The trick here is to set the image dimensions in points, not pixels, within the VML code.
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"
xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml"
xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office">
<head>
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
<o:AllowPNG/>
<o:PixelsPerInch>96</o:PixelsPerInch>
</o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
</xml><![endif]-->
</head>
<table width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0" bgcolor="#ffffff">
<tr>
<td background="hero_bg.png" bgcolor="#317fe2" width="600" height="300" valign="top">
<!--[if gte mso 9]>
<v:rect xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" fill="true" stroke="false" style="width:450pt;height:225pt;">
<v:fill type="tile" src="hero_bg.png" color="#317fe2" />
<v:textbox inset="0,0,0,0">
<![endif]-->
<div>
<table width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0">
<tr>
<td class="mHide" width="35"> </td>
<td class="headline" valign="top" style="-moz-hyphens:auto;-webkit-hyphens:auto;Margin:0;color:#000000;font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, Verdana, Segoe, 'Segoe UI','Lucida Grande', Arial, sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-weight:400;hyphens:auto;mso-line-height:exactly; line-height:1.2;text-align:left;padding:90px 120px 15px 0;">
<h1 style="Margin:0;color:#ffffff;font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, Verdana, Segoe, 'Segoe UI','Lucida Grande', Arial, sans-serif;font-size:23px;font-weight:bold;mso-line-height:exactly; line-height:1.2;padding:0;text-align:left;-moz-hyphens:auto;-webkit-hyphens:auto;hyphens:auto;word-wrap: normal;">EXECUTIVE SESSION HEADLINE</h1>
<h2 style="Margin:0;color:#ffffff;font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, Verdana, Segoe, 'Segoe UI','Lucida Grande', Arial, sans-serif;font-size:22px;font-weight:normal;mso-line-height:exactly; line-height:1.2;padding:0;text-align:left;-moz-hyphens:auto;-webkit-hyphens:auto;hyphens:auto;word-wrap: normal;">
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh
</h2>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="mHide" width="35"> </td>
<td valign="top" class="mPadL20" style="padding: 5px 25px 10px 0;">
<table align="left" class="transparent">
<tr>
<td bgcolor="#ffffff" style="padding: 3px 15px 2px 15px;">
<a href="http://google.com" style="background-color:#ffffff;color:#317fe2;display:block;font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, Verdana, Segoe, 'Segoe UI','Lucida Grande', Arial, sans-serif;font-size: 15px;font-weight:bold;height:28px;mso-line-height:exactly; line-height:28px;text-decoration:none;text-transform:uppercase;text-align:center;">LEARN MORE
</a>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
</div>
<!--[if gte mso 9]>
</v:textbox>
</v:rect>
<![endif]-->
</td>
</tr>
</table>
xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml"
xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office">
<head>
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
<o:AllowPNG/>
<o:PixelsPerInch>96</o:PixelsPerInch>
</o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
</xml><![endif]-->
</head>
<table width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0" bgcolor="#ffffff">
<tr>
<td background="hero_bg.png" bgcolor="#317fe2" width="600" height="300" valign="top">
<!--[if gte mso 9]>
<v:rect xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" fill="true" stroke="false" style="width:450pt;height:225pt;">
<v:fill type="tile" src="hero_bg.png" color="#317fe2" />
<v:textbox inset="0,0,0,0">
<![endif]-->
<div>
<table width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0">
<tr>
<td class="mHide" width="35"> </td>
<td class="headline" valign="top" style="-moz-hyphens:auto;-webkit-hyphens:auto;Margin:0;color:#000000;font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, Verdana, Segoe, 'Segoe UI','Lucida Grande', Arial, sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-weight:400;hyphens:auto;mso-line-height:exactly; line-height:1.2;text-align:left;padding:90px 120px 15px 0;">
<h1 style="Margin:0;color:#ffffff;font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, Verdana, Segoe, 'Segoe UI','Lucida Grande', Arial, sans-serif;font-size:23px;font-weight:bold;mso-line-height:exactly; line-height:1.2;padding:0;text-align:left;-moz-hyphens:auto;-webkit-hyphens:auto;hyphens:auto;word-wrap: normal;">EXECUTIVE SESSION HEADLINE</h1>
<h2 style="Margin:0;color:#ffffff;font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, Verdana, Segoe, 'Segoe UI','Lucida Grande', Arial, sans-serif;font-size:22px;font-weight:normal;mso-line-height:exactly; line-height:1.2;padding:0;text-align:left;-moz-hyphens:auto;-webkit-hyphens:auto;hyphens:auto;word-wrap: normal;">
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh
</h2>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="mHide" width="35"> </td>
<td valign="top" class="mPadL20" style="padding: 5px 25px 10px 0;">
<table align="left" class="transparent">
<tr>
<td bgcolor="#ffffff" style="padding: 3px 15px 2px 15px;">
<a href="http://google.com" style="background-color:#ffffff;color:#317fe2;display:block;font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, Verdana, Segoe, 'Segoe UI','Lucida Grande', Arial, sans-serif;font-size: 15px;font-weight:bold;height:28px;mso-line-height:exactly; line-height:28px;text-decoration:none;text-transform:uppercase;text-align:center;">LEARN MORE
</a>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
</div>
<!--[if gte mso 9]>
</v:textbox>
</v:rect>
<![endif]-->
</td>
</tr>
</table>