QMS has delivered one of its strongest proofs, yet that dynamic digital out-of-home isn’t just eye-catching – it actually rewires memory.
The outdoor media company has released the results of a new neuroscience study showing its dynamic, editorial-aligned content format drove a 20% uplift in long-term memory encoding, alongside +11% higher engagement and +21% stronger emotional intensity, following a live campaign with GIO and The Sydney Morning Herald during the British & Irish Lions rugby tour
The campaign ran across QMS’s City of Sydney digital street furniture network, pairing GIO brand creative with real-time SMH rugby editorial – a contextual advertising model that QMS is now positioning as a cornerstone of its next phase of growth.
And the timing is deliberate.
The study lands just as QMS prepares to roll out its 100% digital Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Games Network, a national footprint designed to deliver live news, sport and branded content to up to 80% of metropolitan Australians
A commercial weapon
At the centre of the study is a simple but powerful shift: ads perform better when they behave like content.
Rather than running GIO Creative in isolation, QMS placed it adjacent to GIO-branded, real-time SMH rugby coverage, effectively embedding the insurer within the live news cycle.
The result was a material lift against Neuro-Insight’s global benchmarks.
The study found the format delivered “significantly greater effectiveness, with a 20% greater long-term memory encoding response” than benchmark DOOH advertising, alongside higher engagement (+11%) and emotional intensity (+21%)
For QMS, that’s not just a performance stat – it’s a product strategy.
QMS Chief Strategy Officer Christian Zavecz said the findings validate the company’s bet on editorial-led outdoor environments.
“Our dynamic content Neuro-Insight study clearly highlights the fact that when brands align themselves within culturally relevant moments and quality editorial, the impact is significant,” Zavecz said.
“We saw this to great success with our Paris 2024 Olympics coverage for sponsors’ brands – and now with the combination of GIO’s message with the trusted sports coverage from the SMH, it’s driven some very impressive results.
“Our City of Sydney network is designed for this kind of dynamic storytelling, and these results show how advertisers can use data, content and environment together to drive genuine attention and long-term memory recollection.”
A warm-up for Milano Cortina 2026
The timing of the study is no accident.
QMS is weeks away from launching its Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Games Network, which will run across its national large-format billboards, City of Sydney street furniture, The Convenience Network, Canberra Airport and Gold Coast assets
The fully digital network will deliver real-time Winter Olympics and Paralympics content, creating a national, always-on editorial layer that brands can buy into.
If the GIO-SMH rugby campaign is the prototype, Milano Cortina is the scaled-up version – live sport, trusted publishing and dynamic creative fused into a single DOOH ecosystem.
With MOVE forecasting the network will reach 80% of metro Australians, QMS is pitching it as one of the largest premium, data-driven outdoor environments ever built in this market
GIO gets a signal for the future
For GIO, the campaign wasn’t just a sponsorship – it was a live test of how the brand can behave in high-velocity cultural moments.
GIO marketing manager Mark Condon said the results validated the strategy.
“This was a smart way for us to connect GIO with culturally relevant moments, and the response proved just how effective that approach can be,” Condon said.
“It’s a great signal for how we activate the brand moving forward.”
Why agencies should be paying attention
Neuro-Insight’s data gives QMS something most outdoor companies struggle to produce: hard proof that context drives cognition.
Neuro-Insight Chief Commercial Officer Peter Pynta said the format delivered far more than attention.
“These results clearly demonstrate the power of contextual alignment,” Pynta said.
“This content and advertising ecosystem not only boosts engagement and emotional intensity but also enhances long-term memory encoding, driving stronger brand impact than standalone ads. For brands in highly competitive categories, this approach delivers meaningful differentiation.”