Everyone knows Star Trek fans (Trekkies, Trekkers, etc.) are a different sort. Fans of the original series (TOS, in Trek-speak) are particularly nuts – after all, a vast majority of them still think William Shatner can actually act.

Ok, that was a joke.

In the history of entertainment, though, Star Trek fans are unusually fanatical in their devotion to the mythos. They rescued the series from its first cancellation (“Arrested Development” fans, take note); proppelled it through a series of hit and miss big screen appearances (hint: just see the even-numbered movies); and helped make the resulting spin-off television series the most successful in the short history of television syndication. Star Trek is a “franchise” built around a very unique brand.

So what happens when the ownership of a brand shifts from the creator/franchisor (in this case, Paramount Pictures) to the devoted fan? Brand Autopsy’s blogger, John Moore, provides this account of extreme customer evangelism as a case study in the making.

According to the IMBD Database, Paramount agreed to allow the producers of Star Trek: The New Voyages to make their show on the condition that no profit was to be garnered from the project. Trek message boards are buzzing with the news that original series stars like Walter Koenig (Ensign Pavel Chekov) and Grace Lee Whitney (Yeoman Rand) have agreed to appear in episodes of the fan-produced show.

Whether you’re a Star Trek fan or not, this is going to be an interesting story to follow. Sci-fi and fantasy devotees have always tried to co-opt characters and story lines before (there are scads of “unauthorized” stories using characters from Star Trek, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, etc. – some of it pornographic and none of it particularly good). But it’s always been considered on the “fringe” of fandom and policed pretty well.

In this case, the intellectual property of the Star Trek franchise is being leveraged to a whole new degree with the help of the studio and the show’s original stars. (A more detailed review of what’s actually happening with Star Trek: New Voyages can be found here.) But all this makes me wonder: at what point will Paramount take over and turn this into a money-making venture?

We’ll keep this on our long-range sensors and report back from time to time.

(Thanks to other bloggers for bringing this to my attention: Jack Yan at Beyond Branding and Johnny Moore at Johnnie Moore’s Weblog)

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