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Insurenewmedia, however, has roots far deeper than the burgeoning New Media industry. Its parent company, Gaston & Associates, is a 4th generation family-owned insurance broker. Fred is now the 4th generation active in the business started by his great-grandfather, Frederick K. Gaston, in 1895.
Gaston & Associates, Inc. has strong roots in the New York insurance community. In 1984, it shifted its focus to small to medium size concerns, with special emphasis on insuring financial institutions, technology companies and high net worth individuals.
Fred began branding insurenewmedia in 1999. His idea was to provide property and casualty insurance for people doing business online. Rather than becoming a pure-play Internet company, Fred decided to take full advantage of the resources available to him through Gaston & Associates, making Insurenewmedia a division of his family´s existing company. Insurenewmedia has its own employees, but it exists- literally and figuratively- under the same roof as Gaston & Associates.
Fred feels very strongly about the impact the Internet has had on the growth of the company.
"Our primary channel for obtaining new business has always been the internet, from day one. We´ve continued to develop our technology along the lines of that channel. Unlike a traditional agency with a sales force who goes out there knocking on doors and making cold calls, we market exclusively through the Internet."
Once prospective clients are brought to the website, they´re introduced to Insurenewmedias´s "killer app," an online system called The Coverage Coach.
"We want to try to impress on people, from the first time they touch on our site, that we are bringing them a unique experience, a unique value, that they wouldn´t get elsewhere."
The creation of The Coverage Coach has proven vital to the company´s growth and success by simultaneously increasing efficiency of workflow, eliminating paperwork, facilitating the customers´ experience, and profiling the types and needs of customers.
