04-12-2021, 09:45 PM
Kyndryl
"That is the actual name of the IT services unit that IBM is spinning off from its core business. Soon, the 90,000 employees affected by the change will no longer say they work for \"IBM\" — perhaps one of the more classic, unambiguous corporate names ever — but instead for \"Kyndryl,\" a portmanteau whose meaning and pronunciation aren't immediately clear. IBM (IBM) says the \"kyn\" part of the name is derived from is the word \"kinship,\" and \"dryl\" comes from tendril, which it said should bring \"to mind new growth and the idea that ... the business is always working toward advancing human progress.\" Somehow, explaining it just makes it worse. We can deduce that the pronunciation, based on IBM's stated logic, is \"KIN-drill,\" but the seemingly arbitrary use of Ys as vowels opens the door to long-I interpretation: KINE-drile? Googling the term doesn't find many alternate uses, although there is a scary-looking \"World of Warcraft\" character that goes by that name. It certainly seems like another corporate name that will join the pantheon of failed, or at least widely mocked, brands. But an expert in the field says we shouldn't laugh too hard. \"It's not easy to come up with new names,\" said Bernd Schmitt, a professor of marketing at Columbia University and the faculty director of the Center on Global Brand Leadership. \"Many good names are already taken and protected by law.\ wrote:
