Name: Julian Rea
Job title & company: Managing Director, Liminal
Finalist: PR Agency of the Year
Social: LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/julianrea/
How does it feel to be shortlisted for the 2025 Financial Promoter Awards?
I’m super excited!! And I’m so proud of the team, and what we’ve built together these last few years. I’m really happy to see their hard work and commitment being recognised.
What does this recognition mean to you, your team, and your organisation?
It’s a huge moment, really, as it feels like a major testament to everything we’ve been quietly working away on for a few years now, so this recognition, and validation, really means a lot.
What part of your work are you most proud of?
I’m really proud of the work we do for clients who maybe aren’t as big, or well known; or have less exciting stories to tell, but still deserve great coverage and a strong profile.
The ones we have to fight for, basically. It’s not easy, but it’s really worth it when we see the results come through.
What was the biggest challenge you faced, and how did you overcome it?
It’s never been harder to cut through to journalists with your story: there are ever fewer of them, and ever more of us, and the daily avalanche of pitches they face is a real struggle.
We do our best to make sure we’re always coming to them with smart, relevant ideas, and this helps us build mutually beneficial relationships over time.
How do you see marketing and communications evolving in financial services over the next few years?
I’m feeling optimistic! I think there are a few key drivers that mean marketing & comms will rise up the Board agenda at financial services firms in the coming years. AI is obviously a big one, and particularly the role trade press coverage plays in informing AI search results.
Robot readers are the new, incredibly influential, stakeholder group we’re all looking at, though I hope that their “eyeballs” will translate into some form of commercial gain that will help publications continue to fund high quality journalism, which would be good news for all of us. Alongside this is the increased focus on retail investors – in the UK but also in Europe more broadly.
As we look to turn savers into investors, the need for firms that have not previously played in this space to communicate differently is going to be significant. This is especially true for private markets managers, who are welcoming the emerging “retailisation” of their asset class, but face some likely communication challenges of their own in the years ahead, including private credit busts, private equity underperformance, and remaining competitive in a David-and-Goliath market.
Finally, the rapidly changing, and increasingly unstable nature of the world today, means that firms will need to have high quality, strategic and responsive comms teams at their disposal if they want to avoid looking like they’re on the back foot.
If you could give one piece of advice to others entering these awards in the future, what would it be?
Do it! We didn’t do it last year and I wish we did. If nothing else, it’s a great reminder of everything you’ve achieved over the preceding year, and with every entry you learn something to help you improve the next one.
Are you excited for the gala in November? What are you most looking forward to?
Bigtime! We are really excited! It was such a fun, positive and inspiring event last year, and this year looks set to be even bigger and better!
How do you and your team celebrate success?
We love to go out for lunch together! In London we’re totally spoilt for choice when it comes to great restaurants, and we’re real foodies, so we never miss the chance to celebrate over a good meal.
Are you a finalist and would like to get involved?
Please email Megan McCabe, Marketing Manager, at megan.mccabe@rhoticmedia.com.