By Mel Duffy – Head of Product and Poly Strategy. As originally published in Mi3.
Attention, once scarce, is now drowning in its own abundance. Consumers flit, swipe and scroll through a blizzard of stimuli, leaving brands fighting not just to be noticed, but to be remembered. Salvation lies in carefully engineered “unmissable moments”, where out-of-home advertising turns physical presence, place and timing into a durable competitive edge.
Marketers don’t need another reminder that attention is scarce; they’re living it. What has changed is the velocity of the problem. Attention isn’t just harder to earn; it is being eroded by the sheer volume of stimuli competing for it.
People now switch tasks in under a minute, check their phones more than 140 times a day, and make tens of thousands of micro decisions while being exposed to thousands of advertising messages. The modern consumer isn’t simply distracted; they’re saturated.
In a global study by Ocean Outdoor, 75 per cent of marketers cited attention as the single biggest issue facing the industry. And while the research was conducted internationally, the sentiment is echoed loudly by senior marketers in Australia. Winning attention remains mission-critical, but it is no longer the only pressure they are facing.
Our conversations with senior marketing leaders from Volvo, Coopers, Specsavers, Grant Thornton and HBO Max reveal a consistent theme. Cutting through noise, navigating fragmentation, reducing wastage and staying distinctive dominate their day-to-day reality.
According to Alessia Taddei from Pepsico ANZ Food, “We’re competing with all the content that is out there. Remaining distinctive is something we’re challenged by every day.”
Julie Hutchinson from Volvo Cars was more direct, “For me, it’s about reaching a lot of people quickly and having an impact with a message.”
And Shaun Briggs at Specsavers said, “There are so many channels now and I think the challenge is identifying where there is a genuine opportunity for human attention in that channel.”
These aren’t isolated frustrations. They reflect the lived reality of marketers operating in a media ecosystem that is noisier, more fragmented and more complex than ever, all while being asked to deliver more with less.
Out of Home works differently
Media is under pressure as people navigate endless noise, choice and constant decision-making. Human attention has become more selective and harder to earn than ever.
But the physical world doesn’t behave like that.
Out of Home operates in a different attention system, one grounded in presence, movement and place. It doesn’t rely on someone opting in or tuning out. It shows up in the real world, in moments when people are naturally more open, more aware and more connected to what is around them.
It is one of the few channels where attention is built into the medium, not borrowed from content.
And this is where, in my world, product and strategy intersect. When you spend your days planning OOH, you see attention differently. It’s not just a metric; it’s a moment. It’s something you can shape, design and elevate. It’s the difference between being seen and being unmissable.
Unmissable moments command attention
Marketers need the right moments of attention. Moments that are seen, felt and remembered. Moments that cut through noise, reduce wastage and create genuine impact.
Some moments are about pure impact, the kind that shifts perception through scale, timing and presence. For Coopers Brewery, the Bolte Bridge takeover wasn’t just a placement, it was a statement. The brand seized a uniquely Victorian cultural window with five bold consecutive executions across Citylink. According to National Marketing Manager Kate Dowd: “This was the most impactful media buy we have ever done.” The same principle underpins city-spanning commuter connections across Sydney Metro and Melbourne Metro Tunnel, and the way we have productised Australia’s iconic summer destinations through the Beaches network. They are moments designed to dominate space and memory.
And when you think about impact at that scale, it naturally extends to the journeys people make. Melbourne becomes a global stage from September to March with AFL finals, Spring Racing, the Australian Open and Formula 1, and we have the assets to follow fans, commuters and visitors across the entire city. These moments turn movement into a strategic advantage.
Outstanding results
From there, the opportunity becomes even more targeted. Some moments are designed to reach specific audiences at scale, whether it is speaking to regional Australians, younger audiences through our study network, or ASX Top 200 executives. When Grant Thornton ran a campaign across oOh!’s purpose-built B2B network in airports, streets and offices, the results were outstanding. Brand awareness lifted by more than 20 points. Consideration moved from well behind larger competitors to within a single point. The campaign delivered a return on investment of 24 times. These moments reduce wastage and increase relevance. They’re planned, not accidental.
And finally, there are moments driven by creativity, the ones on every marketer’s bucket list. Landmark locations like the Glebe Island silos or Australia’s largest 3D anamorphic network turn advertising into content people actively notice, and audiences love to amplify them.
Bold, distinctive OOH doesn’t just capture attention; it creates something bigger. It builds brand fame. It generates earned media and talkability. It creates memorable experiences that people notice, remember and share. It sparks moments of wonder or inspiration. And it builds meaningful, purposeful connections.
OOH doesn’t interrupt content; it becomes the content. And in a channel grounded in real-world presence, accountability comes from what people actually see.
At oOh!, we don’t believe attention should be left to chance. It should be designed and intentionally included in media planning.
If attention is the battleground, unmissable moments are how brands win it. The opportunity for 2026 is deciding which moments your brand will own. Because if OOH is the channel, oOh! is the place that makes those moments matter.
