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It's an important distinction because as Zuckerberg and other Facebookers see it, the system represents the convergence of different types of messaging under a social media umbrella. For sure, the new platform will compete on some level with traditional email platforms such as Yahoo and Gmail. The Facebook service, code-named Titan, will provide users with a full history of their communication exchanges as well as abilities to filter friends and set other preferences.

Without a doubt, Titan is a direct assault at Google as the two companies continue to wage battle over user activity and ad dollars. But for marketing leaders, there are other lessons that can be drawn from its launch.

For starters, the release of Titan clearly reflects the direction of personal communications, particularly between GenYers. The only reason many young people have email accounts in the first place are as a pre-requisite for registering for social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Anyone who has a teenager or knows one recognizes that they don't send emails to one another: they tweet, they text, they Facebook (which, like Google, has morphed into a verb).

My 15 year-old daughter is a prime example of this. If she needs to contact a friend, she either texts them or reaches out to them on Facebook. To her and other kids, email is passé. Dialing the phone is downright prehistoric.

This doesn't mean email is dead. There are millions of people who will continue to rely on email for work and for social communications. Still, the emergence of Titan is a strong reminder that marketers need to remain nimble in the ways they communicate with different customer segments and ensure that they're using the right communications vehicles to reach the right audience the way they want to be communicated with.