04 Jun Identity Resolution: What It Is, How It Works, and Why It’s Central to Data-Driven Strategies
Identity resolution is the process that connects different identifiers referring to the same person or decision-making unit, building a unified, coherent, and actionable view of the customer across touchpoints, devices, and different moments of the customer journey.
In an increasingly fragmented digital ecosystem — spanning websites, apps, CRMs, media platforms, marketplaces, CTV, and AI-driven environments — the real challenge for brands is not collecting more data, but understanding which signals truly belong to the same person and how to turn them into actionable insights for marketing, media, and customer experience.
This is precisely where identity resolution stops being a purely technical topic and becomes a strategic lever. Today it represents one of the pillars of personalisation, audience activation, customer intelligence, and advanced measurement.
What Is Identity Resolution
Simply put, identity resolution reconciles fragmented data into a unified profile. The system links together emails, logins, customer IDs, devices, CRM data, behavioural signals, and navigation events, with the goal of recognising the user in a persistent and coherent way throughout the entire funnel. This means understanding whether a user is already a customer, whether they are returning to the site, whether they are showing purchase intent signals, or whether they belong to a low-value segment.
The centrality of identity resolution is growing for three main reasons:
- Fragmented customer journeys: interactions now take place across different platforms, devices, and moments. A user may see a campaign on CTV, browse on mobile, return on desktop, and convert days or weeks later. Without an identity reconciliation system, every interaction risks being treated as separate.
- Evolving data landscape: the progressive decline in third-party cookie effectiveness is pushing brands to leverage first-party data, consent, and more reliable and persistent recognition systems.
- The need to activate relevant experiences in real time: brands can no longer afford duplicated audiences, inconsistent segments, or data locked in non-communicating silos.
How Identity Resolution Works
Identity resolution starts by collecting signals from different sources: CRM, analytics, media platforms, transactional data, digital events, and browsing behaviour. These signals are compared through models that try to determine when multiple identifiers belong to the same person.
The three main approaches used in identity resolution systems are:
- Deterministic matching: links users through strong, unique identifiers such as authenticated email, login, or customer ID. The main advantage is precision, but coverage is limited because not all users log in or fill out forms during every interaction.
- Probabilistic matching: extends coverage by assessing the likelihood that multiple signals belong to the same identity. The system analyses recurring patterns related to devices, geography, frequency, browsing behaviour, and cross-device relationships.
- Hybrid approach: the most advanced systems combine deterministic and probabilistic matching. The former builds the most reliable core of identity, while the latter extends and enriches the understanding of the profile.
The end result is a persistent and actionable identity graph, usable for segmentation, personalisation, audience activation, and measurement.
Why Identity Resolution Matters More in the AI Era
The evolution of AI engines and LLMs is profoundly changing the quality of traffic and measurement.
A growing share of sessions now arrive from AI-driven environments without complete information about their origin. Much of this traffic is classified as “direct” or context-free.
In this scenario, the ability to recognise users regardless of the technical source becomes even more strategic.
Identity resolution enables brands to:
- Improve recognition of returning users
- Rebuild cross-device continuity
- Contextualise anonymous traffic
- Turn unknown users into qualified prospects
What matters is no longer just knowing where a user comes from, but understanding who they are and what intent they are showing.
The Newco’s Approach to Identity Resolution
For The Newco, identity resolution is not a simple technology layer, but a framework that connects recognition, insight, activation, and measurement across all digital touchpoints.
The goal is not only to identify users, but to build persistent and actionable profiles capable of improving personalisation, audience activation, and media optimisation.
On this foundation, several key pillars define The Newco’s approach:
- Persistent identity and cross-device recognition: one of the central elements of The Newco’s approach is the ability to build an identity that persists over time. Through the TNC Engine, millions of signals are collected and connected to create a coherent, continuous view of the user even across different browsing sessions, visits, and devices. This makes it possible to overcome one of the main limitations of traditional analytics, which are often fragmented across mobile, desktop, app, and non-authenticated environments.
- Moving beyond static taxonomies: AI analyses content, URLs, and behaviours to identify topics, interests, and intent without relying solely on predefined categories. Segmentation is therefore not based exclusively on static categories, but on dynamic combinations of signals and behaviours that provide a clearer reading of user context and intent.
- User profile enrichment: first-party data, behavioural signals, and external data are integrated to distinguish high-propensity prospects, active customers, dormant users, and low-value clusters. This enables the construction of more precise audiences and improves the quality of media activations and CRM strategies.
- Personalisation and media activation: profiles are used to build contextual journeys, proprietary audiences, and more precise cross-platform activations. The objective is to adapt messages, content, and touchpoints based on user behaviour and funnel stage.
- Advanced measurement: the framework improves attribution, cross-device analysis, and the evaluation of the real contribution of media touchpoints. Working with a persistent identity makes it possible to build more reliable measurement models compared to traditional fragmented or last-click approaches.
One of the most relevant aspects of The Newco’s approach is the ability to work with non-logged-in users, transforming anonymous traffic into actionable insights and audiences. This is particularly significant in a context where a growing share of traffic comes from AI-driven environments and many sessions are classified as direct or context-free. In these scenarios, the ability to recognise the user regardless of the technical source is fundamental to maintaining continuity in measurement and customer journey personalisation.
When Identity Resolution Doesn’t Work
An identity resolution system does not produce value automatically.
The main problems arise when data is fragmented, matching models are too aggressive, or recognition remains disconnected from activation.
The two most common mistakes are:
- Confusing data quantity with identity quality: accumulating events is not enough if profiles are duplicated or if matching produces incorrect connections.
- Treating identity resolution as an isolated technical layer: real value only emerges when marketing, analytics, media, and CRM all work from the same recognition logic.
The Newco and Identity Resolution: Concrete Application Examples
The most relevant use cases for identity resolution almost always stem from a common problem: a significant share of traffic remains anonymous, fragmented, or disconnected.
Key application areas include:
- Improving user recognition: in the gaming sector, The Newco built a persistent recognition framework capable of improving the tracking of returning users, prospects, and cross-device navigation — overcoming the limitations of cookie-based analytics. The TNCiD system recorded a +64% increase in recognised returning customers and a +28% increase in returning prospects.
- Audience enrichment and segmentation: in the Amplifon project, The Newco used identity resolution to identify user awareness levels, enrich profiles with behavioural signals, and personalise marketing strategies across different funnel stages. The project led to a +48% increase in enriched users.
- Real-time personalisation: in the insurance sector, the framework was used to identify anonymous users, activate real-time segmentations, and build personalised journeys aimed at increasing renewals and conversions. The approach contributed to a +10% increase in AOV.
- Advanced media activation: in the project developed with Fastweb and Vodafone, identity resolution was used to segment high-propensity audiences and activate premium CTV campaigns with incrementality and advanced measurement logic. The project recorded a +150% conversion rate and a -40% reduction in CPA compared to the control group.
- Advanced measurement and attribution: in a B2B project focused on business services, The Newco used persistent identity to connect media activity, quotes, and sales, building more reliable attribution models than traditional last-click approaches. The project recorded a +28% conversion rate year-on-year and a -15% reduction in CPA.
Privacy, Data Quality, and Governance
Identity resolution only delivers value when designed with privacy, consent, governance, and data quality in mind. The most advanced systems aim to build identities that are persistent, readable, reliable, and governable.
This is particularly important in a context where AI-driven traffic is growing, measurement is becoming more complex, and the customer journey is increasingly distributed.
So, Why Is Identity Resolution a Strategic Lever?
Today, identity resolution is no longer just a recognition technology.
It is the infrastructure that enables brands to:
- Truly understand their users
- Build quality audiences
- Personalise experiences
- Optimise media investment
- Improve attribution and measurement
- Connect data, insight, and activation
In The Newco’s model, recognition evolves into understanding, understanding into activation, and activation into measurement.
This progression is what transforms identity from a simple technical data point into a concrete lever for growth, customer intelligence, and competitive advantage.