Efficient customer marketing thanks to service cards for musical instruments

Based in Fulda, Germany, Kunath has been manufacturing high-end flutes for ten years. Owner Joachim Kunath has elevated his company with 15 employees to rank among the top 3 flute manufacturers in Germany. The instruments are marketed in Germany and abroad by a network of resellers, and directly via an online store.

Hatching a new marketing idea

Always eager to improve his customer service, at the end of 2016 Mr. Kunath had the idea of setting up a warranty card listing the serial numbers of the instruments, printing them on a plastic card, and attaching them to each instrument. Customers can register on the Kunath website to activate the after-sales service card.

The card offers many advantages for both the user and the manufacturer:

• An extended warranty for end users.
• Traceability of very high-end instruments and the material used to manufacture them, which is an important additional service for musicians who travel the world.
• Storage of customer contact information for Kunath marketing activities.

Badgy offers the best quality/price ratio

In December 2016, Mr. Kunath searched the term "card printers" on Google and visited discussion forums to find out what users think of various printer manufacturers. For Mr. Kunath, four-color printing was a prerequisite for creating aesthetic cards. The Evolis Badgy office card printer was therefore the ideal solution in terms of the quality/price ratio. Mr. Kunath was also a fan of the modern, aesthetic design. 

 "Thanks to the Badgy card printers, we can work faster and are totally independent of external service providers. It is easy to use and gives a very reliable indication of the ribbon's level of use," explains Mr. Kunath.

Intuitive software accessible to all

Mr. Kunath designed the card himself and found the software provided to be very intuitive, including for non-professionals. "I use various page layout programs to design our advertising materials, and I have to say that the Badgy software is great. The tutorial videos are also outstanding."

The after-sales service card is printed on both sides and in color, and includes the following elements:

• The instrument's serial number
• A photo of the recorder
• The Kunath logo
• Information concerning the warranty and online registration (on the reverse side)

Cards for controlling access to the Kunath family's residential hotel

To optimize the printer's capacities for use, Mr. Kunath also prints gift cards and access control cards for controlling the electronic locking system of his wife's residential hotel. 

The cards for controlling access to the residential hotel contain a chip for extra security. Much like in hotels, they are encrypted using the establishment's coding machine and then printed on the Badgy printer.  Indeed, the Badgy can print on pre-encoded cards provided that they correspond to the dimensions suitable for the printer.

150 plastic cards printed per month

Mr. Kunath currently prints some 150 plastic cards per month. He recently bought a Swiss flute manufacturer, which will increase the number of after-sales service cards printed every month to several hundreds. "But the Badgy can do it!" says Mr. Kunath gleefully.