McKenzie has also caused waves by going public with her complaints about TBWA, and claiming the agency and its curly-haired creative chief Trevor Beattie were struggling to break away from the Wonderbra-style "lads' ads that made them famous in the 90s. McKenzie said she didn't want 'Hello Boys' advertising - so had to say goodbye boys.
It was all great knockabout stuff for the national press, making for headlines about sexism and laddism in lingerie advertising. By now you're probably beginning to have an inkling of why TBWA at the time of the split suggested McKenzie was a "difficult client to work with.
But calling her difficult, in truth, seems a bit of a cop out. It implies vanity and ego overriding what's best for the brand. Those who know McKenzie say that's not her style. "She speaks her mind and she wants to be heard, but not to the exclusion of other voices, says one agency source who worked with her during her time at Mothercare.
Her background is in retail with stints at Bhs, Mothercare and Arcadia, and says her personality best suits organisations that appreciate the need for change to keep up with the consumer.
Sitting in the West End offices of Sara Lee, Gossard's parent company, she rejects the idea that she's a difficult client. "Some people might call me difficult - because I have a strong point of view about my brand.
But no, I wouldn't agree with that. I've worked with lots of people in some very stressful situations, and no one has ever told me that I'm difficult.
"If TBWA thinks that then it's because it's probably not used to being challenged by its clients."
McKenzie, it should be said, doesn't come across as difficult. Dedicated and driven - definitely. She's even a little bit scarily evangelical about her lingerie lines - forcing me to look through all the new catalogues and photography for the Gossard range (okay, not forcing me exactly).
McKenzie is, in fact, refreshingly candid in her comments and attitude, compared with many marketers who don't want to publicly rock the client-agency boat. Never once during the interview does she utter the words "off the record".
On TBWA, she says the reason for the breakdown was simple - the agency didn't want to listen: "I began to discover that Trevor was fine as long as I loved his ideas. The minute I challenged something, it was a problem.
I think as an agency it's a bit guilty of treating Trevor like a demi-god, and actually Trevor doesn't necessarily behave like that. But it forever bows to him and is frightened to challenge him. TBWA declined to comment on her views.
As far as Partners BDDH, her first agency, is concerned, McKenzie says it never really understood what she wanted from Gossard's advertising.
She says one of the executions the agency pitched was an ad showing women running across a cricket pitch stripping off their clothes because they were so pleased to be wearing matching underwear. McKenzie recounts the tale, and looks both amused and exasperated. "The agency just didn't get it, she says. It's a phrase the 34-year-old Scot uses a lot. Her world is clearly divided up into people who "get it and those who don't. When McKenzie talks about getting it - she means changing the rules and conventions of lingerie marketing, putting the focus on women as consumers - shopping for themselves - rather than men.
She has spent the past ten months relaunching the Gossard, Berlei and Berlei Shock Absorber brands: new designs, new packaging, catalogues and promotions.
And she wants Gossard's advertising to reflect this focus on women and the fact that they don't buy their underwear for the benefit of men - but for themselves.
It's a simple enough point, but one she has so far had trouble getting across to advertising agencies. WARL, the latest advertising agency to take up the task, is working on a TV campaign for Gossard's new range of g-strings and "really gets it according to McKenzie.
She admits it's sometimes hard for her to articulate what is and isn't right in the advertising she wants for her brands. "It's definitely a nuance and it's such a fine line you can easily get it wrong". What she doesn't want, she says, is the "tits-out-for-the-lads stuff we've all seen before".
But she's also keen to dispel the idea that this is some kind of politically-correct crusade to remove sex from lingerie advertising. "I never said I didn't want the women in Gossard ads to look sexy. I said I wanted our ads to show women as feminine, sophisticated, polished and beautiful.
"Being all of those things of course makes them sexy. It's not about being PC - it's about talking to women in our advertising instead of men". Got it?
BIOGRAPHY
1990-1992: Stores marketing manager, Bhs
1992-1995: Head of stores marketing, Mothercare
1995-1999: Consultant
1999-2001: Head of marketing, womenswear brands, Arcadia
2001-present: UK marketing director, Gossard
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