Media Contacts:

NEW YORK

Jo Ann Tizzano
AXA Equitable
212-314-2979
joann.m.tizzano@axa-equitable.com

Culture And Diverse Services Wins The AXA Equitable Account For Merkley+Partners

New York, NY - Merkley+Partners has been awarded the AXA Equitable account in a hotly contested pitch. The pitch was managed by Roth Associates. The announcement was made jointly by Barbara Goodstein, Executive Vice President of Marketing and Product Development for AXA Equitable, and Alex Gellert, CEO of Merkley+Partners.

AXA Equitable, one of the most respected names in the financial services industry, has been providing millions of customers with life insurance, annuities, retirement planning and other

needs-based financial services since the start of the company in 1859 as The Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States.

"We recently re-branded our U.S. company AXA Equitable because our research indicated that there is still tremendous brand value in the Equitable name," said Ms. Goodstein. "Merkley + Partners presented a strategic and creative recommendation designed to help bring the new AXA Equitable name to the forefront of the industry, which we feel will help strengthen our brand and promote our leadership in product innovation."

"We looked at proposals from a number of agencies, and in addition to their outstanding creative, it was the culture and size of Merkley + Partners, as well as their diverse, integrated services that really made them the clear choice," Ms. Goodstein continued. "And, they understand that we don’t have the advertising budget of a large consumer packaged goods company, and showed us several tools that will help us to leverage a smaller budget and still achieve our objectives."

Mr. Gellert added, "AXA Equitable is one of the nation’s preeminent financial services companies, and Merkley +Partners is excited about the opportunity to enhance consumer awareness of their unique capabilities to help people make smart financial decisions throughout their lives."

Merkley+Partners (www.merkleyandpartners.com) is a leading full-service advertising agency. Founded in 1993, M+P has more than a half-billion dollars in billings and 255 employees headquartered in New York City. M+P is a unit of Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE: OMC).

AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company (NY, NY) is the principal life insurance subsidiary of AXA Financial, Inc., providing life insurance, annuities, retirement planning and other needs-based products and services for the financial services market. AXA Financial is one of the premier U.S. organizations providing financial protection and wealth management, and had approximately $574.8 billion in assets under management as of June 30, 2005. AXA Financial is a member of the global AXA Group, which had $1.1 trillion in assets under management as of June 30, 2005.

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