Rail and coach travel platform Trainline has expanded its relationship with WPP Media by signing a first-party data deal aimed at providing the agency’s clients with a deeper understanding of travel-linked consumer behaviour.
The move, which marks Trainline’s first direct data partnership with an agency group, will see the travel company’s transactional location data sit within WPP’s Open Intelligence for Commerce platform, the data solution powering the AI marketing platform WPP Open.
WPP Open connects talent, tools and technology to deliver what it claims is better-informed marketing at speed and scale, and is one of the key elements of chief executive Cindy Rose’s turnaround plan, dubbed Elevate28.
The platform already includes data from retailers and leading media partners, including Ocado Ads, with more than 20 global commerce partners lined up to join in 2026.
The addition of Trainline’s customer base, serving 18 million monthly active users in the UK alone, is aimed at allowing WPP Media to deliver more relevant, effective campaigns for its clients.
Trainline’s data on the Open Intelligence for Commerce platform will be available to WPP Media clients across the UK, Italy, France and Spain.
Powered by InfoSum’s secure data collaboration platform, Open Intelligence for Commerce allows partners to retain full control of their first party data while giving WPP Media clients access to privacy-safe customer insights and activation capabilities without either party ever having to directly share or move their customer data.
Trainline is an existing client of WPP Media and its media strategy and buying across the UK, Italy and France has been handled by Wavemaker since 2022.
It is claimed this extended collaboration marks an important step in WPP Media’s ongoing effort to expand Open Intelligence for Commerce’s ecosystem with premium data partners.
Trainline head of UK ad sales and operations Samuel Eads said: “We greatly value our partnership with WPP Media and we’re excited to deepen our relationship via this unique solution.
“Collaborating in this way allows WPP advertisers to unlock greater value from Trainline’s data for insights and enables campaign activation across the major advertising platforms. This will ensure more effective campaigns for those clients and at the same time maintains the highest levels of privacy and security.”
WPP Media global executive director of commerce data David Fieldhouse added: “As a leading travel platform, Trainline brings a valuable new layer of commerce intelligence that appeals to a number of our clients in the UK and EMEA.
“This partnership demonstrates how Open Intelligence for Commerce continues to add value for our clients and commerce partners. It also demonstrates the power of our unique collaboration technology as the industry moves into a new AI driven era.”
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