Tech

Marketing expert slams Elon Musk's chaotic Twitter rebrand as 'completely irrational'

A worker dismantles at Twitter's sign at Twitter's corporate headquarters building in San Francisco
The sign at Twitter's San Francisco headquarters was dismantled on Monday. Carlos Barria/Reuters
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Elon Musk is rebranding Twitter to X and some people are confused by the move.

Marketing and branding experts have been calling out the decision, warning the billionaire risks wiping off billions in brand value. The loss of the Twitter brand is projected to knock off anywhere between $4 billion and $20 billion in company value, Bloomberg reported, citing analysts and brand agencies.

Allen Adamson, cofounder of marketing and brand consulting group Metaforce, told Fortune the move was "completely irrational from a business and brand point of view."

He called the rebrand an "ego decision" for Musk and said it could be remembered as one "of the fastest unwinding of a business and brand ever."

Some users have also responded badly to the rebrand, taking issue with the name and logo. Several have been poking fun at the billionaire via his own platform, while others said they plan to leave altogether.

Representatives for Twitter did not respond to Insider's request for comment with a reply that addressed the query. 

Musk has long discussed his plans to create an app called X.

He's previously said the platform would be an "everything app" comparable with China's WeChat. After acquiring Twitter in October, he hinted the platform would be involved in the "everything app," which would speed up its creation by years. 

Musk's management of Twitter has been marked by erratic and fast-paced changes. He announced his plans to rebrand on Saturday and two days later, the website had a new logo, meeting rooms were reportedly renamed at Twitter headquarters, and Musk informed users a tweet was now called an "X."

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Beatrice Nolan was a tech reporter on the business news team in the UK. She joined Insider in January 2022 as a fellow on Business Insider's careers desk. Beatrice covered tech and the future of work, with a focus on artificial intelligence. Some of her stories and early experiments with ChatGPT are widely cited. Beatrice has also discussed her work covering AI trends on panels and radio shows, including NPR.She was based in Business Insider's London office and graduated from the University of  York with a bachelor's degree in English.Featured Articles:Artists say AI image generators are copying their style to make thousands of new images — and it's completely out of their control.ChatGPT was a black swan eventFinland is the world's happiest country, but Finns say we're confusing happiness for something elseThe world is splitting between those who use ChatGPT to get better, smarter, richer — and everyone elseThis man used AI to write and illustrate a children's book in one weekend. He wasn't prepared for the backlash.ChatGPT has only been around for 2 months and is causing untold chaosTwo professors who say they caught students cheating on essays with ChatGPT explain why AI plagiarism can be hard to proveChatGPT wrote college application essays. Admissions professionals said they passed for essays written by students but wouldn't have a chance at any top colleges.College professors are considering creative ways to stop students from using AI to cheatChatGPT wrote my cover letters. Here's how recruiters responded.