Not that the family-run brand is adverse to innovation. The inventor of lingerie staples such as the strapless bra, matching lingerie sets and the G-string, Aubade has stood for quality and creativity in the underwear world for years. But it was only in the early 90s that things really started hotting up.

Seeking to revitalize the then-flagging brand, CEO Ann-Charlotte Pasquier fell in love with a publicist's idea to market each new set of underwear as a “lesson” in seducing men. The idea took, and Pasquier now spends over 12 percent of the company's annual budget on marketing and communication. Sales have soared from €15 million (US$18M) in1992, when the lessons campaign first launched, to $50 million (US$60M) in 2002.

A new campaign is released four to five times a year. The photographs are shot in black and white and show a beautifully proportioned woman in Aubade underwear. The lesson is provocative and slightly tongue in cheek. "The message lightens up the game of love and makes it more fun," explains Françoise Barthelémy, chairman of Carlin International, the advertising agency behind the campaign. "It's the anti-porno chic," she adds. Aubade was the first in France to advertise underwear in serious news magazines. The move helped differentiate the brand and reach a male audience.

The lessons are intended to draw women together by sharing tips on how to charm a man, but are risqué enough to appeal to men. Lesson Number Two pictures a perfectly shaped woman's bottom in lacy underwear and reads "Take him by his emotions." Lesson Number 37 shows a bare-breasted sylph and suggests "Stop annoying him." Lesson Number 52 depicts a model's curvy back in a laced-up corset and says "Strengthen the ties."

The campaign never shows the model's face. The strategy is that the woman can better identify with the faceless body, while the ads are still sexy enough for a man to feel he is buying something special. It is also an ingenious cost-cutting strategy as the company does not have to pay reproduction rights on the photographs. The classy feel of the black and white pictures help position Aubade as a luxury brand.

The brand has come a long way since founder Bernard Matussière opened a corset company in 1875. Generations on, Aubade still boasts high quality craftsmanship and savoir-faire from the days when each corset was made individually by hand. (It can still take up to 24 different operations to make one Aubade bra.) But corsets were ditched in the 1960s in favor of less severe underwear. The sixties saw the launch of the company's first advertising campaign, a precursor to the lessons, which showed a woman in her naughties and a man lying on an unmade bed. "For these moments of tenderness, Aubade is your discreet accomplice," the advert read. The campaign's cheeky undertones were very innovative at a time when underwear was seen purely as functional product.

The lingerie market has exploded over the last ten years, and Aubade has obviously benefited from this. But the brand has also profited from savvy management. Capitalizing on the lessons enduring success, the company launched other merchandise in the late 90s. Taking a leaf from the popular Pirelli nude calendars, an Aubade calendar was first launched in 1998. It comes out annually, and has become a collector's item. Other merchandise includes coffee table books, diaries, note pads and a CD.

The adverts still work wonders today, but can the honeymoon last forever? Barthelémy believes the campaign's endurance is exactly what makes it so successful: "People won't get bored as the campaign has become a reference – people wait for the next one to come out. Today men who were thirteen when the campaign was launched tell us it's their favorite."

Barthelémy could be right. Over the last decade, Aubade has managed to position itself as a sexy, yet classy brand – equally appealing to both men and women. The campaign's message is clear: create desire, and give consumers (both men and women) a way to fulfill that desire through purchase of the product. To charm her man, a woman must buy Aubade lingerie. To obtain a woman as sexy as the model in the ad, a man must buy her Aubade underwear. Either way, for Aubade it's a winner.

Emilie Boyer King is a freelance journalist specializing in French topics for major dailies and magazines around the world. She lives in Paris where she previously worked for BusinessWeek, Bloomberg News and the International Herald Tribune.