Wausau Refocuses Marketing Plan Toward Midsize to Large Employers.

Wausau Insurance Cos. is dropping an Internet-based small-business insurance marketing effort as part of a realignment strategy to focus on what it considers its core market--midsize to large employers.

Jim McIntyre, president and chief operating officer, said Wausau, which began distributing small-business insurance via the Internet more than 18 months ago, found that small-business owners have "been slow to embrace the Internet for their insurance needs.

"Our financial results for our Internet and certain affinity group programs have been lagging behind our core business operations," McIntyre said. "We will narrow our focus to those markets where we can provide the most value to our customers."

The company isn't providing specific figures on the small-business Internet effort, said Wausau spokesman Brad Zweck, adding that the business generated by that effort amounted to less than 1% of the company's total sales.

"The thing that was new here was that we were targeting small businesses via the Internet," Zweck said.

While it will phase out its Internet small-business marketing efforts, Wausau will "continue to aggressively market insurance" to members of certain affinity groups, such as Wisconsin school districts, towns and municipalities, McIntyre said. At the same time, the company will reduce business with other affinity groups and associations that have been unprofitable.

The phase-out will eliminate about 120 jobs at the property/casualty company's Wausau, Wis., headquarters, McIntyre said.

Liberty Mutual Group bought Employers Insurance of Wausau and its subsidiary companies from Nationwide Insurance Group in 1998. The transaction combined two providers of workers' compensation products in 22 states.