An Interview with Maeve Dohogne, Executive Creative Director at Edward Jones

Maeve Dohogne of Edward Jones will be the host of this yearamp8217s InHouse Agency Conference The inaugural recipient of the ANAamp8217s InHouse Leader of the Year award Maeve is in forward motion inspiring creative excellence and genuine partnership The ANAamp8217s Peter Kenigsberg spoke with Maeve about her views of the industry outlooks for the future expectations for the conference and morePeter Kenigsberg ANA Edward Jones operates in a highly regulated and trustamp8209driven category How do you and your team approach creativity in a way thatamp8217s both compelling and authentic to the brandMaeve Dohogne Edward Jones I think a lot of creativity can come from exploration within constraints I have said before that I love a really tight brief Not a prescriptive one per se but one where itamp8217s clear what the edges are What is the singular problem to solve What is our crisp message What is the shining insight about our audience Because when you know where the edges are you can focus your creative energy on what to do with the space you actually have The same goes for regulations We have to know the rules not so that we fear them but so that we can play within them and play right alongside the edges From a brand standpoint we have to know what makes us us And we have to be obsessed with the people we want to reach There arenamp8217t always clear written rules which is part of the fun So we ask ourselves if Edward Jones was a person how would they show up in this new situation that theyamp8217ve never been in before What feels true to us and is relatable to this new person we want to talk to so we get invited into the next conversationKenigsberg Inamp8209house agencies are often asked to balance speed efficiency and quality From your experience what helps creative teams do their best work within those realitiesDohogne Iamp8217d boil it down to three things input inspiration and decisionmaking As much as we want to have 100 of the information at a kickoff you donamp8217t always But sometimes 80 or 90 is all you need to get moving We recognize the importance of people being on the same page before work gets too far along So getting the right input from the right people at the outset Critical Then knowing who HAS to weigh in on the work before it goes out the door Donamp8217t hear me say we love an impossible timeline haha but on the flipside you can overdebate a thing to death Strong creatives must know how to navigate ambiguity to make work that sparks productive collaboration especially in early rounds as things takes shape Strong creative leaders must know how to navigate amp8220matrixedamp8221 decisionmaking so the work doesnamp8217t get watered down And perhaps most importantly you have to stay inspired and inspire others so that the bar stays high We want our people to feel great about the conditions theyamp8217re given to work within the reason theyamp8217re doing the work and the potential impact they can make If you donamp8217t want to do great work it doesnamp8217t matter if youamp8217re fastKenigsberg How do you foster strong collaboration between creative teams and broader marketing strategy or business partners inside the organizationDohogne At the risk of sounding cheesyamp8230 Keeping our eyes on the prize we are all trying to help our business serve more clients in more valuable ways To do that we have to know and respect one anothersamp8217 strengths and perspectives speak the same language pick the right battles andamp8230 be people that people want to work withKenigsberg What should inhouse leaders be paying most attention to in 2026 as they look to increase headcount and grow scopeDohogne Iamp8217ll answer this with my amp8220word of the yearamp8221 balance and some questions weamp8217re wrestling with that I think are broadly relatable How do we take on more of the work we want to do without burning out our people How do we remain open to new partners without becoming a team who just manages other peoplesamp8217 work How do we adopt technology in a way that makes life easier without robbing us of our human strengths How do we expand our team tomorrow with new talent and perspectives and maintain the things we love about who we are and what we do todayKenigsberg As AI becomes more embedded in marketing workflows what should leaders be thinking about to ensure investments are both responsible and effectiveDohogne Back to that word amp8220balanceamp8221amp8230 Thereamp8217s the need to both test out new tech to see how you might use it and make sure youamp8217re not building a hyperfragmented tech stack along the way If you can invest small in pilots or the like before you invest big And invite others in to test alongside you because maybe they could benefit too Then once you are ready to invest big build in the rigor measurement governance oversight to make sure that youamp8217re balancing business benefit with brand integrityKenigsberg What are you most looking forward to at the 2026 ANA InHouse Agency ConferenceDohogne I came away from last yearamp8217s conference feeling so proud to be part of the inhouse world I am looking forward to hearing about the incredible work that teams are making and the big problems theyamp8217re solving how theyamp8217re changing the way they work how theyamp8217ve made it through trials and triumphs how theyamp8217ve come up with surprising ideasamp8230 I know I will be so impressed by the talent on stage and in the audience and I canamp8217t wait to be thereFor more information about this yearamp8217s conference and to register please click hereThis article was written by Peter Kenigberg Senior Director Brand and Media at the ANAPosted at MediaVillage through the Thought Leadership selfpublishing platformClick the social buttons to share this story with colleagues and friendsThe opinions expressed here are the author39s views and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillageorgMyersBizNet

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