MAM
Creative hotshop a.m. rises
MUMBAI: “It‘s always tough starting something new. Once you strip yourself off your big-agency visiting card and designation, you have to get used to doing everything for yourself – all the things you took for granted in a big, established setup. We had also been told that when one does this, one automatically loses half of one‘s friends and contacts. But we‘ve been incredibly lucky in this regard – people who‘ve worked with us and trusted us in our old roles, continue to extend that support even today.”
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That’s Nilesh Vaidya in case you don’t know. Vaidya, a former executive creative director with Rediffusion Y&R, took the entrepreneurial plunge in April this year, setting up a creative business solutions agency called a.m. said a.m. director Nilesh Vaidya. He did not do alone – he roped in Nokia mobile payments marketing director Shreepad Shinde to take the ride with him. The duo has set up office in the Goregaon suburb of Mumbai and has a staff of eight currently. And plans are being to drawn up to aggressively expand to Gurgaon and Bangalore in just six months.
Both have immense pedigree. They worked together in advertising 15 years ago before parting ways to follow their individual career graphs. While Shinde hopped over to the client‘s side, and rose to become director – marketing at Nokia Mobile Payments, Vaidya stayed rooted in advertising, rising to head Rediffusion Y&R’s Mumbai creative team, handling some premier accounts like eTata Motors, Sugar Free and Sahara Q Shop. Prior to that he had a stint with Euro RSCG, where he led with some memorable work on Dainik Bhaskar and HDFC Bank. Shinde, on the other hand, started out in advertising and went on to lead marketing and product functions in organisations like HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank.
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| Nilesh Vaidya… |
Both Vaidya and Shinde believe that they want to build an organisation based on their values and beliefs, for the purpose of doing clutter-breaking work and building enduring relationships with clients.
Says Vaidya ,“It‘s been three months since Shreepad and I came together to form a.m. Actually, Shreepad had started the agency a few months before under another identity, and we had been talking about getting together. We decided in February. I put in my papers at Rediffusion, and became a part of a.m. in the first week of April. After spending 20 and 19 years in our respective fields, both Shreepad and I felt ready to take the next big step, take on the entrepreneurial challenge. We had touched base after a 15 year gap but our philosophies and goals matched so perfectly that doing business together seemed the logical thing to do.”
Shinde throws some light on what he believes sets am apart from other agencies. Says the soft-spoken former telecom executive: “Normally, when we talk about ad agencies, we talk about providing creative solutions, strategy, planning etc. I have been a client for years and agencies generally build a strategy born from a business objective to provide a communication model. With a.m., we have a holistic approach to drive the business, as we position ourselves as their business partner. Over here we will understand the distribution margin, how is the competition in the market, the selling price in the market, their loyalty programme for their dealers and distributors among many other things. We are looking at providing a holistic approach by stepping into our clients shoes and understanding the business.”
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| … and Shreepad Shinde strongly believe in building enduring relationships with clients |
Consisting of a team of five creatives, a.m., the duo is offering radio, print, digital and online and offline services to clients and has handled projects for Reliance Life Insurance, Fiat Chrysler, Bajaj Auto, ACK Media (on the National Geographic brand), Intelligentia IT Solutions, Classic Marble Company, Rommel Developers and Health Assure.
Both Vaidya and Shinde seemed to concur that being lean and mean on the human resources front gives you the sheen. “We‘re both very prudent people. We believe in getting business first, adding people and overheads later. And that‘s the way a.m. will always be run,” pipe up both of them at same time. “The gold will always come before the glitter. Of course, the ambition is to become really big and famous.. .to be known as a true marketing and communications partner, working as an extension of the client‘s marketing arm. The vision is to do work that‘s so strategically and creatively perfect, it produces results beyond a client‘s expectations. We‘d like to grow by growing the brands we handle.”
That’s an Abby winning speech if ever there was one!
Buying family medical insurance online in India has become a common option for individuals who want to secure health coverage for multiple family members under a single policy. However, many buyers are unsure about the exact steps involved in selecting and purchasing the right plan online.
In this guide, you will know the step-by-step process of buying family medical insurance online in India, along with the key factors to review before purchasing a suitable policy.
Step 1: Assess Your Family’s Healthcare Needs
Before buying online health insurance, check the healthcare needs of all family members. Check age, existing illnesses, regular medicines, and the likely need for hospital care later. This helps in selecting a suitable sum insured, policy type, and level of cover. It also reduces the chance of buying a plan that appears suitable but does not meet actual medical needs.
Step 2: Visit the Insurance Company’s Official Website
After understanding the family’s needs, visit the insurer’s official website and read the plan details carefully. Use the official platform to review eligibility, policy wording, waiting periods, cover details, exclusions, and renewal terms.
This step gives a clearer understanding of how the policy works before payment is made. It also helps avoid confusion caused by incomplete summaries on other pages.
Step 3: Compare Available Family Health Insurance Plans
A family medical insurance policy should be compared on factors beyond the premium. Review the sum insured, hospital network, room rent limits, pre- and post-hospitalisation cover, daycare treatment coverage, and waiting periods. It is also important to check treatment sub-limits and specific policy conditions.
Careful comparison helps determine whether a plan provides balanced coverage and whether its terms are suitable for the healthcare needs of the entire family.
Step 4: Choose the Right Policy and Start the Online Purchase
Once the options have been compared, select the policy that best fits the family’s medical needs and budget. Before starting the application, review the covered members, policy term, benefits, and main conditions again. This is an important stage because errors here can lead to the wrong cover amount, an unsuitable variant, or missing details that create problems during policy use.
Step 5: Calculate the Premium Using an Online Calculator
Use the online premium calculator before making the final choice. Enter the correct details, including age, city, number of insured members, and selected cover amount. The result helps in understanding the expected premium and whether the policy fits the annual budget. This step is useful because it allows cost and coverage to be reviewed together, instead of choosing a plan only because the premium looks lower.
Step 6: Fill in Personal and Medical Details
When filling in the proposal form, provide accurate details for each insured member. This includes name, date of birth, contact details, medical history, ongoing treatment, and previous insurance information if required.
Every answer should be complete and truthful. Incorrect or missing details can create difficulty later. Before you submit the form, read every section again and correct any mistakes.
Step 7: Make Payment Through the Secure Payment Gateway
After checking the form, go to the payment page and complete the transaction through the secure payment gateway. Review the premium, policy term, and entered details once more before confirming payment.
After the transaction is completed, save the receipt, reference number, or confirmation message carefully. Keeping this record is useful if you need to track the purchase or follow up on policy issuance later.
Step 8: Download and Keep Your Policy Document Safely
Once the policy is issued, download the policy document, schedule, and any related papers without delay. Read them carefully to confirm member names, policy period, sum insured, and major terms. Save a digital copy in a secure folder and keep a printed copy if needed. Proper record keeping makes future renewals, document checks, and policy servicing easier and more organised when information is required quickly.
Conclusion
Buying health cover online becomes easier when you handle each step with attention. From checking your family’s needs to reading the final document, every stage helps you make an informed choice. A careful approach can reduce mistakes, improve your understanding of policy terms, and help you choose coverage that matches your household’s medical needs, financial capacity, and long-term healthcare planning in a reliable way for your family over the long term.
