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| Twitter's old (left) and new logos. (Source: thechenabtimes.com) |
On July 23, billionaire Elon Musk decided to change the name of the social network Twitter to X and announced a new logo for the platform with the letter "X" represented in a stylized black and white version. According to branding experts, this move is estimated to "blow away" from 4 billion to 20 billion USD of Twitter's brand value.
Twitter's brand value is estimated at $4 billion, according to brand valuation consultancy Brand Finance. The firm values Facebook at $59 billion and Instagram at $47.4 billion. Vanderbilt University estimates Twitter's brand value at $15 billion to $20 billion, which is similar to Snapchat.
Since Tesla's "boss" bought Twitter, the platform has seen its advertising revenue halve. On July 15, billionaire Elon Musk said that Twitter is still in negative cash flow, due to a 50% drop in advertising revenue combined with a debt burden.
Not only is Twitter's brand value being reduced, it is also facing the risk of being involved in litigation. Trademark attorney Josh Gerben commented: "There is a 100% chance that Twitter will be sued for this move." This expert's statistics show that there are nearly 900 trademarks containing the letter "X" registered in US industries.
Microsoft has owned the “X” trademark for its Xbox video game system since 2003. In 2019, Meta also filed for a federal trademark that includes a blue-and-white “X” for its software and social media businesses, Gerben said.
However, this expert predicts that Meta and Microsoft will probably not sue Elon Musk unless these companies feel threatened by Twitter infringing on their "X" brand-related assets.
So far, neither Elon Musk, Meta, nor Microsoft have made any public statements on the matter.
Meta, which changed its name from Facebook to Twitter, faced intellectual property challenges in 2022, including trademark lawsuits filed by investment firm Metacapital and virtual reality company MetaX.
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