• by Wayne Friedman , July 30, 2014

ABC says it will use social data to customize and evaluate big marketing deals in an exclusive arrangement with social media company 4C Insights.

The network says this is part of an expanded relationship with 4C Insights, coming after a number of “successful live event proof-of-concept tests” on ABC over the past eight months.

ABC says there was a “five to 15 times increase in social affinity for brands integrated into telecasts for the three-day period following the event, compared to the three days prior.”

ABC and 4C will develop syndicated tools to bridge viewers’ social activity with TV advertising offerings; 4C has direct access to billions of social media connections of Twitter and Facebook.

Adam Gerber, vice president of sales development and marketing for ABC, stated: “We are using 4C to design better sponsorship opportunities and showcase value delivered through increased social affinity.  It’s a big win for ABC and for our clients.”

Social media company 4C recently worked with Facebook to release a study to identify affinity-based connections between 200 brands and over 800 programs.

A number of TV networks have been partnering with social media companies, including Twitter and others, in looking into how engagement of advertising brands and messages can be improved by combining social media and on-air TV advertising viewing exposures .