The Grown Up Chocolate Company - Competitor Research

Cadbury's 

Cadbury's is one of the largest confectionary distributors in the world, with a range of products including individual chocolate bars, gift sets, hot chocolate and personalised bars. Most recognisable from their rich purple wrapping and cursive typography, Cadbury's are a well established brand that stand out easily on shop shelves. 

Cadbury's option to personalise their chocolate bars is similar to the brief given by The Grown Up Chocolate Company so I think it's important to take note of how Cadbury's have made the personalisation option work for them. To start with their landing page for this feature is clear and legible, highlighting how the personalisation will make the product 'memorable' and displaying the different personalisation options to the left. The customer can then go on to a customisation page where they can choose the type, message, images and which product/product they want to personalise. They also have options to make your own hamper and choose what goes in it as well as personalised selection boxes where they can choose which chocolate bars are included in the box. 

Thorntons

Thorntons are another well known high-street brand that give off a more luxurious, high end feel in terms of their branding and packaging. Their branding uses rich red and gold tones which adds to the feel of luxury and again uses cursive text which also emphasises this luxurious image. They also offer a range of products and personalisation options. 

Thorntons personalisation option is different to Cadbury's in that rather than personalising the box and outer packaging, it's the actual chocolate that is personalised. You can choose to personalise your chocolate with text which is iced onto the product either online or in store. I feel like this is a really effective way of personalising a product but it doesn't line up with the brief that The Grown Up Chocolate Company have set, they are just personalising the wrappers for the bars. Ribbons are also included in the Thorntons packaging which suggests that you should buy their product as a gift. 

Lindt

Lindt definitely come across as a very high end brand, the royal blue, red and gold colours that are used along with the cursive type give a very high end feel. Lindt also emphasis that their products are made by hand by 'master chocolatiers', something else that also adds to the idea of luxury.
 

Lindt's packaging reflects the high end luxurious feel perfectly. They use a lot of gold and simple yet delicate illustrations to accompany the brand name on their packaging. Unlike the other two brands, Lindt don't have a personalisation option, or not that I can see anyway. They offer a range of different gifts and stand-alone products but in terms of the packaging it is usually quite simple but still effective due to their emphasis of luxury that is consistent throughout their branding. Lindt are also well known for their chocolate bears and reindeers that are wrapped in gold foil and each have a red ribbon around their neck and a little bell.