{"id":6706,"date":"2022-11-02T17:51:23","date_gmt":"2022-11-02T17:51:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2022\/11\/02\/how-brands-and-agencies-are-reacting-to-elon-musks-radical-changes-at-twitter\/"},"modified":"2022-11-02T17:51:23","modified_gmt":"2022-11-02T17:51:23","slug":"how-brands-and-agencies-are-reacting-to-elon-musks-radical-changes-at-twitter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2022\/11\/02\/how-brands-and-agencies-are-reacting-to-elon-musks-radical-changes-at-twitter\/","title":{"rendered":"How brands and agencies are reacting to Elon Musk\u2019s radical changes at Twitter"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Last week, Twitter\u2019s new chief twit, Elon Musk\u00a0told advertisers\u00a0he was buying Twitter because\u00a0human civilization needed a town square, \u201cwhere a wide range of beliefs can be debated in a healthy manner.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<p>Dear Twitter Advertisers <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/GMwHmInPAS\">pic.twitter.com\/GMwHmInPAS<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Elon Musk (@elonmusk) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/elonmusk\/status\/1585619322239561728?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">October 27, 2022<\/a>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>It seems like he\u2019s getting what he wanted. <\/p>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_81 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2022\/11\/02\/how-brands-and-agencies-are-reacting-to-elon-musks-radical-changes-at-twitter\/#A_brand_safety_risk\" >A brand safety risk<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2022\/11\/02\/how-brands-and-agencies-are-reacting-to-elon-musks-radical-changes-at-twitter\/#A_chaotic_and_confused_approach_to_free_speech\" >A chaotic and confused approach to free speech\u00a0<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2022\/11\/02\/how-brands-and-agencies-are-reacting-to-elon-musks-radical-changes-at-twitter\/#The_entire_board_fired\" >The entire board fired<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2022\/11\/02\/how-brands-and-agencies-are-reacting-to-elon-musks-radical-changes-at-twitter\/#More_executives_call_it_quits\" >More executives call it quits<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2022\/11\/02\/how-brands-and-agencies-are-reacting-to-elon-musks-radical-changes-at-twitter\/#The_new_Twitter_Blue\" >The new Twitter Blue<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2022\/11\/02\/how-brands-and-agencies-are-reacting-to-elon-musks-radical-changes-at-twitter\/#The_Saudis_investment\" >The Saudi\u2019s investment<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2022\/11\/02\/how-brands-and-agencies-are-reacting-to-elon-musks-radical-changes-at-twitter\/#Why_we_care\" >Why we care<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"A_brand_safety_risk\"><\/span>A brand safety risk<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Not all agencies and brands are on board with Musk\u2019s new outlook. <\/p>\n<p>Due to trust and safety concerns under Musk\u2019s leadership, some agencies are advising that their clients suspend their ads on Twitter, at least for now. <\/p>\n<p>One of those advertising companies is IPG\u2019s Mediabrands.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The automaker, and Tesla competitor GM temporarily paused their ads, but stated\u00a0that its decision was consistent with its \u201cnormal course of business\u201d to \u201ctemporarily pause our paid advertising.\u201d The automaker added, it is not abandoning Twitter entirely, as its \u201ccustomer care interactions on Twitter will continue.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Musk\u2019s words state that he\u2019s committed to safety, posting recently, \u201cTwitter\u2019s commitment to brand safety is unchanged,\u201d but his actions seem to say otherwise.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Some advertisers aren\u2019t concerned, though, as <a href=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/elon-musk-twitter-takeover-poll-383952\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">58% of the marketers<\/a> we polled thought the change could be a good thing for brands, marketers, and users. <\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"A_chaotic_and_confused_approach_to_free_speech\"><\/span>A chaotic and confused approach to free speech\u00a0<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Last week, Musk\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/edition.cnn.com\/2022\/10\/30\/business\/musk-tweet-pelosi-conspiracy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">promoted a baseless conspiracy theory<\/a>\u00a0about the recent violent attack on Paul Pelosi. \u201cThere might be more to this story than meets the eye,\u201d Musk said, in response to a tweet from Hillary Clinton. A few hours later the tweet was deleted.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Musk also said he disagrees with Twitter\u2019s practice of permanent bans for those who repeatedly violate its rules, raising the possibility that a number of previously banned, controversial users could reemerge on the platform.\u00a0Many of us will be watching to see if he lets former President Trump back on the platform in time for the U.S. midterm elections.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Musk has a history of outrageous behavior as we saw in 2018 when he called a British caver \u201cPedo guy\u201d during the Thai boys\u2019 soccer team rescue. The diver sued Musk for his comments and Musk later told a jury that his insult wasn\u2019t meant to be taken literally.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Bloomberg points out that there are other examples of more concerning tweets directed toward Musk, such as ones from commentators in China lobbying to have their \u201cChinese state-affiliated media\u201d\u00a0label removed.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s also concerning that since Musk\u2019s takeover, there has been a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/technology\/2022\/10\/28\/musk-twitter-racist-posts\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">noticeable uptick<\/a> in racial and Nazi slurs on the platform. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cMusk\u2019s Twitter takeover has shown us some unfortunate outcomes thus far, one of the clearest signals being the immediate increase in hate speech on the platform. A\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/school-of-communication-and-media\/2022\/10\/29\/study-finds-hate-speech-increases-on-twitter-after-elon-musk-acquisition\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">study<\/a>\u00a0from the\u00a0School of Communication and Media at Montclair State University found that in the hours after Musk\u2019s acquisition, Twitter became a more \u201cvulgar and hostile\u201d environment, with it experiencing an \u201cimmediate, visible, and measurable spike\u201d in hate speech. Social media acts as a gathering space for\u00a0<em>billions<\/em>, and it becoming more hostile will have real-world impacts. Words matter, they have power; there have been countless studies showing how hate speech\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.brookings.edu\/blog\/order-from-chaos\/2021\/04\/09\/how-hateful-rhetoric-connects-to-real-world-violence\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">directly correlates<\/a>\u00a0with a rise in hate crimes.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Eric Yaverbaum, CEO of\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/erichopr.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ericho Communications<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Musk has already walked back some of his \u201canything goes\u201d proclamations, tweeting that Twitter \u201cobviously cannot become a free-for-all hellscape, where anything can be said with no consequences.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>And yet with his mixed messages, the \u201cfree the bird\u201d bell may not be able to be unrung; it\u2019s clear that users see Musk\u2019s ownership as permission to \u201cunleash the racial slurs\u201d as one Twitter user put it, says Yaverbaum.<\/p>\n<p>Yaverbaum continued:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTwitter\u2019s actions (and resulting consequences) won\u2019t stop at the public impact; it\u2019s setting itself up for a serious internal crisis. The company is planning layoffs and is expecting employees to now work 12-hour shifts, seven days a week, and employees are unsurprisingly already resigning. Leaders must set the tone to ensure a healthy workplace environment. Here Musk is doing just the opposite. Outside of encouraging poor time management and uprooting the lives of those who currently work at Twitter, Musk\u2019s actions aren\u2019t painting him in the best light as a leader, especially to any future Twitter employees he looks to recruit. These actions send a clear message to current and prospective employees and can have lasting\u00a0impacts on a company, even years down the line.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_entire_board_fired\"><\/span>The entire board fired<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Immediately after his acquisition, Musk fired\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2021\/11\/30\/tech\/parag-agrawal-profile\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">CEO Parag Agrawal<\/a>.\u00a0In addition, on Thursday Musk also fired CFO Ned Segal and policy head\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2021\/10\/27\/tech\/vijaya-gadde-twitter-risk-takers\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Vijaya Gadde<\/a>. Musk also fired Sean Edgett, Twitter\u2019s general counsel.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"More_executives_call_it_quits\"><\/span>More executives call it quits<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Sarah Personette, Twitter\u2019s advertising liaison and chief commercial officer stepped down from her position on Tuesday. On her Twitter, she said\u00a0\u201cHi folks, I wanted to share that I resigned on Friday from\u00a0Twitter\u00a0and my work access was officially cut off last night.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She continued \u201cIt has been the greatest privilege to serve all of you as a leader and a partner. Many have heard me say this but the most important role I believe I played in the company was championing the requirements of brand safety.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Chief People and Diversity Officer Dalana Brand announced on Tuesday in a LinkedIn post that she had resigned last week as well. General manager for core technologies Nick Caldwell confirmed his departure on Twitter, changing his profile bio to \u201cformer Twitter exec\u201d by Monday night.<\/p>\n<p>Chief marketing officer Leslie Berland, Twitter\u2019s head of product Jay Sullivan, and its vice president of global sales, Jean-Philippe Maheu, have also left, a person with knowledge of the matter told\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/technology\/twitter-ad-sales-chief-personette-says-tweet-she-quit-company-2022-11-01\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Reuters<\/a>. It was not immediately clear whether they quit or were asked to leave.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_new_Twitter_Blue\"><\/span>The new Twitter Blue<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>In response to Twitter\u2019s blue checkmark, Musk tweeted\u00a0\u201cThe current system of lords and peasants, with those who have the blue tick and those who don\u2019t, is bullshit.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Musk proposed charging users $20 per month to keep their blue check mark verification as well as access to other features. In response, writer Stephen King responded<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<p>$20 a month to keep my blue check? Fuck that, they should pay me. If that gets instituted, I\u2019m gone like Enron.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Stephen King (@StephenKing) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/StephenKing\/status\/1587042605627490304?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">October 31, 2022<\/a>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Musk fired back, \u201cWe need to pay the bills somehow! Twitter cannot rely entirely on advertisers. How about $8?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Shortly after, Musk announced \u201cPower to the people! Blue for $8 a month.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Joel M. Petlin, superintendent and Newsweek Opinion contributor responded\u00a0<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<p>Only on Twitter can we watch a man worth $200 billion negotiate with a man worth $500 million about saving $12 a month. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/pttRSHvTtc\">pic.twitter.com\/pttRSHvTtc<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Joel M. Petlin (@Joelmpetlin) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Joelmpetlin\/status\/1587417968664752129?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">November 1, 2022<\/a>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>No kidding, Joel.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_Saudis_investment\"><\/span>The Saudi\u2019s investment<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Last Friday, billionaire Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal said he and his Kingdom Holding Company rolled over a combined $1.89 billion in existing Twitter shares, making them the company\u2019s largest shareholder after Musk. The news raised concerns among some lawmakers, including Sen. Chris Murphy, a Democrat from Connecticut.<\/p>\n<p>Murphy tweeted that he is requesting the Committee on Foreign Investment \u2014 which reviews acquisitions of U.S. businesses by foreign buyers \u2014 to investigate the national security implications of the kingdom\u2019s investment in Twitter<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe should be concerned that the Saudis, who have a clear interest in repressing political speech and impacting U.S. politics, are now the second-largest owner of a major social media platform,\u201d Murphy tweeted. \u201cThere is a clear national security issue at stake and CFIUS should do a review.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Why_we_care\"><\/span>Why we care<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Musk\u2019s radical changes and viewpoints could be scaring off brands and agencies, as none want to be associated with a platform that promotes hate speech, conspiracies, and an environment where employees are leaving in troves. <\/p>\n<p>We are also playing the wait-and-see game. Yaverbaum added \u201cSocial media as a whole is already struggling. If Twitter continues down this path, it could easily be its undoing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The post <a href=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/twitter-advertising-elon-musk-brands-agencies-389311\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">How brands and agencies are reacting to Elon Musk\u2019s radical changes at Twitter<\/a> appeared first on <a href=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Search Engine Land<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Last week, Twitter\u2019s new chief twit, Elon Musk\u00a0told advertisers\u00a0he was buying Twitter because\u00a0human civilization needed a town square, \u201cwhere a wide range of beliefs can be debated in a healthy manner.\u201d Dear Twitter Advertisers pic.twitter.com\/GMwHmInPAS \u2014 Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 27, 2022 It seems like he\u2019s getting what he wanted. A brand safety risk Not all agencies and brands are on board with Musk\u2019s new outlook. Due to trust and safety concerns under Musk\u2019s leadership, some agencies are advising that their clients suspend their ads on [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"h5ap_radio_sources":[],"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6706","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-best-seo-blogs"],"featured_image_src":null,"featured_image_src_square":null,"author_info":{"display_name":false,"author_link":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/author\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6706","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6706"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6706\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6706"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6706"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6706"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}