How NZ Jimny Found the Right Brand Partners Using Collabs.co.nz
NZ Jimny is one of New Zealand's most distinctive content creators. Based in Christchurch, they've built a loyal community around Suzuki Jimny ownership, Canterbury High Country 4WD adventures, and the kind of rugged New Zealand backcountry that most people only see in tourism brochures. With a combined audience across Instagram and TikTok, they're a legitimate voice in the NZ outdoor and automotive space.
We sat down with the creator behind NZ Jimny to talk about how they approach brand partnerships, what they look for in a collab, and how Collabs.co.nz fits into their creator business.
The Problem With Finding the Right Brand Partners
Before using a platform like Collabs, finding brand partnerships was largely ad hoc. Brands would occasionally slide into DMs — sometimes a great fit, often completely misaligned. A skincare brand reaching out to a 4WD creator. A luxury fashion label wanting "outdoor lifestyle content" that had nothing to do with the Jimny's world.
"The misaligned pitches are a waste of everyone's time," the creator explains. "You spend energy responding, explaining why it doesn't fit, and then everyone moves on. What I really want is brands who actually get what I do and why it would be authentic for me to talk about them."
What Makes a Good Collab From a Creator's Perspective
The answer is simpler than most brands expect: genuine relevance.
"If a brand makes something I'd actually use on a trip — camping gear, vehicle accessories, outdoor food, a GPS unit — it's an easy yes. I'm going to use it anyway. The content is going to be real because the situation is real. That's what makes it work."
The creator is also clear about what makes collabs fall apart: over-briefing. "Some brands send a six-page document with exact scripts and specific camera angles. My audience follows me because my content feels like me. The moment I'm reading someone else's words, that authenticity is gone. The best briefs give me the key points and trust me to deliver them naturally."
The Collabs.co.nz Difference
Having a profile on Collabs.co.nz changes the dynamic. Instead of waiting for random DMs or doing outbound pitching, brands who are specifically looking for NZ outdoor and 4WD creators can find the profile directly.
"It means the brands who reach out through Collabs are already pre-qualified. They've looked at my niche, they've seen my content style, they've decided it's relevant for them. The conversation starts from a much better place."
The platform also lets creators set their own terms clearly — what platforms they're active on, what collabs they're open to, what their follower numbers are — without having to repeat this information for every enquiry.
Advice for Brands Wanting to Work With Creators Like NZ Jimny
We asked what advice they'd give to NZ brands considering a collab in the outdoor/4WD space:
"Be specific about what you want, but flexible about how we deliver it." Specific deliverables (one TikTok, two stories) with creative freedom on execution is the sweet spot. Vague briefs and rigid scripts are both problems, just different problems.
"Send the actual product before you finalise anything." If you want an honest review, let the creator use it first. Don't brief for content before the product is in their hands.
"Think about usage rights upfront." If you want to run the content as a paid ad, that's a completely reasonable ask — but it needs to be in the deal from the start, not added afterwards.
"Small NZ brands are welcome." "You don't need to be a major brand to reach out. Some of my favourite collabs have been with small NZ businesses who had a genuinely great product and a clear idea of what they wanted."
The Result
For creators like NZ Jimny, Collabs.co.nz is less about finding any brand partner and more about finding the right ones — efficiently, without the noise of irrelevant pitches. For brands, it's access to exactly the kind of creator that the traditional agency model makes expensive and slow to reach.
The best collabs don't feel like advertising. They happen when a creator genuinely loves a product, a brand genuinely understands a creator's world, and the content that results feels completely natural. Collabs exists to make those connections happen.