The Hartford's New Marketing Campaign Encourages Baby Boomers to ''Prepare to Live'' in Retirement

While pundits debate recent research about whether or not Americans are saving too much for retirement, The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE: HIG), one of the nation’s largest financial services and insurance companies, is launching a new marketing campaign encouraging Baby Boomers to "Prepare to Live” in retirement. Launching in March 2007, and tied to the company’s NCAA® corporate partnership, the campaign features new, 15-second television commercials and print and Internet advertising that focus on confident planning, control and choice in retirement planning. "Times have changed,” said Ann Glover, chief marketing officer for The Hartford. "Workers know they cannot depend on social security benefits, defined pension programs or retiree health benefits to fund their retirement, and are unsure about their ability to pay for rising health care costs in retirement. Through this campaign, we are encouraging Baby Boomers to understand their personal financial picture and goals and take control of their financial future. By seeking education and facts about their own situation, they can prepare with confidence for what should be one of the most rewarding times in their lives – their retirement.” The series of new 15-second T.V. spots feature the iconic red hart Stag, but in a new and modern computer-generated imaging format. In the spots, a silhouetted Stag serves as a trusted guide, finding his way through various terrain and obstacles before returning to his traditional, ceremonious pose on top of the mountain. Set to upbeat, energetic music, the voice over in one spot reminds customers that, "You only retire once, provided you do it right.” In another spot, the voice over asks customers, "One day you’ll greet retirement. How open will your arms be?” The spots were conceived by The Hartford’s Minneapolis-based advertising agency of record, Campbell Mithun, and Eyeball NYC was tapped to create the 3D animation. "The Stag serves as a symbol of stability, strength and wisdom -- features that Baby Boomers look for in a retirement partner. The shorter ads and strong color palette of maroon and yellow are designed to break through the clutter in a world where consumers’ attention spans are declining and media has become pervasive,” Glover added. The new T.V. spots will run during NCAA® basketball and football games and PGA Tour events. In addition, The Hartford will bring back its highly recognized "Trophy” and "Trading Floor” spots to run during NCAA® March Madness®. In "Trophy,” the Stag makes his way though a trophy-lined corridor onto the basketball court where the legendary John Wooden coached teams to an unmatched record of 10 NCAA Division I men’s basketball championships. Throughout the spot, Coach Wooden is overheard offering stirring comments on winning with integrity and the importance of trust. The marketing campaign is part of the company’s concentrated effort to help support financial professionals and their Baby Boomer customers as they approach retirement age. The Hartford partners with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) AgeLab to understand the psychographics and behavioral economics associated with retirement saving, along with other longevity and aging issues facing the world in the 21st century. Together, the two organizations will probe the growing uncertainty surrounding retirement, the changing family and workplace and the role of women in the decision-making process. In addition, this past year, the company launched The Hartford's Retirement Solutions Group, a newly formed team of retirement experts that provides assistance and coaching on financial planning concepts for the company's advisor clients. The Hartford also continues to launch innovative products in this space, such as The Hartford Income Security, a new product to help advisors assist clients in meeting the financial challenges posed by increases in longevity. "Our advertising has helped us significantly increase our visibility as a leading provider of financial services in the eyes of brokers, agents and our target Baby Boomer customers. We want them to know that we have the products they need for retirement. Last year, our mutual fund assets under management grew 33 percent, crossing the $40 billion milestone for the first time and our new variable annuity features, such as Lifetime Income Builder II continue to gain traction,” said Glover. The Hartford will capitalize on the success of last season’s NCAA® March Madness® on Demand, which allows fans to watch live and archived game broadcasts of CBS Sports television coverage of the NCAA Division I men’s basketball championship on their computers for free. The Hartford television advertising will be imbedded in the games’ airings, providing additional viewership of the company’s messages. The Hartford will also run new print advertising that mirrors the look and feel of the new T.V. spots. The print campaign will run in well-known news and thought leader publications, such as National Geographic, The New Yorker, Time, Newsweek, Smithsonian, Money and Fortune, to name a few. The innovative and high impact print campaign includes "butterfly gatefold” advertisements in addition to two-page spreads. Again this year, The Hartford will offer a number of engagement programs to get its employees in the spirit of NCAA® March Madness®. Planned activities include bracket and trivia contests where employees are chosen at random to win small prize packs and free-throw shooting competitions. The Hartford is an Official Corporate Partner of the NCAA and participates in a wide range of joint initiatives, including The Hartford’s Playbook for Life. This national effort helps students succeed off the athletic field by teaching them to begin a discipline of savings and preparing them to face the many personal finance challenges that await them after graduation. More information on the program is available at www.playbook.thehartford.com. About the NCAA The NCAA is a membership-led nonprofit association of colleges and universities committed to supporting academic and athletic opportunities for more than 380,000 student-athletes at more than 1,000 member colleges and universities. Each year, more than 49,000 student-athletes compete in NCAA championships in Divisions I, II and III sports. Visit www.ncaa.org and www.ncaasports.com for more details about the Association, its goals and members and corporate partnerships that help support programs for student-athletes. The NCAA is proud to have the following elite companies as official Corporate Champions—Cingular, Coca-Cola and Pontiac—and the following elite companies as official Corporate Partners—DiGiorno, Enterprise, The Hartford, Lowe’s and State Farm. The Hartford, a Fortune 100 company, is one of the nation's largest financial services and insurance companies, with 2006 revenues of $26.5 billion. The Hartford is a leading provider of investment products, life insurance and group benefits; automobile and homeowners products; and business property and casualty insurance. International operations are located in Japan, Brazil and the United Kingdom. The Hartford's Internet address is www.thehartford.com. HIG-C Some of the statements in this release should be considered forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These include statements about our future results of operations. We caution investors that these forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, and actual results may differ materially. Investors should consider the important risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ. These important risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, those discussed in our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, our 2006 Annual Report on Form 10-K and the other filings we make with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We assume no obligation to update this release, which speaks as of the date issued.