Create the Disney of grocery? Lowes Foods challenged me to deliver that experience. They had, under the expert guidance of branding guru Martin Lindstrom, redeveloped what a Lowes should be:  a nostalgic, quirky, small town market. The plans were amazing. There would be a Sausage Works with “sausage professors”, a Chicken Kitchen, a Beer Den, a Cakery and other unique, friendly, hometown storefronts. What was missing from the plans was a clear definition of the expected employee behaviors.

When, on Martin’s recommendation, Lowes called me, I told them, “You’re building interesting, attractive, themed buildings, but if you don’t train your employees to perform specific roles in that show, all you will have is interesting, attractive, themed buildings. They needed what Disney calls “performance themeing.” (Yes, I know some spell it “theming,” but that’s like spelling canoeing as “canoing.” It’s just not the same thing).

Performance Themeing (PT) is the art of embracing your surroundings and portraying a role in the location’s show. With it, employees can make an experience magical. Without it, they can destroy the illusion. Consider for example the cowboy at the dude ranch and the elegantly dressed lady at a jewelry store. Now imagine a switch where the elegant lady ropes the cow, and the cowboy sells jewelry. It doesn’t work. Neither fits the theme of their location.

For Lowes, I aligned employee personalities with the locations they worked in. The Sausage Professors became geekish and odd like, for example, Doc Brown from Back to the Future or Wayne Szalinski of Honey I Shrunk the Kids.  The Chicken Kitchen hosts became an outgoing party-hardy crowd that do the Chicken Dance when chicken come out of the oven because their chicken is so good, it “makes you wanna’ dance.” The resulting PT performances are snapped above.

PT is central to many locations at Walt Disney World, and demonstrated in these side-by-side photos below taken in the Magic Kingdom. They showcase a doomy, gloomy hostess at the Haunted Mansion merchandise shop “smiling” for a photo and, within eyesight, a happy, hollering town crier at the Harbor House Restaurant. Both employees fit their location and the experience is much richer for their performance.

More recently, Walt Disney World aggressively expanded PT. Pandora: The World of Avatar at Disney's Animal Kingdom and Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Disney's Hollywood Studios and Disneyland all feature cast members performing as if they exist in their fictional lands.

There is, however, a problem with PT. It doesn’t always work. While working at Walt Disney World, I developed and delivered PT training for three different themed merchandise locations.  None of them lasted. One was too difficult. One conflicted with the environment. The third was abandoned when new management arrived.

So, is PT something you should try? Perhaps. It delivers an intangible beyond product: emotion. When people experience an emotional connection between themselves and an offering, they spend more money, return to repeat the experience, and recommend it to others. Get that right and the money pours in. And, even if you don’t want to go all in with PT, it is worthwhile to look at your offering, your location, and especially yourself and then verify all of it is in alignment. There is more chance you will succeed when it is.

PT certainly worked for Lowes Foods. They managed to merge two seemingly opposing ideas: grocery shopping and fun. Profits then soared. Destination grocery? Who knew! Turns out Lowes Foods did. And you can too.