• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, January 18, 2012

Jon Mandel, the long-time top media buying executive and former chief of a Nielsen arm, has taken over as CEO at PrecisionDemand, a Seattle-based firm that looks to apply online and direct-marketing techniques to upgrade TV buying ROI.

Mandel also sits on the board of the company, backed by venture capital. His new role was first reported by Ad Age.

Before joining Nielsen in 2006, where he remained as CEO of NielsenConnect until 2009, he spent years at arms of Grey Global Group and helped establish the dedicated media agency MediaCom, which he led for years.

At NielsenConnect, he tried to move towards establishing a sturdy single-source measurement service that would tie the impact of TV viewing on customer-purchase behavior.

Multiple companies have been trying to establish leadership in the single-source business, which has been helped along by the availability of set-top-box data.

Recently, Mandel has been operating a consulting business with clients ranging from eXelate, which works in online targeting, to TiVo to a place-based media network IndoorDirect.