• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, June 27, 2023

To paraphrase fictional character Lieutenant Colonel Frank Slade, if Elon Musk was the brand he was five years ago, he'd take a flamethrower to this place.

Actually, that's what he was when as founder of The Boring Co., he literally rolled out a line of flamethrowers, but to many, that's what he has metaphorically done to Twitter since acquiring it last year. Bottom line, too.

This morning, brand equity appraiser Brand Finance released findings indicating the brand value of Twitter has fallen 32% in the past year.

The data, which is part of Brand Finance's analysis of the brand equity value of the top 50 media brands, shows Twitter falling eight ranking positions, while the "strength" of the brand fell 11 positions year-over-year.

“The positive outcomes that some anticipated for the Twitter brand have not materialized," Brand Finance Managing Director Richard Haigh says in a statement released with the report, noting, "Brand valuation considers intangible and tangible assets, and Musk has overlooked one of brands’ most important resources: people. Twitter needs to address issues surrounding its reputation and brand equity to return to brand value growth.”

While Twitter is not alone in the decline of media brand equity value -- Facebook, WhatsApp, Tencent and YouTube fell, as well -- Twitter's drop has been precipitous and Musk's volatile management of it has begun to have negative rub on his Tesla brand too.

By contrast, other major media brands have been ascendant in their brand equity value, especially TikTok (+11% to $65.7 billion in brand value) and Google (+7% to $281.4 billion).

The fastest-growing media brands in terms of equity value are LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube (see below).