The rebrand of Twitter to X highlights how a brand can fail to grow when it disrupts consumer trust. Using Keller’s Brand Resonance Model, we can see where X fell short at many levels.
Salience:
At the salience stage, awareness remains high, but confusion remains as many still refer to the platform as Twitter.
Performance and Imagery:
In terms of performance and imagery, X has struggled with glitches, spam, and an unclear vision as an “everything app” which we know as marketers, targeting “everyone” means you have no concept of your true audience.
Judgement and Feelings:
At the judgment and feelings stage, users and advertisers now associate the platform with instability and frustration rather than reliability. Elon Musk acquiring X turned the platform political and turned many users away.
Resonance:
Finally, at the resonance stage, loyalty has fractured, with communities and brands migrating to alternatives like Threads and Bluesky.
This case shows that even with massive brand awareness, failing to protect brand meaning, trust, and loyalty can cause long-term decline. Rebranding can be a sign of growth with your audience but in this case, a once strong brand awareness has shifted into an entirely different brand, losing its prior strengths and essentially starting as new.