Research Company 4C Dives Deeper Into TV Data

Data science company 4C Insights launched a new product that adds TV viewing data to the information about consumers it gleans from social media to help advertisers engage their most valuable consumers.

4C TV is a suite of tools for planning, buying and measuring ad campaigns based on viewer affinity at a time when the media landscape is growing more complex and marketers are seeing their resources squeezed.

“In the old days, marketers got to choose where and when their messages were seen but today’s consumers get to choose with their voice commands, finger taps, mouse clicks, and remote pushes,” said Lance Neuhauser, 4C CEO. “Despite these trends, most marketing technology is still oriented around targeting and retargeting when it should be built to pull consumers in with pre-targeting. 4C is uniquely positioned with the data sets, science, and workflow to help marketers operate in today’s multi-screen world with 4C TV allowing brands to effectively draw in their audiences.”

4C works with 70 of the 200 largest global advertisers, and for them, TV remains an important marketing tool. That led 4C to add more TV data to what it provides to its clients.

“They have to start moving beyond reach and frequency. They have to start moving beyond demographic segmentation. They have to move into an understanding of who and what is connected to a consumer, what they’re influenced by and ultimately what will drive affinity, because affinity is both a measurement of someone’s likelihood to engage with a brand and change brand preference and it is a predictor of future markets share growth,” Neuhauser said.

“Finally marketers, are able to see exactly who their audience is, what has resonated and garnered response in the past, who else and what else is influencing their audience and exactly what messages will be deemed timely and relevant,” he said. “Putting that in their hands and the ability to execute—not just see insights—but the combination of the two, we think is much more advanced than anything that’s on the market today.”

The 4C TV suite includes six products:

  • 4C TV Ads: A self-service programmatic TV buying platform with intelligent, predictive capabilities and robust campaign workflow.
  • 4C TV Analytics: A comprehensive measurement solution built on Teletrax to analyze reach, protect content and drive monetization.
  • 4C TV Audiences: Targeting segments that leverage affinity signals by fusing historical TV airings, viewership, and social engagement for brands and their competitors.
  • 4C TV Lift: An analysis framework to understand the impact of TV marketing by measuring key performance indicators at the audience and creative level.
  • 4C TV Planner: An advanced TV tool that enables media planners and buyers to use data-driven strategies for audience buying and linear schedule optimization.
  • 4C TV Sync: A real-time marketing solution for combatting second-screen distraction by pairing digital ads with live TV moments and commercials.

4C clients will be able to access 4C TV on the same platform as its social data and with a single sign on. But it is a separate product with a separate price tag.

“It does cost more,” said Neuhauser. “But we’re adding more value and it is priced very economically.”

Jon Lafayette

Jon has been business editor of Broadcasting+Cable since 2010. He focuses on revenue-generating activities, including advertising and distribution, as well as executive intrigue and merger and acquisition activity. Just about any story is fair game, if a dollar sign can make its way into the article. Before B+C, Jon covered the industry for TVWeek, Cable World, Electronic Media, Advertising Age and The New York Post. A native New Yorker, Jon is hiding in plain sight in the suburbs of Chicago.