Tag Archives: Social media

by swhartley | Friday, November 3, 2023 · 12:40 pm

Rebranding: Twitter Becomes “X”

Marketers love branding, and branding is a critical part of the marketing process. Branding is when an organization uses an image, name, design, or symbol to clearly identify its products. Brands help companies stand apart and help distinguish one product (or service) from another. We can picture brand icons in our minds – and these help us recall the product purpose and usage.

Think about it for a minute. If someone says “Nike” a consumer can easily picture the logo and the products that Nike offers. The same can be true of services. If we say “Facebook,” it quickly conjures an image of the Facebook logo and its services.

Brands also have personality linked to their icons and images. What do we mean by personality? It’s a set of human-type characteristics and we associate with a brand name. Again, think about Nike. What characteristics might you say Nike represents? Facebook?

In general terms, brand names should suggest the product benefits, be distinctive, fit the company image, be simple and even emotional.

So why did Twitter recently rebrand itself as “X” from its traditional blue bird? According to Elon Musk (new owner of Twitter) he wants to use Twitter as the basic foundation of an “everything app” known as “X.com.” X will eventually include audio, video, messaging, and even banking capabilities – none of which were part of Twitter. (Twitter has also filed to rename the company to X Corp.)

Mr. Musk has used “X” as other names for his companies. He had formerly run financial company PayPal which started as X.com, his space ship company also uses and X as in the name “SpaceX,” and a new artificial intelligence business is also includes an X in “xAI.” The overall corporate entity created to purchase and control Twitter also has an X as in “X Holdings.”

Will the branding change benefit the company? Time will tell.

P.S. Do we still say “tweeted” when posting on X?

Group Activities and Discussion Questions:

Show video about the change from Twitter to X: https://www.wsj.com/video/elon-musk-rolls-out-new-x-logo-as-twitter-rebrands/0F91130A-ED9D-497B-A282-F26CCCF5DD91.html
Show the website: https://twitter.com/
Poll students: What are their favorite brands?
Divide students into teams. Can each team draw the brand icon for these favorites?
Also have students define the brand personalities for their favorite brands.
Will Twitter’s rebranding help its standing as global brand?
OPTIONAL: Show Interbrands’ Top Global Brands list: https://interbrand.com/best-global-brands/

Source: Corse, A., Eaton, C., and Purnell, N. (24 July 2023). Elon Musk replaces Twitter’s blue bird with an ‘X’. Wall Street Journal.; Scheiber, N., Mac, R. (23 July 2023). Elon Musk changes Twitter logo to an X. New York Times; other news sources.

Meta launches ‘Threads’

X (previously known as Twitter) is under attack from Meta’s new app called ‘Threads.’ In less than a week after its launch in July, Threads signed up more than 100 million users. (It’s even a trending topic on X/Twitter.) While this level of new users is good news for Meta, the key will be getting people to use Threads long-term. What is Threads? Threads is a social media app and microblogging tool. While it isn’t taking advertising placement – yet – it has access to all Facebook’s users plus Instagram and WhatsApp users. Threads allows users to log in using their Instagram or Facebook accounts, making the sign up process fast and easy. So easy that it signed up 30 million users in the first 24-hours of launch. As a direct competitor to X, X’s lawyers immediately alleged that Meta hired X employees to help build Threads. X is used to controversy and, with recent limits on posts viewed daily and content moderation, no stranger to users ire at it. The biggest problem though is X’s loss of advertisers. Threads is similar to X in many areas, including posts up to 500 text characters, reposting others’ threads, and posting photos and videos up to five minutes long. Threads is also free compared to users paying $8.00 per month for a X Blue subscription. Another allure of Threads is its quick connection to all your friends on Instagram. However, Threads does not have direct messaging yet, which keeps all posts in the public domain. Time will tell how the marketplace, and eventually advertisers, bonds with Threads. What do you think? Group Activities and Discussion Questions:

Poll students: Who has used Threads? Why? What is the experience?
Show information about Threads: https://about.fb.com/news/2023/07/introducing-threads-new-app-text-sharing/
View video about Threads: https://youtu.be/hbMJSn5GyOE (there are many other videos also).
What will move users to Threads from X/Twitter? What will move advertisers?
Who are the competitors for Threads? (ex: BlueSky and Mastodon)
Review key aspects of developing a product positioning map, including determining the axis labels for positioning.
How should Threads position itself to beat out competitors?
Divide students into teams and have each team develop a positioning map for Threads.

Source: Chen, B., and Issac, M. (12 July 2023). Threads review: How Meta’s new app stacks up against Twitter. New York Times; Jackson, K., and Aguilar, N. (14 July 2023). Threads keeps growing, and new updates have arrived: What you need to know. CNET; Rodriguez, S., and Haggin, P. (6 July 2023). Meta’s Threads app see early success, drawing advertiser interest and Twitter’s ire. Wall Street Journal; Rodriguez, S. (6 July 2023). Day after Threads launches, Twitter accuses Meta of using its trade secrets. Wall Street Journal; other news sources.

Who Smells?

Most of your students are probably in their late teens or early twenties. They can surely remember how it felt to go through puberty and all the physical changes it wrought in them. Using ‘adult’ products may have felt too old and stodgy, but the ‘youth’ products may not have fit all the needs too.

Deodorant is one of those tricky products to choose as youths turn into adults. Deodorant is used daily by 90% of Americans aged 18 – 29. That’s a lot of product and it comes at a time when the younger consumer is trying on different products and personalities to fit their needs.

Entering the tween/teen market with a fresh approach is Miles, a deodorant designed specifically for teens. The products were designed to help ease the stress of being a teen and uses inclusive branding for all teens, regardless of gender, expectations, or activities. While legacy deodorant brands represent a more traditional view of manhood, Gen Z views themselves with more focus on individuality. Key words for the product are clean, rugged, and fresh – quickly conveying the scents and brand focus.

Only sold online currently, Miles is sold at $8.99/unit. It will also be available this spring at Target stores.

What does your deodorant smell like?

Group Activities and Discussion Questions:

Show Miles’ website: https://hey-miles.com/
Discuss the importance of clearly defining a target market.
In the case of Miles, is the buyer the same as the product user? What are the differences between the two groups?
Divide students into teams and have each team develop a profile of a target market for Miles. Include demographics, psychographics, behaviors, values, attitudes, etc.
Based on the target market profile, what makes this product unique for these customers?
Next, have each team select three different tactics to use for Miles. Explain why each tactic was selected and how it will be used.
Debrief by putting together the entire suggested lists on the white board. As a final step, have the entire class vote on the top three tactics to use.

Source: Norfleet, N. (24 February 2023) Sweet smell of success? Deodorant line hopes so. Minneapolis Star Tribune.

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