All in the story Zee launches Immerse to pull brands into the spotlight

MUMBAI: Brands no longer want to be watched, they want to be felt. And if possible, lived inside. Reading that shift loud and clear, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited has unveiled Zee Immerse, a new vertical designed to build immersive, inclusive and platform-agnostic branded intellectual properties for a participation-first era.

Zee Immerse marks a strategic pivot in brand storytelling, moving beyond exposure and engagement towards inclusion. The vertical will create bespoke branded IPs across long- and short-form formats, digital-first narratives, regional stories and multi-platform executions spanning television, digital, social media, YouTube and on-ground experiences.

The launch reflects how audience behaviour has evolved. What began with reach and impressions progressed to interaction and experience. Today, audiences want something deeper, a sense of belonging. Zee Immerse is positioned to answer that demand by helping brands co-create worlds where stories flow seamlessly across screens and invite consumers to become active participants in cultural conversations.

According to Zee, the focus is no longer on isolated campaigns but on building scalable ecosystems where brands are embedded into entertainment rather than interrupting it. “Brands today are seeking relevance, resonance and long-term cultural value,” said Zee head of advertisement revenue for broadcast and digital Laxmi Shetty. “Zee Immerse allows us to partner with them at a deeper level, creating IPs that are inclusive by design and impactful across platforms.”

The vertical will bring together the network’s strengths across films, youth content, influencers and digital storytelling to create what Zee describes as monetisable, culturally rooted brand properties. Zee chief sales officer for hindi movies, youth cluster, brand works and influencer marketing (digital) Gunjarav Nayak, noted that the future of branded content lies at the intersection of culture, community and commerce.

Zee Immerse will be led by currently Zee Digital, executive vice president for sales planning and strategy Raj Shrivastav who will take on the additional mandate of steering the new unit. He describes inclusion as the next logical step in the evolution of storytelling where audiences do not just consume stories but feel invited into them.

With Zee Immerse, the broadcaster reinforces its ambition to stay future-ready, blending creativity, commerce and culture to create brand-led IPs that audiences don’t merely watch, they choose to own.