Daily August 26

As the delta variant threatens society’s soon-promised return to normalcy, brands are once again ramping up campaign efforts to get Americans vaccinated against COVID-19. Among those are Axe body spray, Krispy Kreme doughnuts and Expedia Group travel brands. Read more below.

• As COVID-19 cases rise around the new delta variant, brands recommit to campaigns pushing people to get vaccinated in hopes to return to normal.
• In this week’s Digiday+ Media Briefing, senior reporter Kayleigh Barber reports on how publishers are beginning to mine their blockchain experiments, like NFTs, for ad sales opportunities.
• A new report suggests U.S. media ad spend registered a 3 percent gain over first half 2019 numbers as well.
• The landscape of live events has been forever changed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
• A significant challenge for Twitch as it tightens its moderation policies is content like hot tub streams, which dance on the edge of acceptability.
• There’s no playbook for what hybrid-working model works best. We spoke to Microsoft about what methods have worked for the company so far.
• With another e-commerce-powered holiday season coming, publishers’ gift guides are more important than ever. And brands still have next to no control over them.