Moontoast becomes Spendsetter as new CEO takes helm

Moontoast, a Nashville social media marketing company, is changing its name, business model and leadership five months after buying loyalty rewards company Spendship, with co-founder Marcus Whitney leaving his chief technology officer position at the company he helped build seven years ago.

Jason Weaver, founder of Spendship, will replace Blair Heavey as CEO and lead the company as it focuses on mobile technology and rewarding consumers for brand advocacy on social media. The company will be called Spendsetter, and the headquarters will move to Nashville from Boston.

"We have taken a look at the landscape in the marketing industry and have determined that mobile advocacy is the most ready opportunity for our business," Weaver said. "There are a lot of clients that we are working with that are very interested in tapping into their advocates via our mobile platform."

Whitney, recognized as a tech leader in Nashville, and Heavey, who has led the company from Boston since 2010, are pursuing other opportunities and left on good terms. Whitney declined to share his plans but confirmed that he left voluntarily and that the transition is a good move for him. He will remain a shareholder and advisor, as will Heavey.

Since launching in 2007, Moontoast has built a customer base -- which includes big name brands Toyota and Nissan -- by offering interactive advertising across all social networks and on mobile devices. The company bought Spendship in May to engage with consumers more through its incentive model. For Spendship, the merger meant greater access to big brands, Weaver said at the time. Through the acquisition, he became chief product officer at Moontoast.

Weaver launched Spendship in December and within six months gained more than 100 clients, with thousands of consumers engaging with those brands through Spendship. To build the company, he raised $1.6 million for Spendship, largely through the Martin Cos. in Nashville. The venture firm, now called Martin Ventures, led a $4.5 million investment in Moontoast in January.

Under the new structure, the company's Boston office, which has a few employees, will shut down and maintain its San Francisco office. Weaver said he expects to add as many as 10 new people in the next quarter to the Nashville staff now made up of about 30.

The new company will utilize insights gained through Moontoast's model, such as how users behave on mobile devices versus desktop and on different platforms -- Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and LinkedIn -- and what content most resonates with them. Spendsetter will combine that knowledge with Spendship's technology that encourages people to share brands' marketing campaigns with their friends and followers through incentives, all with a heavy focus on mobile."

"Our brightest future lies ahead in mobile," Weaver said. "We think that's the future."

Reach Jamie McGee at 615-259-8071 and on Twitter @JamieMcGee_.