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“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell just as sweet.”
William Shakespeare uses this line in Romeo and Juliet to convey that the naming of things can be irrelevant.
What do you think? Will a different name for a large social media platform make a difference? It makes me think back 30 years to when Prince changed his name to an unpronounceable symbol…
Give this song by The Bangles (written by Prince!) a listen as we see what the experts are saying this week.
X Marks the Spot
We’re weeks now into the Twitter rebrand – what do you think of it?
In the quest for the American “super-app,” the company formerly known as Twitter ditched the blue bird and rebranded to X. Elon Musk has stated that the move is strategic since Twitter no longer represents the long-term goal of the company, which is to expand the platform’s capabilities in a number of ways, including banking and payment solutions.
The concept and development of a multipurpose super-app has been slow to gain traction in the U.S., whereas WeChat continues to dominate in China. WeChat is not just a messaging app, but also a social media app and a digital wallet that allows payments. Is X likely to become the WeChat of the West?
Who’s more likely to embrace the new version of Twitter?
According to CivicScience, the rebrand to X appears to be polarizing. Data collected directly following the rebrand found that reactions to it skewed more toward the negative than positive among the general population. However, Twitter users at the time were generally more favourable to the rebrand.
Nearly one-quarter of all respondents said they were at least somewhat likely to use X with its expected features, while the majority of Twitter users expressed interest. August data show these sentiments to remain consistent.
What about you? Are you willing to jump in the deep end with this super-app… or even just dip a toe in? No matter where you fall on this spectrum, this will be interesting to watch.
Business Lessons from Prince
June marked the 30th anniversary of late singer-songwriter, Prince, changing his name to a symbol. It was on his 35th birthday, and from then on people referred to him as “the artist formerly known as Prince.”
From challenging the music industry on multiple occasions, to hacking the system by giving albums to those who bought sold-out arena tickets and changing his name to a symbol to beat Warner Bros, Prince was known as not only a brilliant artist but also a fearless trailblazer.
What are some of the lessons we can learn from Prince and apply in B2B?
- Know yourself and embrace who you are
- Don’t get easily swayed by trends and fads
- Never be a slave to contracts and obligations
- Don’t be afraid to be bold and go against the grain
- Always think outside the box and test new things
Of course, I’m not saying your contracts and obligations should be dismissed – that might not end well! But these may help you stand out in the eyes of your clients and prospects.
Elon certainly seems to be taking a few of these points to heart, too. Will it pay off? Guess we’ll have to wait and see…
As always, don’t hesitate to call me to brainstorm or just say hello!
Looking forward,
Rick
Rick Endrulat, President | ricke@v-causeway.com | www.linkedin.com/in/rickendrulat