from Dinner for Two to get2Card
1988
Dinner for Two. The first large 2for1 system for restaurants was founded in Vienna in 1984. While the system made it across the German border to Munich, Hamburg and Cologne as early as 1988, there is still very little of it to be felt in Berlin, but this is set to change soon. On 1.12. 1988 Wolfgang Delion buys the license rights for West Berlin and starts to fill this advantage card for Berlin with life (offers). This is more difficult (because unusual) than expected - but it works!
1989
The reunification is a stroke of luck for Berlin and for the Dinner for Two Card. The citizen of Berlin newspaper reports in detail and nearly 3000 new members (mainly citizen of Berlin from the former east part of the city) buy the Card. By the action members recruit members the system becomes fast larger and reaches over 14.000 customers.
1990
The Federal Supreme Court forbids the catering trade to give away a second meal on presentation of vouchers or tickets. "Violation of the Zugabeverordung" that means. Since 1933, the granting of (only) significant allowances has been prohibited in Germany. (Historically, the encore ordinance was used as an instrument to ward off Jewish merchants.) As a result, Dinner for Two and the Club for Two are no longer able to do business, we stop selling the Card (for the time being) and ask our customers for patience. At this point a large THANK YOU goes to all citizens of Berlin, because not a notice or bad letter goes in the Dinner for Two - office in Berlin Luebars. Quite the opposite: We reach laundry baskets of letters with appeals for perseverance!
1991
Our solution: We withdraw from the open market and found an association. The association member A (e.g. Mr. Müller) gets a 2nd meal from the association member B (restaurant XY). In this closed market the BGH judgement finds no application. Half a year after the BGH judgement the association is registered "Freizeit for Two Berlin e.V." ins Berliner Vereinsregister. Almost all of our Berlin customers join the association in writing, as do all providers (system partners). In the following 10 years one must be member in the spare time For Two Berlin registered association, in order to be able to use and/or offer offers.
1991
The war begins in Yugoslavia and our licensee there - Zlatko Capan gives up, leaves the country and starts a new start in Australia. At that time in Yugoslavia many thousands of members used the Dinner for Two Card in 1,200 restaurants along the coast. The Yugoslav Post (!!!) sells the Dinner for Two Card. The war destroys everything. No one had more desire on Dinner for Two!
1992
In Oslo Dinner for Two gets problems: too many Dinner for Two cards and too few restaurants! The restaurants are literally overrun, some restaurants don't accept Dinner for Two-Cards anymore. As a result, our licensee Mats Uldal gives up.
Mats Uldal died unexpectedly on 4.12.2016 in Oslo.
1993
One for Two International in Vienna files for bankruptcy. Especially due to the loss of strong license payers. No more license payments came from Oslo, Berlin, and Split.
Some months after the Vienna bankruptcy the remaining former licensees of One for Two International meet in Berlin and decide to offer the Dinner and Club for Two offers under a new trademark. The World for 2 Card is born. Brian Wates as former licensee of UK becomes Chairman. The head office opens in Sudburry, England.
1994
World for 2 is registered as a trademark in Germany and internationally.
1995
There has been a major change in the For Two offerings in Berlin. The Multi-Guarantee will be introduced step by step: Before all offers were presented as so-called unique getting to know offers. On the back of the World for 2 Card the offerers could register their ID number and thus lock the Card for a further attendance. The multi-guarantee now enables multiple use up to unlimited use of the offers. With this change there is also a substantial change of philosophy. Before the emphasis lay on the advertising effect of the system (the content guest comes as a full payer again!) we change this into a more economical view: World for 2 markets profitably free capacities, the advertising effect is on top! Die World for 2 Card will be sold in Berlin until the abolition of the bonus regulation in summer 2001.
1998
Heyne Verlag approaches us and asks us to develop a card for their book: "Marcellinos Restaurant Report Berlin 1999″ , which seduces the reader of Marcellino's to eat more often. The "Marcellino's Dining Card" starts in Berlin with 60 of the city's best restaurants offering a "2for1".
1999
In addition to Berlin, the Marcellino's Card is available in Hamburg and Düsseldorf. The Marcellino's Card costs 149 DM/year and is no longer published by Heyne-Verlag but by the publisher Marcello Hudalla.
2000
In addition to our World for 2 Card, we want to offer an exclusive card in the higher price segment with a social component in Berlin. The GOLD Card Berlin is launched in cooperation with Mercedes Benz and to support the Berliner Tafel . The Lay Out is elegant, the system partners are the best in Berlin and are presented with a photo and description on one page each. The GOLD Card Berlin costs 350 DM, of which 100 DM will be donated to the "Berliner Tafel".
2001
This year is to become the most important year in the company's history!
At the request of the publisher of Marcellinos, we handed over the marketing of the Marcellinos Dinig Card to him. He wanted to optimize and improve the selling in the own publishing house. Unfortunately, his measures proved to be not very effective. After only eight months the selling of the Marcellinos Dining Card was stopped. "Cobbler remain with your strips!
2 Our inexpensive house brand, the World for 2 Card, which has been sold since 1993, has already started to dust slightly and demands a rejuvenation cure and better sales figures. Our costs can be covered only badly with the incomes by the GOLD Card. This proves to be far too expensive for a broad public in Berlin. 3.
The cooperation with the publishing house "Junges Berlin" and the publishing director Jason Krüger takes this task in hand. The result is the "get2Card". New layout, new offer columns, around everything a young inspired team and paired with our experience for many years as well as the still brilliant business idea 2for1 - that can go simply only well!
4. in June 2001 the government of Chancellor Schröder abolishes the bonus regulation without replacement. It is clear to us that there will now be new providers of 2for1 offers or discount coupons in Germany - presumably on a daily basis. We have only a small time window and use our chance! In November 2001, the 1st get2Guide will be released with a multitude of new offers and is ideally suited for a target group around the age of 20.
5. get2Card goes online with its own homepage "www.get2Card.de" . The get2Card can be ordered via the Internet. None of us suspects that this will become the most important sales channel for get2Card.
6. for the time being, we take the distribution into our own hands. At McDonalds, in the cinemas of UCI and Cinemaxx there are promoters of our distribution companies. At CinemaxX, an advertising spot is shown in the foyer before each film screening as a sales aid for the promoters. In the credits, the viewer learns that he can buy the get2Card in the foyer.
2002
CocaCola cooperates with get2Card and pays the fees for all system partners.
2003
The internet as a presentation and sales platform is becoming more and more important for get2Card. Promotion in Berlin is becoming more and more difficult, dubious and ultimately more expensive. Also, the customers who were recruited via promotion are not quite our target group. In 2002, we paid almost 9,000 euros only in bank charges for unredeemed direct debits from our (younger) members.
2004
At the end of this year, the number of members clearly exceeds the 20,000 mark!
2005
The "get2Bonus"- idea is born. Selected additional offers, limited in number and only bookable by subscribers via the Internet. If you want to book a get2Bonus offer as a gift recipient, you must first declare that you will continue to order the get2Card in the future.
2006
A 4-year cooperation with "radioeins" vom rbb. The get2Card is raffled off to listeners several times a week. In the course of the next 4 years many people will perceive the get2Card as a radioeins card.
2007
For the first time since 1988 we have received from a restaurant the restaurant invoices signed by our members for evaluation. The result surprised us all: We never thought that so many members would use the get2Card! The following evaluations in restaurants and theatres show that more than 6 get2Cards are used daily in the restaurants. Furthermore, representative evaluations of the bills show that get2Greater spend more money on drinks than "normal guests" - no surprise for us!
Now we can also prove with representative statistical material that the 2 for1 system is an extremely successful and lucrative system for the utilisation of free capacities in the leisure service sector.
Provided that get2´ler doesn't take the place away from the so-called "full payers", our system partners earn a lot from this system. We are not involved in the sales of our "get2ler"!
We don't know of any advertising concept which shows a similar success with the same "costs"!
2008
The KinoCard and the GOLD Card will no longer be offered. We have decided to publish all offers of the different cards under the get2Card umbrella. The value of the get2Card will thus be significantly increased - at 60.00 Euro as before. The administrative processes are simplified.
Michael Sodar the leader of the image campaign beBerlin asks us to support this campaign with the get2Card. Since then everyone "beBerlin-Ambassador" gets the get2Card from the mayor of Berlin. A nice image success for the get2Card. We may officially use the logo of beBerlin .
2010
The new website with numerous new possibilities goes online. After a long introductory phase we are generally satisfied. We decide to do more Cooperations. TOP Radio cooperates with us for 3 months, the ADAC sells get2Cards in its Berlin offices to its members. A lot of Berlin box offices sells the get2Card
2013
The technical progress has also reached the get2Card and since 01.08.2013 we can officially present the get2App to our users. All offers are easy to find using the location search and in case you forget your get2Card, you have the digital get2Card in your smartphone at all times.
2014
Since 30.07.2014 we are allowed to present a new website to get2members and those who want to become one. "More features, more overview, more design - more get2″ is the motto of the new website.
2015
The Berliner Morgenpost will advertise the get2Card from November. On the homepage of the "Berliner Morgenpost" under the heading "Specials" (top right) you will find the ""get2Card".
2016
Well-known show and musical organizers have discovered "get2Bonus" as an effective marketing instrument for marketing free space. That is good for our members, because bonus offers become thereby ever more valuable. The number of bookings for our bonus offers is constantly increasing.
Starting from November 2016 we decided - at the request of numerous members - us, also get2Card's which were given , for the reservation of Bonus offers to switch freely. As long as the balance of bonus supply and demand is balanced, this will not be changed.