A boutique partner for brandsthat deserve to be heard.
Steer Communications is a boutique strategic communications consultancy founded by Bala Krishnan — one of India's most experienced communications leaders, with 20+ years spanning broadcast journalism, agency PR, and corporate communications at the highest levels of the automotive industry.
What we are. How we work.
Strategic.
We start with your business objective — not a media list. Insight before instinct. Your room, your stakes, your story.
Editorial.
Founded by a broadcast journalist, we understand how stories are made. We design the narrative and the moments that make it travel.
Boutique.
Senior attention on every brief. We execute across earned, owned, and influenced channels — and stay close when the stakes rise.
20 years. Multiple Industries.
One rare edge.
Bala has sat in the editor's chair and the boardroom. A decade in broadcast newsrooms. A decade in the C-suite, shaping how twelve brands across twenty-six markets were heard. That isn't a talking point — it's a twenty-year operating advantage.
Professional Timeline
Recognition
Continuous Learning
Small by design. Senior by default.
Asha Kiran
Founder of The Film Shop with 16+ years across documentary, broadcast, and brand filmmaking. Has crafted corporate films, TVCs, and brand narratives for Cisco, Britannia, TVS Motor, and Puravankara — bringing the human side of brands to screen.
Announcing Soon
New voice joining the room.
Guided by people who've shaped industries.
Two decades as a primetime news anchor and editor-in-chief at NDTV and carandbike. Now leads creative strategy at Acko and chairs the World Car Awards jury — one of the most influential voices shaping how India consumes automotive media.
“I’ve known Bala since his newsroom days — he understands what makes a story land because he’s been on the other side of the desk. When he told me he was building Steer, it made immediate sense. India needs a communications firm that thinks like an editor, not like a press-release factory. That’s exactly what Bala brings.”
Senior Advisor, Ono Pharmaceutical · Former Director of Comms, Stellantis APAC
Global PR & Corporate Comms20+ years leading communications across Nissan, Stellantis, and Mazda in Japan, North America, and APAC. PRSA-accredited strategist who has steered corporate reputation through market launches, executive transitions, and cross-cultural crises across twelve global brands.
“Bala combines the instincts of a journalist with the discipline of a corporate communicator — he never lost that editor’s eye for clarity and audience. Leading PR managers across five Asia-Pacific markets at Stellantis, he translated regional strategy into disciplined local execution with no drama, just forward momentum. Agile, pragmatic, and principled — I recommend him without hesitation.”
SVP Brand & Comms, DP World · Founder, THE VMT Consultancy
Brand Strategy & ReputationAward-winning C-suite communications leader who has built and protected reputations for Tata Electronics, TVS Motor, BlackBerry, Cisco, and Intel across Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, and APAC. Recognised among India’s Top 100 Influential Game Changers.
“Bala and I go back to the TVS Motor days — he was shaping the communications function while I was leading it at the global level. His ability to take a complex brand narrative and make it resonate across very different markets is something I’ve rarely seen replicated. Steer brings that same rigour — and India’s brand landscape is better for it.”
Multilingual journalist, speaker, and CXO communication coach with 20+ years across NDTV, BBC World News, and Radio City. Fluent in five languages, she has built Pickle Jar Media into a platform that connects brands with audiences far beyond the metro bubble — through podcasts, documentary storytelling, and cultural curation.
“Vasanthi and Bala share a newsroom DNA — she brings the same editorial instinct but extends it into dimensions most communicators never reach: regional languages, cultural storytelling, and audiences that boardrooms often overlook. For any brand that wants to be heard beyond the metros, having her lens on the advisory bench is invaluable.”