The idea that “marketing strategy” is needed to promote service in the United States Army probably gets a lot of disapproving head shaking and what’s-the-world-coming-to sighs from older, senior soldiers. It is not that the armed forces haven’t always had to market themselves to people who would rather not have a gun as part of their office supplies; but to use the terms “marketing” and “brand strategy,” well, those are the tactics used to sell… tampons. Yet, “selling” service is the reality and the Army is using the marketing mix just as any product would. Of course part of its outreach includes the Web.

The United States Army has two primary websites: Army.mil and Goarmy.com. Army.mil is the official homepage of the Unites States Army and largely serves those who rise and sleep under the blanket the Army provides. Because of this it is largely functional and not designed for “branding” as much as doing the day-to-day heavy lifting that any huge organization’s internally-focused website might. In the corporate world such a site would usually not be public. Goarmy.com is the Army’s “customer” facing online presence.

Goarmy.com addresses the new visitor largely as almost any product’s website might, with a rousing video that ends with the oldest marketing device in the book: The testimonial (i.e., “Don’t take our word for it. Have a listen to one of our happy customers.”)

Goarmy.com’s goals are twofold: 1) Provide the information that visitors may be looking for, while 2) selling them on the idea of service. It is a safe bet that anyone who finds his or her way to the site probably has at least a fleeting interest. But an interest in what? The site does an admirable job of trying to address the larger possibilities across its top nav, addressing parents, benefits, careers, and “Soldier Life.” At first glance the sheer number of similar looking buttons do create a little bit of an eye fit; this goes away once one realizes how these buttons are organized. The “Contact the Army” section is prominent. Not prominent enough, however, is grouping of the “Army TV” section.

Also, the site’s use of a right side navigation bar is a twist that pays off, setting it apart from most sites. It is curious that, given visitors’ well established look-left-first bias, more sites don’t use the opportunity to hit there with their strongest message and then allow eyes to wander to the right.

And kudos to Goarmy for not replaying the welcome video when a visitor returns to the homepage. While this seems like it should be a no-brainer, in practice it (sadly) is not.

One has to believe that the Army’s website is meant to work in concert with the rest of its marketing efforts—including in-person recruiters, TV ads, that veteran uncle who thinks it would be a great idea—to create an overall brand of which a guy, or gal, would want to be a part.

But overall, branding the Army is perversely paradoxical and, for those tasked with the task, full of frustrating little switchbacks. Take for instance the fact that during recent major conflicts (Vietnam, Iraq) public opinion of individuals who are in the Army soared to incredible heights, while during the exact same time period, opinion of the Army as an organization—and, consequently, the desire to join said Army—tanked. To state the obvious: The very times the Army needs to create an incredibly strong brand to attract recruits are the very times it has the most difficulty creating a strong brand. In this respect, when addressing the Army’s quandary, one might employ some specific military terminology, FUBAR.