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In the latest of its efforts in social branding, Yahoo has announced a partnership agreement with Pontiac to develop an online hub geared specifically to the community of enthusiasts supporting the automobile manufacturer’s products.

Furthering efforts to reinvent itself in the niche of social search, Yahoo has revealed plans to launch another in its ongoing series of “brand universes” which bring together different facets of content centering on a particular product or company.

The theme in question with Yahoo’s latest offering revolves around the Pontiac brand, and the assortment of vehicles that the auto manufacturer produces.

"With Yahoo!'s leading social media platform, it's exciting to finally be able to bring our GTO fans, G6 fans, Solstice fans, old Firebird or Chief fans, Vibe fans - ALL Pontiac online communities together," said Pontiac Marketing Director Mark-Hans Richer. "Pontiac Underground is almost all consumer-generated - it's their community, we're just trying to add to it."

Just how will Pontiac add to the Yahoo community? What features will the brand universe have to offer users? Take a look:

-- Videos and Photos - Leveraging Flickr and Yahoo! Video, users can view and add to extensive galleries of Pontiac videos and photos of cars. These galleries allow users to see relevant multimedia content aggregated from across Yahoo! and the Web.

-- The Latest News & Information - With Pontiac Informer, users can see the latest articles, links and information from other sites, submit their own directly, and rate them up or down. Additionally, this feature also pulls relevant Pontiac links from deli.cio.us.

-- Knowledge Sharing - Leveraging the knowledge base of Yahoo! Answers, Pontiac Underground provides a place for users to get the answers they are looking for, as well as share their knowledge with the community.

-- Creating Offline Connections - An aggregated list of Pontiac clubs, Yahoo! Groups and events allows users to connect both online and offline.

-- Official Blog - Named "Inside Track," Pontiac will use this platform as its primary means of communication with its enthusiast audience. The "Inside Track" blog will provide users with exclusive news and images directly from Pontiac.

"As a pioneer in social media, Yahoo! is always looking for ways to connect people to their passions," said Jennifer Dulski, vice president and general manager, Yahoo! Autos. "This new platform delivers on a largely untapped opportunity for brands to use social media tools to engage in conversation with consumers in an authentic and appropriate way."

Call me crazy, but I’m really excited about what Yahoo is doing in focusing on becoming a more socially driven platform. It’s like the company has decided to relax, quit worrying about Google, and just focus on providing Internet users with a pretty cool place to hang out.

And of course, the longer they hang out, the more sponsor advertisements they will come across as well.

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