• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, June 6, 2016

Universal ID -- a better iteration of email when it comes to one’s online identity -- is coming.

Email, through using cookies, just isn’t enough for future email marketers in a cross-screen world, especially with mobile. People can use different emails -- and change them -- further complicating email marketing campaigns. A Universal ID can offer up deeper understanding of potential consumer needs.

So who is leading this right now, the early stages of Universal ID?

Speaking at MediaPost’s Email Summit Insider, Phil Davis, chief business officer of TowerData, says the hospitality and transportation industries are doing a good job because of their loyalty programs.

“The airlines, the hotels. Part of this is because they were the first to brace loyalty programs. They have more data; it’s easier to connect... You are going to see it with restaurants.”

Largely C-suite executives are pushing for this, says Jordan Finger, director of revenue of Freshly.com. “We need to identify our prospective users, our current users, our past customers. If we don’t have all our data managed, don’t have it optimized and are not doing data intelligence, then we are going to be dead in the water.”

Jordan Cohen, chief marketing officer of Fluent, says retail shoe store/online company, Shoe Carnival is using a form of Universal ID. “They are doing a killer job in connecting the dots; online, offline and POS [Point of Sale].”