James Archer

Saving the World through Business

Our tagline (“Forty is the marketing agency that’s going to save the world”) makes a bold claim, but it’s one that we’re serious about.

I genuinely admire the work that non-profit agencies do, but my experiences with them have often left me puzzled and disappointed. Too often, they’re slow, political, and inefficient, traits that get in the way of actually accomplishing their goals.

When you think about the organizations that have an impact on your daily life, the for-profits probably beat out the non-profits by a wide margin, both in quantity, quality, and depth of involvement. The high quality of life enjoyed in many countries around the world is typically driven by commerce rather than philanthropy.

That being the case, I’ve always felt that one could do more good in the world by building a successful and benevolent business than by trying to form a purely non-profit organization. The efficiency and self-sustaining nature of a business can make it a highly effective vehicle for doing good in the world.

My long-term goals for the business are audacious enough to be embarrassing to talk about, but here’s a peak at what we’re trying to do right now:

Make marketing noble again: Decades of sleazy ad agency antics have ruined what might otherwise be a grand pursuit: bringing great people and great companies together. We’ve been advised on several occasions that an idealistic company won’t cut it in this industry, but we’re going to continue to prove that myth wrong.

Be a company that people love to work for: People deserve the opportunity to love their careers, to be excited about work on Monday, and to be able to provide for their family while doing what they love. We want to build a company that provides those opportunities.

Turn Phoenix into a great city: We’re actively working on initiatives that will help transform Phoenix into a relevant, vibrant, and thriving metropolis. We’re not doing this ourselves, obviously, but we are certainly trying to be a significant contributor to the effort.

In addition to these efforts, we’re moving toward a point where we regularly participate in more traditional world-saving efforts such as sustainability, charitable donations, etc. In the meantime, we’re building a great business and putting real time and effort toward additional initiatives that we believe will make a difference in a lot of lives.