Yesterday was a proud day for our little team at Team One. Within hours, we were able to get up and running a pretty slick brand Google+ page for Lexus. Kudos to ALL involved in the project.

It’s funny, when we look at “new technology”, the knee jerk reflex is to dismiss and push to the wayside. Things like Google Wave and Buzz all linger in our collective psyche and we think, “bah, here we go, talking to ourselves again” (marketing folks to marketing folks). But we have to sit back and think about what *really* is going on here.

From a marketing perspective, we always have to be mindful of these subtle shifts in behavior to truly unlock and appreciate the depth of new technology – its less about loving or hating “Google Plus” as a platform. If you’re to look at today’s events from a high level — you see a couple things. First, the ability to use Hangouts could be SUPER interesting as evidenced by the Muppets hangout promoting their upcoming movie. Yes, it was filled with glitches and ultimately could be viewed as a bit of a failure, but it was a chance, an experiment. And the reality is there were SO many people who wanted to join that it crashed the system. I still think that counts for a little #winning. And the Dali Lama joining the proverbial conversation with people and disciples around the world is also beyond fascinating.

Secondly, the way the platform is structured, it forces consumers to figure out “how” brands play out in their lives (ask the ever-important question: “what circle do they go in?”) We had a similar ask of consumers when Facebook asked brands to be “friends”, which evolved in nomenclature to “like” (again, it’s the beauty of beta–stuff changes). Again, subtle behavior changes that then become vernacular of everyday life before you know it – “liking” a brand is not a weird thing anymore is it?

Yes, we all know the realities of what Google+ may or may not be long-term. That’s the beautiful thing about “stuff of the internet”–we don’t know yet. But what we can do is experiment, play and make a few missteps. And then make some massive leaps forward. Make small bets and the payoff could surprise you.