Twitter to X: How One of the World's Best-Known Brands Was Replaced Overnight

On July 23, 2023, Elon Musk posted that Twitter would soon “bid adieu to the Twitter brand and, gradually, all the birds.” The next day, the blue bird logo was replaced with a black X. The company’s name was changed. A giant flashing X appeared on the roof of its San Francisco headquarters.

Twitter’s name and logo had been built over 17 years. They were among the most recognised brand assets in the world. They were replaced in a matter of days.

The Context

Twitter launched in 2006. Its bird logo and the word “tweet” became part of global culture. “Tweet” was added to dictionaries. News programmes quoted tweets. Politicians, celebrities and ordinary people used the platform to make news.

Elon Musk bought Twitter in October 2022 for $44 billion. He made major changes: cutting most of the staff, changing the verification system, reinstating previously banned accounts and loosening content moderation. Many advertisers paused or reduced spending, worried about their ads appearing next to harmful content.

Musk had long talked about building an “everything app” called X, combining social media, messaging, payments and other services. He had owned the domain X.com since the late 1990s, when he founded an online bank called X.com that later merged into PayPal.

The Campaign

The rebrand happened quickly. Musk announced it on a Sunday and the new logo was live by Monday. The new logo was a simple black letter X in a stylised typeface.

“Tweets” were renamed “posts.” “Retweets” became “reposts.” The website address moved to x.com. The company’s official accounts changed their names.

The rebrand was not supported by a traditional marketing campaign. There was little explanation for users about what X would offer that Twitter did not. The change was presented as a step towards the everything app.

The rollout was chaotic. The giant X on the roof of the San Francisco headquarters was installed without the proper permits, and neighbours complained about its bright flashing lights. The city opened an investigation, and the sign was removed within days. Workers had also been filmed trying to remove the Twitter letters from the building’s exterior before police stopped them, because they had not arranged the necessary permits.

The new name created practical problems. The letter X is used by many companies, and trademark experts pointed out that it would be difficult to protect. Meta and Microsoft already held trademarks involving the letter. Searching for news about X online often returned unrelated results. Apps and websites that linked to Twitter had to be updated, and for months the platform showed a mix of old and new branding.

The everything app vision remained mostly a promise. Musk talked about payments, banking and other services, but most users continued to use X much as they had used Twitter: to post, read and share short updates.

Why It Failed

It abandoned valuable brand equity. Twitter’s name, bird logo and vocabulary were known worldwide. Brand experts estimated that the rebrand destroyed billions of dollars in brand value.

There was no clear benefit for users. Most users did not see new features that justified the change. The rebrand felt like a change for the owner’s vision, not for users’ needs.

The new identity was weak. “X” is a common letter used by many brands and products. It was hard to trademark, hard to search and had few positive associations.

The language did not change. People continued to say “Twitter” and “tweet.” Many news organisations wrote “X, formerly Twitter” for years. The old brand remained in people’s minds, while the company had given it up.

It happened in the middle of a crisis. Advertisers were already leaving. A sudden rebrand added confusion rather than confidence.

The Results

The rebrand did not reverse the platform’s decline in advertising revenue, which had already fallen sharply after the takeover. Competitors such as Meta’s Threads, launched in July 2023, and Bluesky gained users.

The platform continued to operate and remained influential, particularly in politics and news. But many users continued to call it Twitter, and the “everything app” vision had not fully materialised by the mid-2020s.

The rebrand came at a time when the platform was already under financial pressure. In July 2023, Musk said the company had lost about half of its advertising revenue since the takeover. Many major brands had paused spending due to concerns about content moderation and brand safety. The rebrand did little to reassure them.

The corporate story continued to change. In March 2025, Musk announced that his artificial intelligence company, xAI, had acquired X in an all-stock deal. The platform became part of a wider group of Musk’s businesses. For many users, though, it was still Twitter, and “tweet” remained the word people used to describe a post.

The Lesson for Today’s Marketers

Brand equity takes years to build and can be thrown away in days. Before abandoning a well-known name, be sure the new one offers something customers value.

A rebrand needs a reason that customers understand. Changing a name without changing the experience confuses people.

And language is part of the brand. When people use your name as a verb, as they did with “tweet,” you own a piece of culture. Giving that up is a huge cost.