In recent years, Twitter has been a popular platform for brands to advertise their products and services to a large audience. However, in 2021, the platform saw a decline in advertising from top brands and advertisers after Elon Musk purchased the social media site. This was in part due to concerns over the CEO’s promotion of free speech and change in censorship policy; a welcome change that conservatives and free speech advocates praised.

The Royal Society, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

As a result, many top clients, including Omnicom (who represents large brands such as Apple, Mercedes-Benz, and McDonald’s), Coca-Cola, Ford, and Adidas pulled their advertising from Twitter, prompting a significant decline in the platform’s revenue. Despite the pull back and a loss of approximately $2 Billion a year, Musk has stood firm on opening the platform and fulfilling his plan of creating a digital town square. Which appears to be paying off.

As of Thursday, February 23, 2023, WPP, one of the largest communication holding groups in the world, CEO Mark Read has encouraged brands to rethink their decision to avoid advertising on Twitter.

Read’s decision to encourage brands to return to Twitter highlights the power and influence that large communication companies like WPP have over the media we consume every day. These companies are responsible for shaping the advertising and marketing strategies of some of the world’s biggest brands, and their decisions can have a significant impact on the success of a particular platform or media outlet.

In addition to shaping the advertising and marketing strategies of top brands, large communication and media companies play a significant role in shaping our societal culture. They are responsible for producing and distributing the content that we consume every day, from news and entertainment to social media and advertising.

As a result, these companies have a tremendous influence on our values, beliefs, and perceptions of the world around us. They can shape the public discourse on important issues, promote certain cultural trends and norms, and even impact our political views and opinions. Much of the liberal ideology and backwards thinking we see today isn’t a byproduct of a brand’s advertising but rather the primary agenda that has spread across our country and the minds of the vulnerable like a virus.

In this case, Read’s decision to encourage brands to return to Twitter could have a positive impact on the platform’s revenue, as more top brands and advertisers follow suit, however, how aggressive, what content, and the influence these brands will have is anyone’s guess. From us, we anticipate an onslaught of media that seeks to oppose those who hold traditional values. It won’t appear aggressive or intentional but the undertones, underlying messages, and virtue signaling will find its way through whatever product or service they are marketing.

This news underscores the importance of staying true to your values. While the mainstream media wanted to cut down Elon Musk’s plan for Twitter, he stood firm and, from a business standpoint, is not only seeing a drastic uptick in the user and their engagement but will soon see a monetary gain. Many doubted Musk’s ability to make Twitter profitable, but now it’s a real possibility for the first time since 2018/2019 —the only time the platform reported a positive net income.

One thing is certain, the identity and brand of Twitter is better off for standing firm in the face of adversity and serves as a model and case study for businesses with values that contrast those on the left — don’t surrender or succumb to the cries and threats of those who disagree with the core of your brand.