When brands talk about “authenticity” in 2026, most still mean influencer partnerships or polished testimonial videos. Jesse Eisenberg means something else entirely: unscripted conversations with real people, filmed on the street, and optimized for paid performance.

As co-founder and CEO of StreetTalk, the New York-based agency formerly known as 203Media, Jesse is building what he describes as the world’s largest street interview ad agency. The company specializes in vertical video ads built around spontaneous, man-on-the-street–style conversations designed to drive measurable outcomes, not just views.

“The audience that’s watching the ads recognizes these are real people whom they can trust,” Jesse says. “In a world in which you can’t trust corporations, here’s somebody that you can actually trust.”

A Performance Marketing Foundation

Before StreetTalk, Jesse spent nearly two decades inside Tinuiti, where he rose from entry-level paid search account manager to Chief Commercial Officer. Over his tenure, he helped drive more than $500 million in new annual recurring revenue and led sales, marketing, partnerships, innovation, and revenue operations.

“I’ve seen a company grow from a million to five to 10, to 20, to 50 to 100 to 200,” he says. “And that’s exactly what we’re trying to do here.”

But as Tinuiti scaled to 1,000 employees and $250 million in revenue, Jesse felt a pull back to entrepreneurship.

“I had that itch to go back to entrepreneurialism,” he explains. “I wanted to get back to faster growth and selling something simpler, more like a product versus a truly competitive professional service. StreetTalk was the most appealing offer to me, because I knew the impact I could drive. I think there’s a massive growth opportunity here.”

StreetTalk, though structured as a creative agency, operates more like a productized solution: defined onboarding, fast turnaround, subscription-style creative production, and performance tracking integrated into paid media systems.

Why Street Interviews?

StreetTalk’s core insight is that brands are facing both creative fatigue and a trust deficit. In Jesse’s view, influencer marketing, while still powerful, has become increasingly transactional.

“You’re seeing an eroding trust in influencers because people know now that they are transactional and they’re paid just like actors,” Jesse says. “What’s left? They’re seeing the most value in authenticity.”

He also points to platform shifts. “Meta’s Andromeda Update is calling for diverse creative concepts,” he says.

StreetTalk’s answer is what Jesse calls “conversation creative” – unscripted interviews that serve as testimonials, entertainment, and mid-funnel persuasion in one.

“A lot of agencies talk about the mid funnel and sequential creative,” he says. “But rarely do they actually recommend a format that is the most conducive to the mid funnel and driving consideration. What is a great format for the mid-funnel? Testimonials.”

Jesse notes that traditional testimonials (actors in white rooms) often feel staged. In contrast, he describes StreetTalk’s version as raw, public, and dynamic.

“We actually offer a format that’s a true customer testimonial that addresses the mid-funnel, yet also drives bottom funnel outcomes.”

How the Model Works

For new clients, the pipeline is streamlined:

“Week one, we do the onboarding and briefing. Week two, we do the shoot. In week three, we handle editing, revisions, and feedback. By week four, they’re ready to upload their creative and start to track the KPIs with us.”

StreetTalk operates in six cities, allowing brands to rotate hosts, neighborhoods, products, and angles each month. The company focuses primarily on consumer brands, particularly those with demonstrable moments or clear differentiators.

“Brands that either have an ‘aha’ moment, a reaction moment, are a good fit,” Jesse explains. “That could be something you taste, you smell, or just a novel product that people haven’t experienced before.”

Products in crowded categories also benefit. “Conversations are a great organic way to communicate and convey all the different reasons as to why you should consider this product over your competitor,” Jesse says.

However, he points out that the format is not universally effective. B2B has proven challenging.

“You don’t really get the same reactions from unveiling a feature of a SaaS product,” Jesse says. “So B2B’s tend to be, as of today, something we are not focused on.”

Performance Over Impressions

Unlike many creative agencies, StreetTalk leads with performance metrics.

“Our account average return on ad spend (ROAS) is 1.53. And with your ads, we’re seeing 2.73 ROAS,” Jesse recounts from a recent client email. “Which is 70% more efficient than their account average.”

He also tracks hook rate, 50% video view rate, and 100% completion rates to assess mid-funnel engagement.

Meta recently shared data reinforcing a format insight: “Our Reels that are 30 to 45 seconds are performing 40% better than reels typically 45 to 60 seconds long.”

These insights inform ongoing iteration.

“Let’s stick with this creative angle. Let’s scrap that one. Let’s stick with this host. Let’s do more of that product or SKU (Stock Keeping Unit).”

Hosts as the Core Asset

At the center of the model are StreetTalk’s hosts. Jesse describes them as the company’s “X factors.”

“You need to be charismatic, eloquent, think on your feet, memorize a brief, and have the stamina to be out there. Zero social anxiety. You can get rejected and come out the next day.”

Rejection is constant. “The majority of people that we attempt to stop on the street and take an interview say no.”

That friction is both a challenge and a moat. “We tried, and it’s a lot more difficult than we realized,” Jesse says, adding that it’s a common thing he hears from brands that even do all of their other creative in-house.

StreetTalk now invests heavily in host development and is turning into a hybrid production-and-management model.

“We want to invest in them, we want to train them, and we want to help them grow a sustainable income,” he says. “To some extent, it’s a management agency as well.”

AI and the Authenticity Divide

Amid the AI-generated content flood in users’ feeds, StreetTalk positions itself on the opposite end of the spectrum.

“I think that AI is here to stay as its own category,” Jesse says. “I don’t think there’ll ever be one exclusive format.”

He believes AI can support strategy and editing, but not replace the human core.

“People enjoy and engage in that content because they know it’s authentic. The second they realize it’s AI, it loses all of its allure.”

The Mindset Shift He Wants Brands to Make

Jesse argues that media budgets are often over-weighted relative to creative experimentation.

“Brands right now are continuing to invest the same in media without recognizing things are changing around you,” he says. “Brands should be cutting their media budgets by 10%, investing more in creative, see what’s resonating, then scale media back up again.”

He sees a split between early adopters and laggards. “There are two cohorts of brands. Those that are always going to be slow to move and those that are hiring StreetTalk right now.”

For Jesse, the broader industry impact is about trust on both sides.

“Brands are going to be perceived as more trustworthy if they’re willing to share real customer testimonials,” he says. “Consumers are going to be better informed to make the right decisions.”

The Next Phase

In the near future, Jesse is focused less on format and more on leadership.

“I’m excited to build a team of A players, delegate, give autonomy, and empower them as owners,” he says. “That’s what I’m most excited about, getting the right team in place.”

For a founder who left a scaled performance giant to join what he calls a “rocket ship,” the ambition is clear: turn unscripted conversations into a repeatable, category-defining performance channel, one street interview at a time.