[Interview] Stephan Kwast: CEO and owner of Megawatt

Summer Interview: "Our biggest challenge isn't winning more work, it's maintaining the highest quality in everything we do."

"For me, recharging isn't just about rest. It's about making time for each other, enjoying the moments we have, and accepting that not everything has to be perfect. And strangely enough, that's often when the best ideas emerge."

How do you look back at the first half of 2026?

As I answer these questions, I'm not sitting in the office but on the Tuscan coast. For the first time in years, my wife and I are spending two weeks on holiday together without our two sons, aged 20 and 16. With a rooftop tent on our car, we're travelling through Switzerland and Italy. One day we wake up on the roof of the car overlooking the mountains, the next we're enjoying an agriturismo or a winery in Tuscany. That variety helps us step away from the day-to-day business and look at Megawatt, our clients, and the future of our industry with fresh eyes.

I look back on the first half of the year with tremendous energy. Last year we welcomed several fantastic new clients, allowing us to start 2026 at full speed from day one. We expanded our creative team, developed outstanding campaigns, and further strengthened our 360° activation proposition.

For many years, Megawatt was primarily known as a creative experiential marketing agency. Since our repositioning at the beginning of 2024, however, more and more brands have engaged us as a full-service 360° activation agency. Today, most of our work consists of integrated projects in which strategy, creativity, experiential marketing, social media, influencer marketing, and PR & media are seamlessly connected from the very first briefing.

For several clients, we now serve as the lead agency. This means we are responsible for the entire process, from strategy and concept development to campaign execution. Other clients still turn to us for what we originally became known for: distinctive experiential marketing. Even there, we are seeing the same shift toward 360° activation. Brands are discovering that strong activations create the greatest impact when strategy, creativity, social media, PR, and influencer marketing are all part of the same story from the very beginning.

Our biggest growth is taking place internationally. We now develop campaigns for multiple European markets and produce experiences in a growing number of countries. Thanks to our network of local fixers, location scouts, and specialist partners, we can deliver activations from A to Z without sacrificing the flexibility and speed of an independent agency.

We're deliberately not building a traditional international agency network. Instead, we're creating a flexible European ecosystem that enables us to develop and execute campaigns across Europe from a single strategy, one creative concept, and one team. This perfectly aligns with our ambition to establish Megawatt as Europe's leading 360° activation agency.

Perhaps what I'm most proud of is our annual theme: "Fucking Happy Clients." It may sound simple, but it's the benchmark we use for every decision we make. Ultimately, our business isn't about creating campaigns; it's about genuinely helping brands move forward. When clients are enthusiastic about both the collaboration and the results, the impact on their brands follows naturally. For me, that's the foundation of every ambition we have.

What do you expect from the second half of 2026?

I expect the second half of 2026 to be at least as dynamic as the first. Summer is traditionally one of our busiest periods because many of our experiential marketing campaigns are executed then. Festivals, events, and offline activations are in full swing. Normally, new campaign briefings start arriving just before or immediately after the summer. This year, however, we've seen that flow continue throughout the entire summer, showing that marketers are planning further ahead and increasingly want us involved from an early stage.

We're also seeing our social media, influencer, and content activities become increasingly "always-on." While activations often have peak moments, content and social continue year-round. As a result, we think less in terms of individual campaigns and more about brands that want to remain continuously relevant.

Our biggest challenge, therefore, isn't winning more work but maintaining the highest quality in everything we do. Growth is valuable only if you can continue giving clients the same attention, energy, and creativity. That's ultimately why they choose us.

That's why we've expanded our creative team and continue investing in our capabilities. Clients value us because we have short communication lines, can move quickly, and are able to develop and execute complete 360° campaigns in a short timeframe. In a market that's moving faster than ever, that combination of creativity, speed, and execution is becoming increasingly important.

For the remainder of the year, we're making conscious choices. Our existing clients will always be our top priority. We believe far more in long-term partnerships than in simply acquiring as many new clients as possible. Perhaps that's the entrepreneur in me: I'd rather have ten genuinely enthusiastic clients than twenty who don't receive enough attention.

Ultimately, that's also the best way to live up to our annual theme. If we maintain that focus, I'm confident the second half of 2026 will be a worthy continuation of a strong first half.

How has your company changed over the past two years?

The past two years have probably been the most defining in Megawatt's history. We deliberately chose to merge four agencies into one Megawatt under a new positioning, and today we see that decision reflected in almost every briefing we receive.

Where we were once primarily known as a creative experiential marketing agency, we're now increasingly approached as a full 360° activation agency. We develop campaigns in which strategy, creativity, experiential marketing, social media, influencer marketing, and PR & media are integrated from the very first briefing—not as separate disciplines, but as one unified approach that truly moves brands forward.

Many agencies can develop strong strategic and creative concepts. Many others specialize in social media, influencer marketing, experiential marketing, or PR. But the combination of a strong strategic and creative concept, a distinctive online and offline experience, and complete execution—from 3D design and production to final activation—is rare. That combination is what differentiates us and why more and more brands choose Megawatt.

A second major change is our international expansion. A few years ago, we mainly operated in the Netherlands. Today, we develop and produce campaigns and activations across many European countries. Step by step, we're building a strong network of local partners, allowing us to deliver international activations while maintaining our flexibility and entrepreneurial approach. This perfectly matches our ambition to become Europe's leading 360° activation agency.

Internally, we've also changed significantly. We've consciously invested in greater seniority, experience, and strategic capability. As a result, we've become not only more creative but also better equipped to advise clients at a higher strategic level.

Perhaps what I appreciate most is that more and more talented people are deliberately choosing Megawatt. To me, that's one of the greatest compliments a company can receive. It suggests that our ambition, culture, and the freedom to work on impactful campaigns truly resonate with people.

Looking back, the biggest change is that we're no longer seen as an agency that simply creates great activations. Instead, we're viewed as a partner that helps brands grow through integrated 360° activation. That's exactly the direction we envisioned when we set our new course at the beginning of 2024.

Have you figured out AI yet?

Yes, actually we have—for quite some time now. For me, the discussion is no longer about whether you use AI. Almost everyone does. The real question is how you use AI in a way that consistently adds value to your organisation.

As an independent agency, we can't dedicate an entire AI team to working on it full-time like some large international agency networks can. That's precisely why we have to make smart choices—not by testing every new AI tool that appears, but by making AI a genuine part of how we work.

That's why we've developed a multi-year AI strategy outlining how AI will make Megawatt smarter, more consistent, and more efficient over the coming years.

Today, we use AI across many different areas—not to replace people, but to better preserve knowledge, quality, and ways of working. AI helps us work more consistently, become less dependent on individual expertise, and ensure quality remains intact even as teams change or colleagues move on.

At the same time, we're realistic. AI won't replace influencers. It won't build an experience at Lowlands or Down The Rabbit Hole, come up with a clever social media idea, or conceive, produce, and execute an international activation. The strength of our profession will always remain human creativity, entrepreneurship, collaboration, and the ability to genuinely connect with people.

In fact, I believe AI will widen the gap between agencies in the coming years. The technology will be available to everyone. The real differentiator won't be the tools themselves but how effectively you embed them into your organisation. As AI becomes more accessible, human creativity, entrepreneurship, and collaboration will become even more valuable.

And that's exactly what we're investing in.

What book are you reading?

This holiday I brought two books that are essentially about the same thing: getting the best out of yourself, your team, and ultimately your clients. That fits perfectly with our philosophy at Megawatt: Supercharge Yourself. Supercharge Your Team. Supercharge Your Clients.

The first book is Radical Candor by Kim Scott. What appeals to me is the idea that real growth starts with radical honesty. If you want to achieve exceptional performance, you must also be willing to challenge one another. No politically correct conversations or protecting each other from difficult truths—just honest feedback that sharpens people and helps everyone improve every day. Not because you want to criticize, but because you genuinely want to bring out the best in one another. I truly believe the strongest teams are built when people dare to challenge each other, maintain high standards, and refuse to settle for mediocrity. Sometimes that requires uncomfortable conversations, but in the long run they're far more valuable than avoiding conflict out of convenience.

The second book is No Rules Rules by Reed Hastings and Erin Meyer. Netflix is, of course, a fascinating company, but because we have the privilege of working for Netflix, I find it particularly interesting to better understand how they view culture, leadership, and quality. The better I understand what drives them, the better we can align with them. At the same time, it helps me further develop our own organisation. What appeals to me most is that Netflix continuously reinvents itself. They never settle for "good enough"; they keep challenging themselves to improve. I recognise that ambition because it perfectly matches the culture we want to build at Megawatt.

What I love is that both books ultimately revolve around the same principle. If you first invest in yourself, then build a team that helps one another improve every day, and create a culture where quality matters more than comfort, the client ultimately benefits first. That's exactly what we're working on every single day.

What do you do during the summer to recharge your batteries?

I don't actually use the summer to recharge. That may sound strange, but I don't believe you can work flat out for eleven months and then fully recharge in just three weeks of holiday. Especially not in our business, where summer is one of the busiest periods of the year. At Megawatt, everything revolves around energy. That's why we're focused year-round on maintaining that energy. How do you keep the bowstring tight when needed, while also making sure it relaxes at the right moments? That requires conscious energy management, not just one long holiday. That's exactly the thinking behind Supercharge Yourself.

What summer does give me is space for inspiration. A great example was our visit to Cannes Lions at the end of June. This year we attended together with our clients Netflix, Heineken, and Swiss Sense—not to spend time on terraces, but to follow a substantive programme, listen to inspiring speakers, and engage with people who shape our industry every day. Those moments generate countless new ideas that we immediately bring back to both our clients and our own team.

Perhaps the most special part of this holiday is that, for the first time in years, I'm spending it alone with my wife, Chantal. Of course, we miss our boys, and it took some getting used to, but it also feels like a new phase in our lives. We're simply enjoying the moment: lying on the beach, doing very little, enjoying good food, a beer or a glass of wine, and not having to do anything. And yes, I can certainly complain sometimes. If a hotel disappoints, the food isn't great, or it's unbearably hot, I can become quite grumpy. That's just part of who I am—things don't easily feel good enough. Fortunately, that usually doesn't last long. I soon remind myself: come on, we're on holiday together. Let's just make the most of it. And we almost always do.

Of course, we occasionally talk about work. That's inevitable when you're both entrepreneurs. My wife founded the brand Boho-Tiffin – Fashion for Food, and I'm incredibly proud of her. But just as often we talk about other things, or we sit together in complete silence. That's exactly what makes it so enjoyable: spending quality time together, laughing a lot, and not constantly thinking about tomorrow.

What I especially enjoy witnessing up close is how she builds her business. She relies heavily on her instincts and intuition. If something doesn't feel right, she simply doesn't do it, even if it seems like the logical decision on paper. And if something excites her, she goes all in. I really admire that, especially because I sometimes tend to approach things much more rationally. Those conversations give me an entirely different perspective on entrepreneurship. It's not only enjoyable but incredibly educational.

So no, for me, recharging isn't just about rest. It's about making time for each other, enjoying the moments we have, and accepting that not everything has to be perfect. And strangely enough, that's often when the best ideas emerge.

Stephan Kwast is CEO and owner of  Megawatt

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