X CEO Linda Yaccarino On Why Twitter’s Branding Had To Go

Illustration 286779088 © Imagesrouges | Dreamstime.com

The company formerly known as Twitter had to break free from the bird because it’s destined for bigger nests, according to Linda Yaccarino, the CEO of the newly rebranded app.

In her first televised interview since helming her role in June, Yaccarino explained why the long-running social network had to abandon the Twitter name and branding to CNBC’s Sara Eisen.

“If you stay Twitter,” she said, there would be predisposed limitations of what you can do, and any changes you make to the service will mostly be “incremental.”

On the other hand, with a new direction for X, “we think about what’s possible,” as opposed to minute improvements to “what can’t be done,” Yaccarino elaborated.

Yaccarino shared that new infrastructure changes and product additions to the platform help back the reasons for the rebrand.

Ever since Elon Musk’s takeover, Twitter/X has expanded the traditional text-based format to incorporate long-form videos and articles, and payment structures for content creators who can now make “a real living” on the site, she pointed out.

She said Musk had been building up to this moment since before the acquisition. She also revealed that the company is working to add video call capabilities to the “everything” platform.

The rebrand is “really a liberation” from the old Twitter and its legacy mindset, she added. Free from its clutches, the app can now rebuild itself as a destination for gathering, entertaining, and transacting. 

When asked if X feels threatened by the presence of new rival Threads, Yaccarino acknowledged that one can “never take [their] eye off” their competitors, as they will keep iterating.

However, she noted that Threads appears to be working to more closely become what Twitter used to be, and “we’re focused on what X will be.”

[via CNBC and Digiday, cover illustration 286779088 © Imagesrouges | Dreamstime.com]