Twitter’s “X” rebrand has not yet been widely embraced by businesses, with nearly nine in 10 consumers worldwide still calling the platform by its previous name, according to a new survey from Omnisend.
A recent study by the email marketing company analysed 14,530 marketing emails sent by various brands and found that despite the rebranding, 85% of Australian businesses and 89% globally still refer to the platform as Twitter.
“For 17 years, Twitter has become so integrated into our daily lives that it has developed its own lingo with words that everyone understands, like ‘tweet’ and ‘retweet,’ although ‘retweet’ is hard to say. Plus, saying ‘X’ sounds more like a placeholder than a brand name,” says Pija Ona Indriunait, brand manager at Omnisend. “Either way, this is an interesting case study in what happens when you implement a major rebrand without months of market research and preparation.”
The survey also highlighted regional differences in acceptance of the rebrand, with resistance greatest in Italy, where 95% of businesses still call the platform Twitter, Spain came a close second at 94%, and Sweden was the most accepting of the change, with 78% of businesses still using the original name.
“Meanwhile, the relative acceptance of ‘X’ in Sweden suggests a more flexible approach to change,” Indriunait said. “Ultimately, the differences between countries were relatively small, indicating that the power of Twitter’s original brand has crossed borders, and replacing it with ‘X’ was a questionable decision.”
Twitter will rebrand to “X” on July 23, 2023, replacing its iconic bluebird logo and removing the Twitter name from its website, apps and headquarters. The move is reportedly the result of Elon Musk’s efforts to restore shareholder confidence after a messy acquisition.
The survey was conducted from January 1 to July 12, 2024.
“The name change is likely the result of Elon Musk’s efforts to restore shareholder confidence after a messy acquisition. But the fact that even companies that tend to be more precise in their communication still call it ‘Twitter’ suggests that the rebranding is taking much longer than expected to catch on with the general public,” Indriunait concluded.