Experts say the campaign fundraising investigation could fray a fragile bipartisan and cross-industry coalition that’s pushing financial relief legislation for the Postal Service.
The fog hangs especially heavy over attempts to forecast what the commercial printing industry will see in terms of economic, regulatory, legislative, and postal trends in 2021. This time around, past isn’t prologue: it’s mostly an index of what not to count on as our industry tries to come back as nearly as it can to the normalcy of pre-pandemic days.
COVID-19 and, to a different extent, the 2020 presidential and congressional elections were the main developments that set the industry on the new path it will follow in 2021 and beyond.
Marcia Kinter, VP of government and regulatory affairs, PRINTING United Alliance, says she expects to see “COVID, COVID, everything COVID” keynoting efforts to update workplace safety rules in the new administration’s first 100 days.
Quad s digital press in Pewaukee, Wis., direct mail manufacturing facility.
It’s the proverbial elephant in the room: COVID-19. The current pandemic which, rather than showing signs of loosening its grip, is ramping back up at an alarming pace, despite glimmers of a vaccine on the horizon has dominated the thoughts, businesses, practices, and lives of everyone worldwide. COVID fatigue is real, but we can’t overlook the impact it has had on the printing industry, or how it will continue to influence the markets going forward into 2021.
Direct marketing, in particular, has seen some extreme ups and downs. Like most industries back in March when the lockdowns first started, many businesses halted all marketing campaigns across the board. But, as the year continued to move forward, those same businesses had to get creative to connect with consumers of all ages and demographics, and direct mail has been a big part of the solution.