• by Shankar Gupta , August 14, 2006

Actor William Shatner, who rose to fame 40 years ago as Captain Kirk on "Star Trek," is tapping his still strong sci-fi fan base for a new online promotional effort.

The actor, author, and former pitchman for Priceline.com is seeking a spokesman for the William Shatner DVD Club--a subscription-based online DVD rental service owned by FullTurn Media. Applicants can compete by submitting their own videos to a Web site; Shatner will be on the panel of celebrity judges.

FullTurn spokesman Joshua Silberstein said the contest is aimed at finding a user who can help promote the site with their love of science fiction--and of course, Shatner. "There's a tremendous amount of talent out there, and we're hoping to find original minds or actors who can show us a creative side of stuff that's related to sci-fi," he said.

The contest has the potential to be a big viral hit, because both Shatner and the "Star Trek" franchise continue to have tremendously dedicated fans, said Pete Blackshaw, chief marketing officer with Nielsen BuzzMetrics, "Anything that even peripherally touches the 'Star Trek' cult has not only huge viral potential but also has a special branded mystique around it," he said. "Shatner seems to have almost perpetual shelf life as a spokesman--a combination of Trekkie cult and camp that keeps it alive."

He added that "Star Trek" fans were huge promoters of the show long before consumers routinely made themselves heard online. "Trekkies were the gold standard of viral evangelism for brands. They were the early trendsetters of so much of what we talk about today in terms of ambassadors and evangelists," he said. "With this particular group, you're going to see a lot of creative stuff."

So far, the early contest entries range from simple video pitches for the spokesmanship to more bizarre creative efforts. One video features a man swimming after a stingray. When the stingray escapes, the man surfaces and bellows, "Khaaaaaaan!"--Kirk's iconic line from "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan:" Or at least, that's what it sounds like. He's got a snorkel on.

The contest is set to run until September 30. The winning video will be featured on the ShatnerDVDclub.com Web site, and the winner will have the option to help create more video to promote the service. The winning video will be selected from 10 finalists voted on by a panel of celebrity judges, including Shatner. The site also is running a second contest to promote the service; users can enter to win a personalized answering machine message recorded by Shatner.

"Star Trek" fans are apparently ahead of the curve when it comes to downloading and sharing video. According to data released by Nielsen//NetRatings, visitors to StarTrek.com are 764 percent more likely than the average Web user to download video podcasts.