In fighting a whistleblower suit, WPP put its own account of media agecny trading on the public record

The $100 million whistleblower lawsuit Richard Foster filed against WPP last November is back in focus. New court filings — including WPP’s motion to dismiss and exhibits that place Foster’s own internal documents into the public record for the first time — have added significant texture to both sides of a case that initial headlines only scratched the surface of.

Most notably among the exhibits is Foster’s own internal report to GroupM CEO Brian Lesser, which contains internal data on client opt-in rates, platform spend, and income targets that haven’t been public until now. The materials were first reported by The Times.

Before unpacking those materials, here’s a recap of how the case reached this point. 

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Walmart says AI users build 35% bigger baskets than others

This story was originally published on sister site, Modern Retail.

Walmart customers who use the company’s Sparky AI-powered shopping assistant have an order value that’s about 35% higher than those who don’t, newly appointed Walmart CEO John Furner said in the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call Thursday morning.

Sparky is a shopping assistant housed in the “Ask Sparky” button marked by a smiley face in the Walmart app. As the company described in a news release when it launched in June, the assistant helps customers find items, synthesize reviews and prepare for special occasions, such as by answering what sports teams are playing that night or checking the weather at the beach they’re headed to. The company also launched an assistant for merchants called Wally last March.

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