What is happening at Twitter, and how should luxury brands react?

Reading time: 3 min

It’s no surprise that Elon Musks’ first few weeks at Twitter HQ have been eventful, to say the least. The social network and globally popular news outlet has seen significant twists and turns in company structure and subsequently, its future popularity. 

What’s been happening over at Twitter HQ?

Below is a brief summary of some recent overhauls since Musk’s arrival. 

How have luxury brands reacted to recent events?

In the fashion world, Balenciaga has taken the lead by deactivating its Twitter account, losing one million followers should it be permanently deleted. The high-profile luxury brand confirmed the move, but hasn’t said why, although it’s joining an exodus from the platform that has been taking place in recent months and weeks. However, it’s the first big fashion name to leave the social platform.

In recent days large numbers of users have also left the platform, including global model Gigi Hadid, and numerous companies, such as L’Oreal, have suspended advertising. Leading brands and marketing groups grow nervous that inappropriate content will spread on the platform under Elon Musk’s ownership.

L’Oréal is one of the world’s top 10 advertisers and spent more than €10bn on promoting its cosmetics, perfumes and shampoos last year alone. It allocates only a small proportion of its marketing budget to Twitter and is a bigger spender on TikTok and Instagram, which are more oriented to image-making and brand influencers. Could this be an industry wide nudge to focus all marketing efforts and spend towards content-focused platforms such as Instagram and TikTok?

The Financial Times reports that Twitter has made a renewed push to reassure advertisers, which account for the majority of the company’s $5bn in annual revenues. In one email sent to a media agency, seen by the FT, the social media group asked brands to “bear with us as we move through this transition”, adding that it had not changed its moderation policies and sought to be “warm and welcoming to all”.

How have recent events shaped the future for luxury brands? 

As our position as leading experts in social media strategy for luxury brands, we’re always invested in the evolution of social media platforms and ultimately how their development is going to support the success of our luxury clients.

There’s uncertainty on what this means moving forward for the luxury industry (and non-luxury alike), however we’re keeping a close eye on Twitter’s platform volatility and the areas in which our clients should be focusing their digital marketing efforts.

To discuss both organic and paid Social Media services, reach out to one of our experts via our contact page.