#MarketingEventsAwards 2021 highlight: SG Army banks on digital virtual event to hook more women into the military

In this time and age, women in the military are no longer an issue that raises an eyebrow. In fact, women now stand “shoulder to shoulder” with their male counterparts in both rank and role. However, one can agree that women are still counted as a minority when it comes to signing on in the Army.

Aware of this situation, the Army rolled up several initiatives such as live events where students from both genders could experience, or have a woman’s insights on what it is like to join the military. Such events were stopped when the pandemic hit. 

Following the trend of going digital, the army and Hydse launched the “Our Army Women’s Career iFair 2021”, which impressed the judges, winning silver for Best Digital Integration at MARKETING-INTERACTIVE’s Marketing Events Awards 2021.

Challenge

When the pandemic hit, events were forced to cease temporarily and it was no different for the Army. Before COVID-19, the Army had consistently hosted career fairs through physical events, with the aim of recruiting women. Now faced with social distancing regulations, it had to come up with a way to meet and interact with a large pool of students who come for consultations, advice, or job interviews.

Additionally, there were several criteria that had to be met. First, it had to be user-friendly and presented in a familiar format. Next, it had to contain elements the audience would find attractive, interesting, and useful. It also had to allow real-time interaction via text and video in a secure, reliable, and orderly environment.

Last, it had to provide an immersive environment with multiple touch-points and information on-demand. All of which, had to be done within a short timeline.

Strategy

As physical events were not allowed, the Army and Hydse decided to create a virtual environment that mimicked a physical exhibition while maintaining the human element of any interaction. 

This was done in a format that most people are accustomed to such as lobbies, exhibition booths and auditoriums. The reason being, a virtual environment would allow the audience to navigate effortlessly, with a minimal learning curve. With this in mind, the Army and Hydse designed a custom 3D rendered environment to create an immersive experience for users.

Similar to most physical events, the event would begin in a lobby or a foyer and would lead into different spaces such as an exhibition booth or an auditorium. Next, the lobby itself should feature various activities and displays that would keep the audience engaged while exploring or waiting for their consultation/interview sessions. 

To ensure the video consultation and interview sessions were reliable, stable and user-friendly, zoom meetings and webinars were integrated into the virtual platform.

As a result, Hydse developed a custom virtual event platform that was able to handle the logins for security, manage the environment, and provide an interview or consultation appointment booking system. These video chat sessions could then be managed by the Army.

Additionally, the Army and Hydse agreed that in this age of eSports and games, the virtual event had to be appealing, fun and mobile-friendly to gather as many users as possible.

Execution

Upon entering the virtual event, users were greeted with the virtual lobby which was also a starting point for them. A digital goodie bag was also available for download for users who attended the event. Next, users were able to navigate through the virtual exhibition booths where visitors could look at posters, watch videos, download brochures, and chat real-time with representatives from the Army.

The virtual event also featured an Army Recruitment Centre (ARC) which provided career information, guidance and a family forum. The family forum allowed the audience to post questions for the ARC. It also featured videos shared by women who are in service, and their respective families.

Results

The campaign yielded positive results, with more than 3,000 unique visitors over a span of three days. In addition, more than 350 video consultations were conducted, as well as 469 text chat inquiries. 

Furthermore, 91% of the respondents surveyed agreed the website was user-friendly and intuitive. These individuals also agreed the information provided on the website was sufficient and useful. When it came to technical issues, only 11 of the users contacted the tech support for help, indicating it was easy to navigate through the virtual event platform.