Case Study 3

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Consumer Product Development & Launch - Kickstarting Pie Guides

Creating and launching a product that solves a problem no one realized they had is one thing. Doing it in a way that sparks immediate buy-in, delight, and trust is another. Moving beyond film and digital, Jessica treated the launch of a brand-new culinary tool as a storytelling challenge, priming her audience through education and play and building a sales funnel that turned curiosity into instant conversion, with a Kickstarter funded to 1600%, opening the door to press, manufacturing, and follow-on opportunities.

Overview

Jessica noticed a persistent assumption among home bakers and creatives: pie was beloved, but too hard to decorate with flair, and too stubbornly traditional to ever feel as expressive or fun as other desserts. Even people who loved pie assumed elaborate pie design was inaccessible. She turned that assumption on its head by creating Pie Guides, designing the tools herself and shaping them to be both visually elegant and genuinely easy to use. The result was a product that let anyone, from a baking novice to an experienced cook, create sophisticated crust designs easily and joyfully.

Rather than leading with features, she focused the narrative on unlocking joyful, hands-on creative experiences people didn’t yet know they were missing. In doing so, she created shared language around what was possible with pie and prepared her audience to recognize the value of the product before it ever launched. Kickstarter was used deliberately as a validation and visibility mechanism, not an endpoint, allowing demand to be proven before scaling.

Key outcomes and milestones

  • Fully funded in the first hour

  • “Project We Love” designation from Kickstarter staff

  • Closed at 1600% funded

  • Strong press and platform amplification

  • Product concept, design, prototyping, R&D, and testing led in-house

  • Successful manufacturing, fulfillment, and customer delivery

  • Inbound interest from retail and education partners

With the product validated and delivered, the campaign demonstrated a repeatable approach to market creation, narrative-driven conversion, trust transfer from creator to product, and operational follow-through. Jessica now applies the same end-to-end product and design thinking to new tools, launches, and initiatives looking to build both momentum and longevity.

For the original campaign, sales funnel, and full arc from idea to funded launch, view the Kickstarter project.

“Just made a perfect dragon pumpkin cheesecake pie. The stencil worked perfectly!”
— Yvette Palmer

“The ‘dragoncherry’ pie we made was the hit of our cookout! Everyone loved the idea!”
— Kristen

“I am completely in love with this whole project and I can’t wait for all of the wonderfulness and the pies!”
— Emily Miller