Postmaster General David Steiner warned that USPS could reach a financial cliff as soon as fall 2026. As a response, he floated reducing the postal agency’s mandate to deliver mail six days per week or raising stamp prices to 90 to 95 cents. Stamps currently are 78 cents, having been increased six times since 2021.  “If you want the same number of delivery days and post offices, we can do that, but someone has to pay for it. If you want to have a discussion about reducing services, we can do that,” Steiner said. “But there's one thing we can't do, and that is the status quo, and we don't have a lot of time.” David Marroni, a senior official at the Government Accountability Office, testified that any fix to the USPS’ finances will likely require congressional action, calling the postal agency’s current business model "unsustainable."

Catalogs have changed. For the better. They’re no longer intended to be your entire store in the mail. They’re not just a transactional tool anymore. They’re more than that. Consumers expect them to be more than that. Today, catalogs should do three things: disrupt, delight and drive people to action. This new blog series we’re calling “Disruptive Catalogs” focuses on the first of these three points. We’ll feature a series of articles that explain how your catalog can be disruptive in the mail, and in the hands of your customers. I’ll begin the conversation with some thoughts on how to properly and effectively showcase your brand on the pages of your catalog. Because as we know, everything starts and ends there—with your unique story. The thing that makes you special. https://www.jschmid.com/blog/disruptive-catalogs-part-1/

A recent survey of marketing leaders conducted by Iridio found that economic volatility is their top concern, leading to strategic budget shifts and an increased focus on high-value activities like personalization. Iridio’s 2026 Marketing Predictions report also found that while marketers are prioritizing investments in AI to enhance customer experience, they remain highly aware of the technology's potential to erode consumer trust. Key takeaways of the report include: Volatility forces AI investment: Economic volatility is the primary cause of uncertainty (56%), followed by AI disruption (32%). This concern, coupled with expected consumer attitudes like economic distress (42%) and demand for lower prices (32%), influences strategic planning and makes AI/machine learning the top technology investment priority (55% in their top three) for driving efficiency. AI uses: AI investment is overwhelmingly prioritized for high-value functions, including Personalization/Customer Experience (78%) and Data Analysis/Predictive Analytics (76%). Trust paradox: While relying on AI, marketers view replacing human interaction with AI (28%) and AI-generated deception (25%) as the biggest threats to consumer trust. Budget shifts to digital: Budgets are shifting toward high-impact digital tactics, including Online Video (59%), Websites (57%), and Paid Social Media (56%).