Hawaii News Now has created a management position in its newsroom operation and hired veteran broadcast journalist Daryl Huff to fill it.
Huff will be the special projects producer, General Manager Rick Blangiardi told TheBuzz on Friday.
Hawaii News Now, comprising KGMB, KHNL, KFVE and their neighbor island sister-stations, plan "more in-depth, long-form programming and other related things from a news standpoint," Blangiardi said. "Huff has a depth and breadth of experience and knowledge of the market and its political processes, and I’ve always respected his abilities as a journalist," he said.
Huff called the new job "a great opportunity."
Hawaii News Now has "a lot of assets on the daily news. You have to," but it is "very difficult to stick your head up out of that daily news whirlpool and look ahead," which will be his role, engaging in hands-on production of special projects such as debates, election coverage and special reports that are serialized within daily newscasts, he said. "There is a world of exciting things we can do."
Huff announced his departure from Aloha Care, where he was senior director of community relations, in January. He had left television for the PR role in 2011 after 22 years at KITV, mostly as an on-air reporter, and previous media roles at KHON, The Hono­lulu Advertiser and Ka Leo, the University of Hawaii newspaper. Along the way he also served as the public information officer for then-U.S. Sen. Spark Matsunaga.
Huff’s tentative start date at Hawaii News Now is St. Patrick’s Day.
HAWAIIAN HOST IS MARKETER OF THE YEAR
Long-lived brands aren’t commonly known for fresh marketing tactics, but that’s just what Hawaiian Host Inc. implemented in 2013, earning it the marketer of the year award from the Hawaii Chapter of the American Marketing Association.
With a social media campaign resulting in Kawehi Navarro of Kapolei being selected as its Great Hawaiian Hostess, the company bolstered its social media presence as it received 500 contest entries and more than 19,000 votes while also boosting its bottom line.
Navarro is featured on boxes of Aloha Macs candies.
A redesign of its website focused on best practices for e-commerce and increased sales by 17 percent from July through December compared with the same period in 2012, and 34 percent higher than in 2011.
"The changing landscape requires more strategy to reach potential customers, and we look forward to celebrating Hawaii’s top marketers who have reached their goals in 2013," said Tammy Chang, AMA Hawaii president.
The multifaceted efforts behind launching the new Hawaiian Telcom TV service won the award for best marketing of a new product or service.
Limited availability for the rollout required traditional and online marketing techniques that were geographically targeted.
The award for best nonprofit marketing went to Hospice Hawaii for its work in changing dour consumer perception about the organization to a more positive, uplifting message.
Its "Bucket List" campaign used various methods of outreach to convey its positive message about celebrating and cherishing life, and encouraged social media users to incorporate the hashtag #BUCKETLISTHI in posts to get others thinking about their own life goals.
Award winners will be feted by the AMA Hawaii Chapter in a luncheon at 11:30 a.m. April 10 at the Hawaii Prince Hotel.
Admission is $80 for AMA members and $85 for nonmembers. Register at AMAHawaii.org/moy.
Reach Erika Engle at 529-4303, erika@staradvertiser.com or on Twitter as @erikaengle.
