SeaWorld Entertainment's new CEO Joel Manby has revealed details about the company's plans, which involve rebuilding strategy from the ground up, an enhanced focus on conservation and creating meaningful experiences for guests.
Delivering a keynote speech during the GM and Owners' Breakfast at IAAPA, Manby acknowledged the company's ongoing struggle with public perceptions and outlined the ways it has and is addressing those issues.
"We feel we made a mistake staying too quiet for too long,” said Manby, “So from a brand perspective, we're going to talk about the things people need to hear about us.
"Because of Blackfish and a variety of other things that have happened, there’s a lot of misinformation out there regarding SeaWorld. Our plan is to address this head on,” he said.
The Blackfish documentary that chronicles alleged mistreatment of orcas at the SeaWorld parks has cast SeaWorld in a negative light, affecting its image worldwide.
Manby said the company identified six key points which resonate with guests and is now addressing those points in a nationwide advertising campaign.
"We have several messages we want to put out there," said the SeaWorld CEO. "First our killer whale care is world class, bar none. Also we haven’t taken a whale from the wild in 35 years and have pledged never to do so again. We don't even take genetic material from whales from the wild, so we're very strict on that, regardless of what people say. Also, we don’t separate dependent calves from their mothers.
“These are all message that came out on the web that just are not true. Our ad campaign was the first step in addressing this and the response has been incredibly positive.
"The volume of bad becomes truth to people if there's no counter argument and that's why we've been fighting back. It's very important for this industry and for this world."
In addition to SeaWorld's campaign tackling these contentious points, Manby said there would be a renewed focus on talking about the company's conservation work with the public, as well as educating on the importance of zoos and aquariums to conservation work in the wild.
"Everything will focus on our new mantra 'explore, inspire, act'," said Manby, outlining the company's strategic restructure. "We want to create experiences that offer a sense of exploration. The wild world is vanishing and the next wild that's going away is the ocean. It's the last deep veil of the unknown and offers a sense of exploration which is where our creative focus is. If we do that right then we can inspire people by touching their hearts in order to touch their minds.
"If we do our jobs right, we get to the third part which is to act. As a company we haven't done enough and we're going to do a lot more. Our new conservation message is 'rescue, educate and preserve'. We've saved 27,000 animals, that's rescue. Our goal is to work with the American Humane Association and the public school system to expose 50 million children to why zoos and aquariums are important for conservation. When it comes to preservation, we’re asking how do we preserve wild animals in wild places? One of our goals is to stop tropical fish being taken from the wild – 95 per cent of tropical fish taken from the wild are for people's home aquariums. We want to end this practice, that's just one example of our preservation agenda."
Manby's plans don't stop there: staff will be trained as ambassadors for the SeaWorld brand, spreading the conservation message the company is so keen to convey.
"We want to start rebuilding SeaWorld from the inside out, with our 22,000 employees conveying our message," he said. "They're changing their name from employee to animal ambassador. We're also working with our partners who we want to come along with us in our conservation mission. This will naturally expand to our guests with the end result being engaging new customers.
"100 per cent of the time, and it is 100 per cent of the time, if someone comes to the back of house operations and sees our rescue, sees our vets operating on animals, it converts them. We want to turn that inside out and give guests the opportunity to see this."
"At SeaWorld I'm excited about the opportunity. It's a great company and we just have to get through a bump in the road and it'll be great on the other side."
