QMS study finds DOOH can drive impact in one second

They say it can take just one second to fall in love. Turns out, that might also be enough time to sell something.

New research from QMS and attention measurement company Amplified, unveiled to agencies and selected media at a glamorous sit-down lunch at Sydney's Bennelong Restaurant on Wednesday, found that digital out-of-home advertising can begin driving measurable sales and brand outcomes after around one second of active attention.

It’s a fleeting glance - barely enough time to register a face across a crowded room - but, according to the study, enough for DOOH to start doing some commercial heavy lifting.

The second phase of QMS’ attention research found DOOH required less active attention than traditional digital channels to generate an impact, while also pointing to the role creative and branding play in converting that attention into longer-term brand equity.

The research, Turning Attention into Brand Equity: Digital Out of Home’s Superpower, expands on QMS’ original 2024 study and examined both vehicular and pedestrian audiences across large-format digital billboards and City of Sydney street furniture.

More than 400 hours of footage was analysed across nine days, covering more than 200 campaigns and 12,000 real-time biometric ad views from 300 participants.

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The one-second rule

In advertising, attention has become something of a scarce commodity. The QMS research suggests outdoor may not need much of it to make its mark.

Traditional digital channels typically require around 2.5 seconds of active attention before an impact begins to register. For DOOH, measurable brand equity and sales responses began at around one active second.

The study also recorded an average attention footprint of 24.2 seconds across City of Sydney assets and 13.9 seconds for large-format roadside billboards.

Amplified founder and CEO Professor Karen Nelson-Field said the findings showed the channel's efficiency.

“What stands out in this study is the efficiency of DOOH. In many digital environments, we typically look for around 2.5 seconds of active attention to begin seeing an effect, particularly for memory. Here, DOOH begins to deliver measurable brand and sales outcomes at around one active second. That doesn’t mean attention is easy to earn, but it does show that in the right environment, even a short active glance can do valuable commercial work.

"The study also reinforces that media and creative cannot be separated. DOOH creates the opportunity for attention, but visible distinctiveness is what banks that attention into brand equity. Good creative earns the glance; strong branding ensures the brand gets the credit.

“For advertisers, the implication is clear: the strongest outcomes come when site selection, time-in-view and distinctive creative are planned together.”

Turning a glance into something more

QMS chief strategy officer Christian Zavecz said the second phase was designed to give advertisers a clearer picture of how DOOH performs across different physical environments.

"What we’ve uncovered is that DOOH operates on a completely different attention model. You don't need 3 to 5 seconds of viewing; instead, with DOOH, all that is needed is just one active second on a high-impact DOOH screen, and brands can deliver both immediate action and create long-term brand equity, which is crucial for marketers to build great brands.

"QMS is proud to continue leading the global conversation around attention in OOH and its subsequent media accountability. Our inaugural Attention study established that the channel commands powerful attention, but our latest findings provide granular, real-world detail across both driving and pedestrian journeys to prove DOOH’s true superpower and its ability to play a major part in omnichannel campaign solutions", Zavecz said.

For agencies, the proposition is less romantic and more practical. The research is designed to turn attention from another measurement metric into something planners can use when making decisions around formats, flighting and creative.

OMD chief planning officer Thad King said the findings provided agencies with a stronger understanding of the attention thresholds associated with different outcomes.

"The value of this research isn't simply proving that attention matters. It's helping us understand what kind of attention thresholds drive different outcomes across different environments, which is a meaningful shift for planners. Understanding how active and passive attention work together gives us a stronger foundation for designing more effective media experiences.

“QMS' continued investment in this research moves attention beyond a standalone metric and into a practical planning tool, providing valuable evidence on how creative, context and channel design work together to build memory, create relevance, influence behaviour and improve campaign effectiveness.

“Ultimately, it helps planners make better decisions about format mix, flighting and creative deployment to drive stronger business outcomes for clients," he said.

Because while love at first sight remains up for debate, QMS now has 12,000 ad views, suggesting brands can make something happen in roughly the same amount of time.