X as a marketing channel
Scenario 1: X continues on its current path
Scenario 2: X tries to win advertisers back
Scenario 3: X charts an altogether different path
Musk and X: The story so far
Elon Musk closed his takeover of X on October 27th for $44 billion, af usa number list ter repeatedly trying to pull out of the deal. Since then, he has laid off thousands of staff and many others have opted to leave the company after Musk demanded they sign a ‘loyalty oath’.
His big idea so far has been the addition of a new subscription service for verified accounts at $8 per month. After a string of parody accounts paid the fee and then imitated major brands, Musk delayed the service’s launch. These actions had a material effect: the pharmaceutical firm Eli Lilly’s stock price fell 4% after a parody account pretending to be the company’s official handle tweeted that “insulin is free”. It was the start of a tempestuous relationship between Musk and brands on X.
The rebranding of X to “X” in 2023 offers the biggest clue to Musk’s vision for his purchase. He first hinted at the rebrand back in October 2022, calling X "an accelerant to creating X, the everything app”. Of course, WeChat is known as the “everything app” in China and many social networks would love to become the Western equivalent. Musk hired Linda Yaccarino in May 2023 to lead X’s business operations, so that he could focus on “product design & new technology”.