Executive Incognito

The buzz created after Joel Manby, president and CEO of Herschend Family Entertainment Corp., went undercover in his own company on the CBS reality show “Undercover Boss” may be hard to measure.

The appearance definitely created a stir.

CBS placed first in viewers and key demographics March 28 with “Undercover Boss” topping that Sunday night’s programming in all ratings measures, according to Nielsen ratings for March 28 provided by Silver Dollar City.

“Undercover Boss” was fourth for the week of March 22–28 with 16.7 million viewers, according to Nielsen. Among adult viewers ages 18 to 49, the show finished the week fifth with 6.7 million viewers. The show sends top executives inside their companies anonymously to work various jobs.

Branson Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce President Ross Summers called the program a “60-minute national commercial for the city of Branson and Silver Dollar City,” which is celebrating its 50th anniversary.

“That kind of goodwill you just can’t buy,” he added.

The immediate return for Herschend was 100,000 Web hits at its various property sites in the 24 hours following the show. The corporate site, www.hfecorp.com, collected 3,700 hits the previous Sunday, spokeswoman Lisa Rau said, but received an unprecedented 48,806 hits the night of the show. Hits to the corporate Web site combined with Herschend properties’ Web sites totaled 112,000 the day of the show. The previous Sunday, that number was 38,000.

“We have seen people going to our Web site,” said Brad Thomas, senior vice president for Silver Dollar City Attractions. “They’re looking to see more about our company.”

Behind the scenes
CBS crews filmed five stories at four Herschend Family parks: Silver Dollar City and Showboat Branson Belle in Branson; Adventure Aquarium in Camden, N.J.; and Stone Mountain Park in Atlanta. Herschend, which owns and operates 25 properties nationwide, shares headquarters between Branson and Atlanta, where Manby works.

Branson workers profiled were Silver Dollar City’s Albert Sandford, the customer relations person in charge, Richard Bowling, a maintenance worker, and Jennifer Smythe, a Showboat Branson Belle waitress.

Sandford aspires to be a theme park executive; Bowling recently was a victim of a house fire; and Smythe is a single mother who copes with finding child care to accommodate her odd working hours. The other two stories were of a captain at Atlanta’s Ride the Ducks – the company’s amphibious tour vessels – and a worker at Adventure Aquarium.

Each shared their experiences working for Herschend and, in some cases, their ideas of improving the work environment.

Sandford and Thomas were thrilled with the final product, viewed by staff during a watch party at the park.

“We all laughed, we all cried, we all had those ‘ahh’ moments,” Sandford said. “We learned a lot about Joel that we didn’t know. It really brought him down as a humble person. We got a look on the inside of him and his life, and it was very inspiring.”

On the show, Sandford and Manby sat down over lunch, during which Sandford expressed his desire to have the job of the very man he was talking to. “I would like to be the CEO of Herschend,” Sandford told Manby, who kept a poker face and even reviewed some roller-coaster designs Sandford had developed.

Back to work
Following the taping, Thomas said the initiatives discussed by Manby on the show were implemented companywide:

• the company’s Share it Forward Fund for employee emergencies covered the cost to rebuild Bowling’s house;

• a program was established for single mothers to ensure child care; and

• scholarships were created for staff, and Sandford was the first recipient, as he and his fiancée are “in college-hunt mode.”

Thomas, who had some contact with Manby during filming, said everyone involved understood the importance of maintaining confidentiality.

“The story of the program is that the boss agrees not to blow his cover,” Thomas said. “Had he blown his cover, the whole deal would have been gone and there would have been no Herschend Family Entertainment on CBS. It was really clear to all of us – to Joel and everyone in the really small circle that knew – that we couldn’t breathe a word, even to our pets, because the minute that any whispers were to have gotten out, we would have been slashed from the program.”

The silent treatment worked, and officials said, in the end, the show spoke accurately about people in the Ozarks.

“It was a showcase for the culture of our area,” Summers said.

Thomas added, “CBS did a great job capturing the spirit and the heart of this company.”[[In-content Ad]]