So I’ve been here four weeks now, and what a trip! We’re all starting to get used to the new name now and it feels good to see it above reception, online, on the front cover of Media Week and talked about on the BBC.

It sounds good on air and with the exception of only a few grumbles most people seem genuinely happy and excited about the new brand and as we always said: “If you stand for everybody, then you’ll end up standing for nobody.”

It’s been a manic month and along with launching an amazing new brand which will be known for decades to come, there are some other things I’m still trying to figure out. Like the digital teams’s obsession with RockBand, Cat’s ferocious appetite to find a story, Clive’s ability to send emails from anywhere at any time and still never be found in any meeting room, Clare’s ability to deal with any crisis and the DJ’s lack of ego. It’s early days but we should take a deep breath and be proud of what we achieved in such a short space of time.

This would have taken ½ a year normally and everyone has worked incredibly hard, including our community of listeners and VIPs. They have really been part of this launch by contributing ideas, asking questions, telling us when we’ve got it wrong, carrying out podcasts with Clive, sticking up for us in the forums and reminding us of the blindingly obvious. Unfortunately a lot of people, (including me) have lost the ability to spell and so far we’ve had 31 different spellings of Absolute. For some reason they keep forgetting to put an ‘e’ on the end and asking whether we will do it in Blackcurrant?

The VIPs have taken to heart the idea that we want to get our attitude back, and renamed themselves Asbo’s! They are enjoying their new found freedom and we have hardly started. Things change quickly though and only four weeks ago I was the new boy but now I’m not, Dougal is.

Everyone has moved on. They aren’t judging me on what they’ve heard about me, or my past reputation, or saying “give it time”. It’s about what I do next and that will be the same for the brand. The name won’t sound new for long and our community of listeners, webusers and media types will want to see changes happen and they will soon get tired of the crossfade messages.

So what am I doing next? Well, we’ve just signed a deal with a great comedy actor from across the water who will be in our TV and viral campaign so that’s the next big job.

Got to say though, if the next six months are as fun and exciting as the last month I’m going to keep my “new boy” title as the luckiest man in media.

Chris