4c Insights

4C Insights, founded in 2011, operated as a data science and marketing technology company, carving a niche in providing audience intelligence and media activation across a fragmented digital landscape. The company was the brainchild of Dr. Alok Choudhary, a professor at Northwestern University with extensive research in data science, AI, and supercomputing, who served as Chairman and Chief Scientist. His academic and research background in scalable data mining and machine learning formed the technological bedrock of the company. Lance Neuhauser, who previously co-founded Resolution Media, joined as a co-founder and served as CEO, leading the company's strategic growth and market presence.

The firm's core business centered on a self-service intelligence platform called Scope, a Closed Ecosystems Platform (CEP) that empowered marketers to achieve business outcomes across various channels. 4C's clients were primarily brands, advertising agencies, and media companies. Its business model was based on a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) flat-fee structure, providing access to its platform for a license fee rather than taking a percentage of media spend. This platform enabled clients to manage and unify paid campaigns and performance data from social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn, alongside linear and connected television. With a reported $2 billion in annualized ad spend running through its system, 4C specialized in bridging the gap between television, streaming video, social media, and digital commerce.

The Scope platform allowed marketers to gain insights into their target consumers and activate advertising campaigns across multiple screens. One of its key features was providing analytics for TV-synced ads, enabling activation across display, search, social, and video based on television events. 4C also operated Teletrax, a global TV monitoring network, which bolstered its analytics capabilities. The company's technology, rooted in decades of computational science research, provided solutions for cross-screen media convergence. After a period of growth, including several acquisitions of its own, 4C was acquired by Mediaocean in July 2020 to create a more comprehensive system for omnichannel advertising.

Keywords: data science, marketing technology, ad tech, social media advertising, cross-channel video, omnichannel advertising, audience intelligence, media activation, TV analytics, Scope CEP, Lance Neuhauser, Alok Choudhary, media buying platform, converged media, social advertising analytics, TV synced ads, consumer insights, marketing intelligence, media planning, campaign management