• Mediaweek, Monday, April 27, 2009 9:30 AM

Hearst Magazines is considering a major overhaul of 124-year-old flagship Good Housekeeping in a bid to move it from a service title to a lifestyle magazine. Lifestyle readers tend to be younger and more affluent.

If a marketing test goes as expected, the company may raise GH's cover price by a dollar, to $3.49, increase the trim size and reduce its 4.6 million-rate base. A decision is expected to come within two to three months. "If the metrics play out, we will take the magazine up a size," says Michael Clinton, CMO at Hearst. "It would be a huge investment that would position the magazine for the next 125 years."

In considering a revamp for Good Housekeeping, Hearst hopes to duplicate results it had at 105-year-old Redbook. Two years ago, it increased that book's trim size by 5%, upgrade the paper stock and added sex and fashion content. Hearst also lowered Redbook's rate base and raised the cover price to $3.50 from $2.99. The result: in 2007 Redbook's ad pages grew 8.8 % when the rest of the industry grew 2%, per PIB.

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