Doha: Grammy-nominated, international sensation, South Korean boyband, BTS, has undeniably taken over the world with their music and jaw-dropping performances. BTS, also known as "Bangtan Sonyeondan" in Korean, which directly translates to "Bulletproof Boy Scouts" and "Beyond The Scene" as its new brand identity, is composed of seven members.
The septet – composed of RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V, and Jungkook – brings a complete package of socially conscious songs, trendsetting looks and diverse personalities which has garnered millions of fans across the globe.
The fandom, named ARMY which stands for Adorable Representative MC for Youth, has stood alongside BTS in smashing records and making history as the fanbase continuously grows in number, globally.
Like elsewhere, BTS has also amassed devoted fans in Qatar. One of the well-known BTS fanbases in the country is named Qatar ARMYs. Led by two admins, Maryam and Anisa, the fanbase has been running for almost 4 years with male and female fans across different nationalities.
Since 2017, the fan base has served as a beacon in connecting with other BTS fans in Qatar as they wholly support the band. The Peninsula caught up with the Qatar ARMY to learn about their activities.
When asked about their keenness in running the fanbase, Maryam said: "We love making the ARMYs comfortable about expressing their love for BTS. I feel most excited when ARMYs casually talk to us everyday, that makes me the happiest and I really appreciate all the ARMYs on our account."
"We feel so proud that we can communicate with a large number of ARMYs who share the same interest with us," Anisa added.
However, leading a community that supports the world’s biggest boy band also entails massive effort. When establishing the fanbase, Anisa and Maryam had multiple goals in mind. One is to create a safe space for ARMYs in supporting the group as well as bridging fans together and the other is to have the fanbase recognized by BTS and its label, Big Hit Entertainment.
In doing so, Qatar ARMYs achieved an impressive number of successful projects launched locally and internationally. In 2019, the community hosted a large-scale gathering at a hall in Katara for over 150 female fans.
The event also sought the participation of eight local BTS merchandise sellers. In February 2020, the group installed digital advertisements in malls to celebrate the birthday of J-Hope, a member of the boy band.
Given the on-going pandemic, restrictions were established to preserve public safety including barring public gatherings. Despite the absence of fan meet-ups, the fanbase was able to bounce back with even more creative projects and historical breakthroughs.
"We feel that the pandemic gave us more time to think of creative ways to support BTS, since we can’t really leave our houses, " the admins told The Peninsula.
This includes charting BTS albums to #1 in Qatar iTunes and partnering with local cafes for cup sleeve projects. Its most recent one was in December last year, a partnership with Anime Café for a cup sleeve project dedicated to V's birthday, the second youngest member of the band.
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The project, called "V-Everland", simply involves buying a beverage in order to obtain the specialized purple cup sleeve. Apart from this, V-Everland bundle bags were also on sale in the café.
The success of the project eventually bore fruit to a historical milestone. Using the funds collected, the fanbase was able to put out a bus advertisement in Seoul, the capital city of South Korea, marking them as the first-ever BTS fanbase in Qatar to do so.
With the words "V-Everland from Qatar ARMYs'' pasted on each side of the vehicle and "Happy V-Day" on its back, the bus ad serves as a pioneer project to represent Qatar ARMYs in South Korea. The bus route starts from Gimpo International Airport to Gwanak-Gu, Seoul. It is also set to run for a month from December 27, 2020 until January 27, 2021.
"A lot of international ARMYs told us that this is a big deal because usually small fanbases (like ours) don’t do big projects like this, so we have a lot of pride in our bus ad," the admins stated.
Regardless of so many breakthroughs, the fanbase never disregards a chance to gather feedback from the members of its community. "We really value ARMYs feedback because that way we can have an inclusive community," Anisa and Maryam said.
This approach also allows the fanbase to come up with more projects that are completely out of the box. When asked about future plans for the community, the admins teased about another large-scale project for a member of BTS, as well as more collaborations and giveaways. They also voiced their hopes to host an event as soon as the pandemic is over. Until then, the admins encouraged everyone to keep following Qatar's safety measures.
"I feel that we have been really passionate about what we have been working on and through the projects and event, ARMYs were able to see it, we work really hard on every project/event we host and hopefully we will continue to do bigger projects in Qatar and South Korea for BTS & the ARMYs," Maryam commented.
BTS has opened doors of opportunity and paved a way in the music industry but above it all, its music laced with special messages was able to bind fans regardless of cultural and language barriers. Doing the same, Qatar ARMYs is among a number of BTS fans in the country who passionately support the band. In a simple message, the admins of Qatar ARMYs expressed their gratitude to its fellow fans who continuously support the fanbase.
“We feel like we won’t be able to write how grateful we really are for having you all with us in this journey. You make us so happy with your support and messages, we hope Qatar ARMYs family grows larger so we can support BTS together! Fighting!!” the admins cheerfully concluded.
