To promote a new gorilla habitat, the London Zoo came up with a virtual gorilla. You download it to your desktop, then make sure all its needs are taken care of: food, water, etc. In time, the baby gorilla will grow into a mighty silverback. (I’m waiting for a virtual Jane Goodall to show up and park herself in the corner of my monitor, taking notes on my gorilla.)

Basically, this is a retread of the Tamagotchi phenomenon. It’s a cool toy that hooks kids in, educates them a little, and clutters up mom’s computer.

But, on another level, this is a good example of building user / visitor / donor engagement. You need these people to care about what you do: you can’t just appeal to their intellect, you have to go for the heart as well. If you’re going to get your message to rise above the static of all the other urgent appeals out there, you have to find an emotional resonance with your audience. And if you can do that over a longer term - say, the lifespan of a virtual gorilla - all the better.

Speaking of which, my gorilla needs a little attention right now, or he’s going to trash my desktop…