkward apology for something it didn’t do.  

    Elon Musk has pushed for more subscription revenue at Twitter since taking it over in late October, saying the company cannot survive on advertising alone. 

    Twitter Blue returns—with changes

    “We’re relaunching  @TwitterBlue on Monday – subscribe on web for $8/month or on iOS for $11/month to get access to subscriber-only features, including the blue checkmark,” the company tweeted on Saturday. 

    Subscribers, it added, “will be able to change their handle, display name or profile photo, but if they do they’ll temporarily lose the blue checkmark until their account is reviewed again.”

    The company also said Twitter Blue subscribers will be able to edit tweets, have “1080p video uploads,” and will get the blue checkmark “after your account has been reviewed.”

    It added, “We’ll begin replacing that ‘official’ label with a gold checkmark for businesses, and later in the week a grey checkmark for government and multilateral accounts.”

    Last month, impersonators were able to easily pull off their stunts because under the first Twitter Blue, anyone could pay $8 a month for a blue checkmark and be off and running with their antics. Before Musk, that mark indicated that a notable company’s or individual’s identity had been verified. Twitter previously offered the verification for free.

    The changes announced Saturday would appear to make it more difficult to pull off impersonations, but time will tell.

    Twitter noted on Saturday that users could subscribe to Twitter Blue on the web for $8 per month or on iOS for $11 per month. Apple charges a 30 percent commission on many in-app purchases. Musk and many others, including notably Epic Games, have criticized this arrangement.

    Advertiser concerns

    Either way, Musk wants more subscription revenue.

    Ad sales account for 90% of Twitter’s overall revenue. Advertisers steered clear of Twitter after Musk’s $44 billion takeover. General Motors, United Airlines, General Mills, and others paused advertising on the platform, worried about brand safety as Musk, a self-described “free-speech absolutist,” brought dramatic changes to Twitter. 

    Last weekend, Musk said that advertisers were returning to Twitter after the initial exodus. Speaking during a Twitter Spaces broadcast, he said that Apple had “fully resumed” advertising on Twitter. He also thanked other advertisers for returning, though it wasn’t clear which ones he was referring to.

    Last month Interpublic Group (IPG), one of the world’s largest advertising companies, recommended its clients pause spending on Twitter last month due to moderation concerns.

    Fortune reached out to Twitter for comments and additional details but did not receive an immediate reply.

    Also today, Musk has reportedly threatened to sue employees who leak confidential information to the press, and demanded they sign a pledge to indicate they understand.

    Our new weekly Impact Report newsletter examines how ESG news and trends are shaping the roles and responsibilities of today’s executives. Subscribe here.

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    Steve Mollman

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  • ‘Working remotely is ok if…’: Elon Musk clarifies on Work From Home policy at Twitter, Tesla, SpaceX

    ‘Working remotely is ok if…’: Elon Musk clarifies on Work From Home policy at Twitter, Tesla, SpaceX

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    Billionaire Elon Musk, on Sunday, said that his Twitter, Tesla and SpaceX staff can work from home if it is not logistically possible to come into the office.

    Musk made this statement while responding to a message on the microblogging site Twitter from an Irish-based worker who said they had been told to return to the office from tomorrow.

    The worker wrote, “As I’m sure you’re aware, Elon Musk has recently bought Twitter and is making harsh and drastic changes that are affecting hundreds of Irish employees’ lives. The most recent of these decisions is that all employees must be in the office by Monday. Many of us work all around this country and are unable to do so. This is in the middle of a housing crisis that Musk has absolutely no idea about, and it is almost impossible to move to Dublin so quickly. This is putting us under an intense amount of stress and uncertainty and unfortunately.”

    He also said, “There is nothing we can do about it. One of the only things that Elon seems to react to is his own ego and the feeling of being unpopular on Twitter.”

    Elon Musk, CEO of Twitter, Tesla and SpaceX, replied that he was not ordering people back into the office.

    He tweeted, “This is false. Anyone who can be in office, should be. However, if not logistically possible or they have essential personal matters, then staying home is fine.”

    The billionaire added that “Working remotely is also ok if their manager vouches for excellence. Same policy as Tesla & SpaceX.”

    Recently, Musk informed the staff, via an email, that he is ending the “work from home” regime permanently. In his letter to employees, Musk reportedly asked employees to brace for “difficult times ahead”.

    Musk had previously eliminated “days of rest” from the calendars of Twitter employees. The “days of rest” are monthly days that employees can take to rest and recharge.

    Musk reportedly asked the employees to work for 40 hours a week. He said that he would only let employees work remotely on a case-by-case basis.

    Musk, who is not a huge fan of working from home, had also asked the Tesla employees to return to the office. He threatened employees with dire consequences if they failed to return to the office.

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