Utah CEO Magazine -

Written by: Brad Plythow

It's a philosophy propagated by Dave Thomas, founder and president of the Farmington-based marketing company.  It's paradoxical.  And yes, it's a bit radical.  But it's also galvanizing for the one-time startup's more than 100 employees.

"Free enterprise is the best economic system in the world," says Thomas.  "At the same time, we're all in this together.  So we encourage ownership and we share."

"Share" in this case means that Thomas divvies up the company's profits with every employee - from the partners to the interns.  It's a simple system: when the company makes money, everyone in the company gets a proportional bonus.  It's an arrangement that spurs individual accountability and ownership, the hallmarks of free enterprise, while distributing the bounty among the many, rather than a select few, a staple of socialism.

The strategy seems to be working.  ThomasArts experienced five years of 100 percent year-over-year growth before slowing with the economy recently.  Entrepreneurial Marxism is also an outgrowth of Thomas' view of corporate culture.  He thinks excessive executive pay is not only ethically murky, but also threatens to undermine the viability of a free-market economy.

Should a CEO make 600 times more than the lowest paid worker at his or her company?  What about 60/  How about 4 to 7, Thomas says.

"It really bothers me a lot when I see the discrepancy between what a CEO makes and what the average worker makes.  It's shameful," says Thomas, who shares an office. "Do I suffer?  I don't suffer.  I have a nice home.  I drive a Corvette."

Thomas is the consummate walk-the-walk businessman.  He gripes about CEO pay and then takes a smaller cut of the profits.  He advocates free K-14 education for everyone, and he provides bi-weekly professional development for all of his employees.  He says his company is all about results for his clients, and he relinquishes artistic over-expression to achieve those goals.

"I'm an artist," says Thomas, who began his career writing ad jingles and teaching junior-high band students.  "But the year that I won more awards than any other year in business was the year that I struggled and my clients struggled the most."

He says a trend among some advertising agencies has been to treat their clients' campaigns as forums for artistic expression.  Art is a means to an end in business, he says, and that end is measurable results for clients.

"I'm agnostic," he says.  "It's about what works.  These days, creative is not a differentiator."

Thomas says his creative team - which is headed by sons Brett, Matt and Troy - is as good as any, but he attributes his success to the fact that he doesn't outsource.  Yes, you heard right.  Thomas' company is completely self-contained, from the creative work to the research to the finances.  Farming out work has obvious benefits in reducing costs.  But you compromise control and speed to market, which are major selling points for Thomas.

"Part of winning is being first - being out there first with an idea that is good," he says.  "You've got to be able to respond to the marketplace."