Veteran PR Executive Andrew Marshall Reflects on Finance, Politics, and the Future of Communications скачать в хорошем качестве

Veteran PR Executive Andrew Marshall Reflects on Finance, Politics, and the Future of Communications

SARASOTA, FL (JLN) — March 6, 2026 — Veteran public relations executive Andrés Marshall has spent decades navigating the intersection of finance, politics, and communications, from running for Parliament in the 1990s to advising some of Europe’s largest financial institutions. Now, he says the rise of artificial intelligence and the decline of traditional media are transforming the PR industry faster than ever. Marshall, who began his career as a moderate Conservative before later shifting to the Liberal Democrats, said his bid for Parliament in 1997 was motivated by “an obsession” with making a difference during a period he described as the “peak of London and Europe as a capital market.” He lost his seat to the Labour Party that year, the first declared gain on the night Tony Blair swept to power. Before and after politics, Marshall built a career in financial communications. At Hill & Knowlton, he worked with firms such as the Bank of New York and GE Capital, which was then expanding aggressively across Europe. He later spent 14 years at Fishburn Hedges, advising clients including PwC, SWIFT, and major asset managers. “It was very much a premier financial services and professional services firm in London,” he said. As financial PR evolved, Marshall saw new challenges emerge. “The media was beginning to change. Social media was becoming a thing,” he said. He encouraged younger colleagues to better understand complex market topics. “If you meet a senior person at a bank or a broker, you get about three minutes to impress them,” he said. “You’ve got to talk their language.” Marshall joined Cognito Communications during the COVID-19 pandemic, when travel restrictions forced PR firms to rethink client engagement. “We didn’t think anybody would hire us remotely. That proved to be completely wrong,” he said. His work increasingly focused on payments and merchant acquiring — sectors he believes remain underappreciated by mainstream technology media. Artificial intelligence, Marshall said, is now both a “blessing and a curse” for PR professionals. “If the AI can get you to 97%, some people don’t recognize what they’ve still got to do to get to 100%,” he said. He believes AI has great potential in campaign planning and data organization, but warns that writing and editing still demand strong human oversight. “There may be AI editors someday,” he added, “but for now, tightening language and ensuring accuracy are human skills that remain vital.” Marshall also noted shifting trends in New York’s PR landscape. With fewer trade publications and more independent writers on platforms like Substack, he said gaining editorial coverage for financial clients has become harder. “It’s very difficult to get results with editorial media,” he said, adding that the industry is moving toward more integrated and partially paid strategies. Looking ahead, Marshall expects greater specialization and more in-house communications teams at financial institutions. “New York is just about the most expensive place in the world to hire a PR professional with three years’ experience,” he said. Combined with the expansion of AI tools, those trends, he predicted, will further “commoditize” parts of the industry.