A premium brand collaboration at sea

Case Study: Highland Park x Draken

A tour partnership built around experience, storytelling, and hospitality

In 2018, Edrington joined Draken as Tour Partner for the ship’s East Coast tour of the United States through its whisky brand Highland Park. The collaboration brought together product storytelling, public engagement, media activity, and onboard hospitality in a way that aligned strongly with both brands.

At the centre of the partnership was an exclusive Draken-edition Highland Park whisky, supported by activity across multiple ports, audiences, and formats.

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The collaboration

The partnership between Highland Park and Draken was built around shared values of craftsmanship, heritage, storytelling, and a strong sense of place. It combined the ship's visual and cultural power with a premium spirits brand that could be activated both publicly and professionally along the tour route.

The collaboration was not limited to logo placement or sponsorship visibility. It became a living part of the experience around Draken in port.

How the partnership came to life

During the East Coast tour, Highland Park activated the partnership in several ways across different ports and audiences.

Key elements included:

  • an exclusive Draken-edition Highland Park whisky

  • public samplings in the ports

  • press and media tours on board

  • evening receptions for restaurant owners and bartenders

  • use of the ship as a distinctive platform for storytelling, hospitality, and relationship-building

Together, these elements created a multi-layered collaboration that combined consumer engagement, trade outreach, and media value.

Why it worked

The partnership worked because it was rooted in a strong thematic fit. Highland Park and Draken both carry associations with craftsmanship, heritage, northern identity, and story-driven experience.

Draken offered Highland Park something few venues or sponsorship platforms could provide: a real ship, a dramatic setting, and an atmosphere that turned brand activity into something memorable and emotionally resonant.

For Draken, the collaboration showed how the ship can function as a premium platform for brand activations, public engagement, hospitality, and media.

What the partnership created

The Highland Park collaboration demonstrated that Draken can support partnerships that go far beyond visibility alone. It created opportunities across:

  • brand storytelling

  • public activation

  • press and media engagement

  • trade and hospitality

  • premium guest experiences

  • destination-based campaign activity

It also showed how a moving platform like Draken can give a partnership energy, narrative, and presence across multiple locations rather than a single event space.

Selected materials

This collaboration was supported by statements, visual material, and video content documenting the partnership and the special edition release.

What this says about Draken as a partner platform

Draken is especially well-suited to partnerships that combine authenticity, strong visual identity, public engagement, and premium experience. The Highland Park collaboration is one example of how the ship can help a partner create something distinctive, memorable, and difficult to replicate in conventional settings.

For brands looking to build meaningful experiences rather than just visibility, Draken offers a platform with real character and real reach.

Interested in a partnership like this?

Draken welcomes inquiries from brands, institutions, destinations, and collaborators interested in building tailored partnerships around culture, storytelling, hospitality, education, media, and live experience.

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