^Photographer credit: Jay French (NZ)

Upcoming Content Residency

MTB / Trail / Hike NZ

Wānaka, Aotearoa / New Zealand | 9-22 February 2026

Expressions of interest now open

Following the success of our pilot Content Residency (BTS here) in August with Defender (Land Rover NZ), Helly Hansen, DB Journey, Nikon, and more, we’re returning to Wānaka for a two-week MTB / Trail / Hike category program this February.

Our Content Residencies are The Outsiders’ flagship offering - immersive multi-week creative residencies that bring together brands, athletes, and world-class creatives in wild places. We curate brand integrated experiences and moments that Outsiders seek, reaching audiences via strategic cross-pollination. We have now made this content bookable, powered by distribution.

What is in store for february

  • We are lining up with Natural Selection Tour in Queenstown (14 Feb) with so many elite MTB athletes in the region.

  • We are also lining up with Tarawera Ultra-Trail by UTMB (14-15 Feb) and will be have world-class trail running athletes connecting into our program.

  • Global media to join our crew:

    • US trail running & adventure influencer (500K following).

    • MTB YouTuber with 100K IG +100K YouTube (producing a long-form 12 minute tourism video)

  • Long-form feature adventure tourism segment → distributed on a digital news channel with a guaranteed 1.5M audience (Mercedes in-car entertainment, Samsung Smart TVs, and airline in-flight with a QR code to our bookable trip page).

  • Outdoor Brand Camp - with Aaron Lutz (ex Redbull, Ōura) will host two programs for New Zealand athletes

    • Athlete workshop for New Zealand athletes looking to up-level their local-national level sponsorship and commercial skills (12 spots available)

    • Elite athlete dinner for support on global level sponsorship skills and insights (6 spots available)

  • Talent Development Weekend with Nikon Aus/NZ → hands-on technical gear workshops for up to 30 participants and our mentoring and networking program with Outsiders crew.

  • Curated athlete + ambassador shoots → focused on tourism experiences and brand campaigns in the region.

  • Social event partnered with Canyons Brewery.

  • Additional in-residency dedicated editing crew have been added to allow for ‘week of’ turn around with with so much high-end filming taking place.

Photographer credit: Jay French (NZ)

target audience

This is built to create a cross-pollination effect across outdoor brand audiences. We predominantly target US snow and ski communities who participate in seasonal action sports across snowboarding, ski, MTB, trail running, and hike.

Distribution & Reach

  • Digital News Channel: 1.5M guaranteed distribution (Mercedes In-car, Samsung Smart TV, Airlines in flight).

  • Athlete, Creator/Media, Influencer Combined Following: 1M+ combined audience across US, and global adventure and action sports communities.

  • The Outsiders Platform: Long-tail evergreen content through our Bookable Trips platform → see example: NZ Snow Adventure

  • August Residency Numbers: Total reach from athletes, brands, crew, and those engaging with the residency exceeded 812,000 followers. Teaser content from our August residency rolled out across our new Instagram feed. Within two weeks of our brand new IG channel posting only teaser content from our filming, it reached 50,000+ views, 1,600+ engagements, 40 saves, 123 shares. The premium, athlete-driven content worked. Our inbound spiked for the tourism experiences we filmed the athletes having an epic time at.

Partnership opportunities

  • Tourism Offices & RTOs: Showcase your region, predominantly the US and Australia. Guaranteed distribution.

  • Tourism Operators: Secure your place as one of 6 featured experiences.

  • Outdoor & Lifestyle Brands: Align with authentic athlete storytelling and world-class content.

  • Key tourism partners across accomodation, car rental, airlines: Inclusion in the bookable trip product launching post-residency, promoted across Outsiders channels for 12 months via a Meta campaign, and 12 months ‘always-on’ Meta spend.

Next steps

We are now confirming partners for February. Capacity is already 50% subscribed with existing partners. If you would like to explore partnering for this project Book a Meeting with Michelle Bates - LinkedIn

Looking forward to another epic time in Aotearoa! Let’s go.

Pictured in Kingston at Snowmoto: Justin Mayers (L) lead film maker and production partner (WestBank Media, US) and Michelle Bates The Outsiders Founder (R) - Photographer credit: Scott Ruzzene (AUS)