Fanbase Spotlight - One In An ARMY

One In An ARMY (OIAA) has become a common name among ARMY online. Their desire to help others in difficult situations and their amazing ability to organize charity events for small charity organizations rather than “the mega NGO’s” is simply outstanding. They have raised over 120 thousand dollars for charity and helped raise awareness and traffic for the Australian Bushfire Crisis, and the Philippine Earthquake Relief, not to mention organize the numerous projects on behalf of each BTS member. They have become a fanbase that ARMY can trust for reliable information about charities and have put in the hard work to earn said trust. That is why One In An ARMY is our fanbase spotlight for this month.

Recently, Borasaek Vision had the opportunity to talk with Erika and Louise, spokespersons from OIAA, about their journey in becoming such a well-known and trusted name in the ARMY community.

OIAA started as a simple tweet by one ARMY - inspired by BTS’ numerous campaigns - asking if anyone was interested in helping run a charity project. The tweet went viral, and soon One In An ARMY was founded. They have just recently passed their second anniversary. From a small thought by a single ARMY, it became something far bigger - an impact on the world.

“ARMY is always dedicated to being a positive reflection of what BTS has given so generously of themselves to us,” says Erika, “...We’d always hoped and expected that having a positive focal point for that energy would inspire ARMY to do what ARMY does best! And that’s what happened, this has always been a fandom that feels great when helping others, wants to be a fandom that makes BTS proud, and enjoys doing the kind of good things we can do in their names as a group.”

Within these two short years, One In An ARMY has thrived. They have grown not only in numbers but also as an organization. “We have added new members and teams to help coordinate the projects, and we have taken on more ambitious projects, like collaborating with other fanbases on larger scale things; and helping to arrange projects that go beyond simple online charity, such as volunteering and physical item donation projects. We’ve grown beyond just conducting our own charity projects to taking on the task of trying to track and document all ARMY charity work. We have also learned a lot, in seeing the sorts of things that work and what does not, and we have also built up a good relationship with some organizations, who now know that they can call on BTS’ fans for friendly help when needed.”

However, OIAA notes that their rapid growth was not a solo effort; they pay respect to not only the influence of BTS but towards ARMY too. “Even before OIAA was founded, ARMY as a fandom…were doing things to help one another, whether it be providing tutoring, a listening ear, or even self-educating on things that help one another become better and more effective fans and communicators to others. As it happens, Big Hit’s motto as well is ‘music and artist for healing’ and so I think that overall, this whole ecosystem of BTS from artists to ARMY is dedicated to putting something positive into the world.”

The well-known phrase “ARMY is a force to be reckoned with.” can certainly be applied to One In An ARMY’s success. Their achievements are easily seen throughout their projects. Recently, they helped achieve the ARMY milestone of over $1 million USD in donations. When asked about their success Erika eloquently stated, “We think that it is certainly a direct result of BTS’ influence on people, as well as a result of the nature of the people they tend to attract. BTS members have always been strong examples of humility, sincerity, honesty, hard work, passion, supportiveness, and most of all, giving. It is evident in everything they do. And people who recognize those things in them and in their music, and decide that they are people worth supporting with their whole hearts - those people become ARMY. After that, it is a small step to go from supporting them to wanting them to know how much it means to us that they are who they are and how positively they affect us; to want to pay it forward and share them with the world.

"Some ARMYs do this by sharing their music and bringing new people into the family, some people do it with art and expression, some focus on helping bolster their success because they are deserving, and some simply give to others because they want to share what they’ve been given. Most ARMY will do all of these things to a greater or lesser extent, but it all ends at the same goal - making sure the value that BTS brings to the world is amplified and multiplied.”

OIAA’s most recent campaign has been the forming of Our Remedy Is ARMY dedicated to the COVID-19 relief crisis. They specifically saw the need to help the charity organizations they had previously worked with who have been facing difficult times due to the current circumstances - specifically a lack of funding, staff, and resources. OIAA created this campaign to focus ARMY’s attention on trying to help keep these organizations afloat. Campaigns such as Our Remedy Is ARMY can take months of planning, “[The campaigns] are often in the planning stages 2 or sometimes 3 months in advance, because there is a lot of prep, including researching, voting on, and vetting the organizations, narrowing choices based on whether they fit our criteria - talking to them to find which are willing to participate; and then planning the campaign, the designs for posters and layouts, making artwork, a video, thinking of and planning a side activity, and planning how to coordinate across our SNS accounts and execute it so that we can keep the engagement going throughout the month.”

With many more projects to keep our eyes out for coming soon, One In An ARMY has done an amazing job at keeping ARMY focused on helping others and participating in charity projects. Louise leaves us with this final note for ARMY, “We get a lot of ARMY that say they’re sad they can’t help, or that they feel like their contribution is too small. But we wish for them to remember that our name is what it is for a reason, One in an ARMY. Because we’re all one person in this beautiful family called ARMY, we’re all part of OIAA, not just the team working behind it. Because every single thing we all do contributes to the impact that is being done in the end. Were you able to plant one tree? That’s a part of the forest that is built together with all ARMY. You couldn’t donate this month? You could still share it so someone else might, or play Freerice to help other people have food on the table or any of the other free options we provide. There is always something that can be done, and when putting all our efforts together, that’s when we’re able to move mountains.”

If you would like to learn more about One In An ARMY, head over to their website or check out their twitter page to see how you can participate in one of their campaigns.

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DISCLAIMER: We do not own any audio & visual content in this video except for the editing. ALL RIGHTS BELONG TO THE RIGHTFUL OWNERS. No copyright infringement intended.

Written By: Caitlin

Edit By: Mheer

Checked by Aury