Time has become a scarce resource and an increasingly valuable commodity for consumers everywhere. The demand for services meant to make everyday life more efficient continues to rise, while many household tasks like laundry remain significant draws on time and energy. 

According to the US Department of Labor, the average American consumer spends more than an hour a day – up to 375 hours every year – sorting, washing, drying and folding laundry. Can you imagine having the ability to get clean clothes on-demand, with the click of a button, and without ever setting foot in a laundry room? 

The CEO and Founder of Tide Cleaners, David VanHimbergen tapped into millennials and city dwellers in Chicago who outsource aspects of their life that they are not invested in. 

The grocery market was becoming an increasingly competitive space for Tide, America’s most trusted expert on clean. David recognized an opportunity for Tide to supplement its existing at-home detergent sales and to leverage the Tide brand equity by entering the dry cleaning and laundry service space for urban residents. 

He realized that the dry cleaning market was being revolutionized by startups using technology to create on-demand solutions for consumers, particularly in Chicago where much of the city’s residential housing lacked in-unit laundry appliances. 

Some questions we ask:

1. How did the concept of Tide Spin come to life? (1:00) 
2. How long did it take to launch Tide Spin? (7:00) 
3. How did you feel when you were given the green light from the President of Procter & Gamble? (11:00)
4. How did you juggle your professional and personal life through your hectic travelling schedule leading upto the launch? (14:00) 
5. Did you ever question everything when you were chasing your dreams? (18:00) 
6. Who was influential and mentored you throughout this process? (20:00) 
7. Did you have a natural affiliation for sales or have formal skills/training? (30:00)
8. Can you talk to us about challenges faced around corporate misalignment? (34:00) 
9. What is next for you? (38:00)

In this episode, David VanHimbergen talks to us about how Procter & Gamble (P&G is taking their Tide brand equity to unexpected new directions for a new generation. Learn straight from the founder how he is taking the intrapreneurship movement for a spin.

Tide Cleaners is an on-demand laundry and dry cleaning service aimed at giving people the option to spend more time on life and less time doing laundry. 

Tide is committed to doubling the size of its current out-of-home laundry footprint by the end of 2020, making Tide Cleaners’ services available in more than 2,000 locations nationwide. 

Do you want to outsource your laundry to experts with the click of a button on your phone?

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Bio

David VanHimbergen’s entire career has been at Procter & Gamble, starting in their IT department. He spent his early years as a Business Analyst, then moved on to support P&G’s Fabric Care and Oral Care businesses. In 2008, he transitioned into Brand Management where he helped lead Oral-B and Crest to record results. In 2012, he moved to Minneapolis to lead P&G’s Target shopper marketing for its Fabric, Home, and Pet Care businesses. In 2014, he moved back to P&G’s Cincinnati HQ to lead Front End Innovation for its global Tide and Ariel laundry brands.

In this role, David led a small team that developed the business model that would become Tide Spin, laundry and dry cleaning delivery service where customers’ clothes are cleaned by Tide experts. In 2015, he hired a team to develop a test program of Tide Spin in Chicago; today, the business is growing rapidly as the team tests various ways to best serve its customers while P&G can profit and improve its competitive position. David has a BS from the University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign).