Company: Global Crossing
Company Description: Global Crossing provides telecommunications solutions over the world's first integrated global IP-based network, which reaches 27 countries and more than 200 major cities around the globe. Global Crossing serves many of the world's largest corporations, providing a full range of managed data and voice products and services.
Nomination Category: Organization Awards Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Best Communications Organization

Nomination Title: A Global Network Makes a Global Impact

Tell the story about what this nominated organization achieved in the past year (up to 500 words). Focus on specific accomplishments, and relate these accomplishments to past performance or industry norms. Be sure to mention obstacles overcome, innovations or discoveries made, and outcomes:

Global Crossing’s road toward emergence from the fourth-largest U.S. bankruptcy
is made possible in part by the efforts of its international communications
organization. When Global Crossing filed Chapter 11 nearly two years ago, media
speculation about Global Crossing’s future was largely negative. Undaunted,
Global Crossing’s communications team worked around the clock – around the
globe – to declare a unified message: we will survive.

Like Global Crossing’s fiber-optic network, which spans many thousands of miles
and connects some 27 countries, Global Crossing’s communications organization
has made a global impact. Reaching across the U.S. and 12 European countries,
the team supports the ongoing effort to restore public confidence in the company
and to maintain the support of existing customers in Global Crossing’s continued
ability to deliver high quality services.

The team’s efforts have been instrumental in increasing favorable media coverage
from 2 percent to 32 percent in the last 12 months, according to a media analysis
study by Carma International. Without the resources to embark on global
advertising and marketing campaigns, the communications team has been a
constant channel of communication with the external market throughout
restructuring. Their efforts have contributed to the minimal customer attrition rate,
which is as low as one percent in Europe.

Even when not operating in crisis mode, conducting an effective international
communications strategy across many nations poses numerous challenges. For
European team members, one challenge is framing the U.S.-led corporate strategy
to interest European reporters who generally focus on domestic companies and
economic issues. While Global Crossing’s U.S. communications efforts are
conducted entirely in-house, their European counterparts have created an
independent network of hand-picked PR agencies covering 12 countries. These
agencies serve as media “foot soldiers” located in each country to fine-tune media
relations according to the respective languages and cultures.

Since the outset of operations in Europe in 1998, the European team succeeded
in grooming the image of Global Crossing as a company that pushed back the
boundaries of telecommunications on a platform of technology and entrepreneurial
daring. But then came the market downturn. In a matter of weeks, Global
Crossing’s image deteriorated to that of a bankrupt company plagued with
accounting scandals. 

One immediate challenge was that the Chapter 11 process was virtually unknown
in Europe at the time and, secondly, many of the European subsidiaries did not
fall under the protection of the U.S. bankruptcy court. Chapter 11 was
misrepresented in the media as equating to liquidation. The communications team
played an integral role in explaining the Chapter 11 process, responding to
misleading media coverage and helping ease concerns of customers and
suppliers.

Together, the international team managed to refocus the media’s attention on the
successful restructuring of the company and the victory of retaining virtually the
entire European customer base. In 2003 the company signed more than 3,000
new contracts worth more than $8 million. The media campaign has helped
reverse the public’s perceptions of Global Crossing and, in so doing, supported an
embattled sales force to post a 10 percent increase in sales to corporations. The
sales force has benefited greatly from the increasingly positive coverage – to the
extent that the European enterprise sales team will account for 42 percent of
global revenues in this sector in 2003.

With Global Crossing demonstrating a steely determination to emerge, the
international media have increasingly voiced the opinion that Global Crossing is
here to stay.

List hyperlinks to any online news stories, press releases, or other documents that support the claims made in the section above. IMPORTANT: Begin each link with http://, and enclose each link in square brackets; for example, [http://www.youraddress.com]:

Provide a brief (up to 100 words) biography about the leader(s) of this nominated organization:

Jerry Santos was named senior vice president, corporate communications, in
October 2001. He manages all aspects of external and internal communications
efforts including public relations, marketing communications, employee
communications, advertising and branding.

Prior to joining Global Crossing, Mr. Santos was vice president of worldwide public relations and communications with Concert Communications, where he created a
worldwide communications strategy to position the company as a leader in the
global communications market. Prior to his role at Concert, Mr. Santos held
several senior leadership positions in the communications organization within
AT&T, most recently as vice president, global communications for AT&T
Asia/Pacific.

Mr. Santos received an M.S. degree in Educational Technology and B.S. degree,
magna cum laude, from California State University of San Francisco.